Something I Don't Know

25: no plan is a bad plan as long as it's a plan...plan

It's nearly two in the morning when I finally manage to get everyone to the loft. Midge was asleep and still seems asleep. River was up watching a movie he won't specify that I suspect was not a movie but was porn. Safiya was...I don't know. Doing whatever Safiya does.

So now the six of us are in sitting in the den—seven if you count Levi, who's just watching totally inconspicuously from the corner—trying to figure out how to raid a zoo in the quickest, most efficient, least deadly way. Never have I thought I would ever have to raid a zoo. But then again, nothing in my life has ever truly gone like I'd expected to.

"I would love to tell you that Anik isn't taking security seriously," Violet begins, "but he sort of is."

Safiya, sitting on the couch beside the two werewolf siblings, has been eyeing Violet ever since she got here. Not ogling, just eyeing, like she doesn't understand who she is or why she's here, even though we explained all that to her already. She is Jamie's sister. She is our friend. We will be nice to her. The way Safi's looking at her, though, I'm not sure the message transferred. "Great," Safiya says. "That's just what I wanted to hear."

I pull my legs up in my seat, shooting Safiya a glare that she ignores. Though there's a floor cushion beside me, Midge either hasn't noticed it or deliberately decided not to sit on it, and is instead perched on the arm of the chair I'm sitting in, her elbow resting atop my head. I should not allow this, because I am the tall one and therefore should not be treated this way. For some reason, though, I allow it anyway.

I ask, "So what's the situation then? One guard, two guards? Some locked doors? That's easy."

"It's not just one or two guards," Violet says with a sigh. "It's—I'm not sure how many. They're all stationed different places."

River's eyes narrow. He, too, could have taken the couch cushion, but took a seat at the edge of the fireplace instead. "Where?"

Violet's eyes lift up towards the ceiling for a moment. The skin beneath them is a deep, unhealthy indigo. Maybe I should have just let her rest for tonight. Maybe this isn't the best idea right now. "At least three at each of the entrances. Two in each ecosystem zone. One at concessions, one at the Demi-Human Exhibit—and these are just the ones I saw while I was there."

"And...storage?" Midge adds, her voice hitching on the word, which makes sense. It's not like it doesn't cause all of us to shudder a little. Storage. A word previously reserved for cardboard boxes filled with elementary school clothes, or books you don't read anymore, or an old man-eating couch. Not people. "How many guards are there?"

"Three at each door. More inside."

All of us groan.

"But I do have good news!" Violet adds, thrusting one finger in the air.

Jamie looks at her incredulously. "Good news?"

"Yes. Good news. All of us were being kept in one room. You find that room, you find every captive," Violet explains. "Likewise, the entrances are all deadbolts. So you don't have to worry about unlocking them once you're inside."

"Easier," says River, crossing his arms, "but still not easy."

"Like we expected it to be?" I scoff. I lean forward, tenting my hands, and Midge's elbow is forced from the top of my head. In fact, she nearly keels over and falls into the chair. Holding out a hand to steady her, I say, "Look. It's not that bad. We just have to organize everyone into...into units."

Safiya raises her eyebrows at me from across the den. "Are you getting this from one of your stupid action movies again?"

I glare at her. "Die Hard is not stupid. It's a Christmas movie!"