Chapter 23: Plan B
Monday morning at school was well underway before I reached a level of alertness that allowed me to absorb anything that was going on in my classes. It usually doesn’t take that long for my caffeine to kick in, but I was exhausted from thinking about the task ahead of me. Rafe helped with the schoolwork as usual during my study hall. He seemed to think that my haggard appearance was about my Thrace worry, and I let him believe that. The school day flew by and soon Rafe and I were heading to The GAR Building to discuss the plan with Apollo. We entered the building, and Rafe led me to a conference room where Apollo was waiting for us. As I walked in to face Apollo, I felt the familiar zing. Our gazes locked, and he breathed in as if he was trying to take my very essence out of the air. Then, he nodded at Rafe and in an amused tone asked, “How was school today, Hermes?”
Rafe threw him a disgruntled look and said, “As enlightening as ever. High school really flocking sucks.”
I sat down on the edge of the conference table before I said, “As much as I appreciate Rafe's attempt at humor, I think we should get to the matter at hand. Talk to me about how you are going to save my best friend.”
Apollo stood directly in front of me and gazed down at me. He put both of his hands on my shoulders and promised, “We will keep Thrace safe, Calliope. He will not be in danger anymore. You have to trust us.”
I held his possessive gaze and threw out a zinger to keep him in line, “I’m sorry Apollo, did I say you could touch me?”
A soft rumble of what I assumed was laughter came from his ever serious mouth before he remarked, “I’m sorry, my Muse, if I overstepped my bounds, but you probably will not find me quite as biddable as Hermes.” But he did take a step back, so he and Rafe both stood in front of me.
I ramped up my courage and announced, “Thank you for your pledge, Apollo. However, you have yet to give me a single detail on your plan. You are asking for my trust, but neither of you has trusted me with the truth…..about your plan.”
Rafe answered me in a pleading manner, “You have to give us some time, Calli. We have had less than a day. We will fill you in as the plan progresses.”
My hands turned into fists at my sides with frustration, “You mean that you will tell me after everything is over. You don’t get it. I trust you to do what you think is in my best interest. But that might not be what is in Thrace’s best interest. That is why I would like some simple details. I don’t think that is a lot to ask.”
Apollo took the lead again. “Calliope, we wouldn’t be so hesitant about sharing details if we didn’t think you would jump in and try to help.” At least, Apollo managed to speak the truth this time.
“What if I promised not to interfere, as long as you shared your plan with me?” I negotiated.
Once again, it was Apollo that threw my words back at me with a knowing look, “I trust you to do what you think is in Thrace’s best interest not your own. So despite your promises, you are going to be unable to stop yourself from interfering.”
Ha. The perfect cover for my Plan B just occurred to me. Now, if only I could phrase it in truth so I wouldn’t get in trouble. “Fine. How about a compromise? On Saturday, I will stay with Dr. A during the mission. He will be my watchdog.”
Rafe looked at Apollo, and Apollo finally nodded his consent for something. Rafe finally spoke with an impish grin, “Sounds like a plan, Calli. Right now, we are waiting for Aglaea to call Thrace again. We want to see where she takes him. Once we figure that out we can start our next phase.”
So far this sounded logical, but they still had not given me anything. “Which is what?”
Apollo took over with laying out the rest of the plan, “We have several options, but I think the most promising one would be to make Thrace and his friends temporary ill then give decoys to the Graces. If we make the decoys tempting enough, Thrace and his friends will never have to worry about them again.”
“How do you plan on making them sick? And are the decoys other humans that you will recruit with or without their permission?”
Apollo continued in his forthright manner, “The first part is easy. There is a drug that will make them vomit. You will need to give it to the guys on Saturday night. Hermes told me your cover story, which was brilliant by the way. You will tell him that we are going to fool his tormentors into thinking the drug has backfired and is causing him to be sick. Therefore, they will have to try a new version of the drug that they can’t use on them.”
I nodded my head in approval and asked, “Maybe, they should all go to eat somewhere so their parents will think they have gotten food poisoning. Our parents are going out on Saturday, so when the Graces call them, they won’t be around. And I’ll check with Thrace on the timing of the black outs. Who are the decoys?”
Apollo displayed what I like to call his calculating glare. He sorta squints his eyes at you as if he is judging your thoughts. I believed if I was his actual enemy it might feel like he was shooting death rays at me. He finally answered, “You let us worry about the decoys. You worry about Thrace, his friends, and the timing of the black outs.”
I tilted my head and smiled at Apollo as I extended my hand to shake his, which confused him, “I’m sorry, have we met before, my name is Calliope, and I don’t flocking fall for lame eyas stuff like that. Your decoys are humans who are going to have to be playthings for those three harpies. And based on the damage Thrace and his friends have sustained, I would like to know who I am putting in harms way.”
Rafe immediately jumped in with a soothing voice, “You are putting no one in danger, Calliope.”
“Whatever. Are there any other alternatives?”
Apollo shook his head, “None we have come up with so far. The Graces will probably play with their new toys a time or two then move on like they usually do. However, there is a non-negotiable part of this bargain. You will be nowhere near Thrace and his friends when this all goes down. You will leave that to us.”
“Since I am feeling reasonable at all the information you gave me, I say we compromise. Rafe and I will go to dinner with the boys. We slip them the medicine. Then, Rafe takes them to wherever he needs to take them while you have Dr. A pick me up at the restaurant. You can’t say I don’t reward good behavior,” I teased Apollo.
Apollo actually smiled, and it was almost sensual although it only turned up the right side of his lips, “I am looking forward to your rewards in the future under more pleasant circumstances, my Muse. I think both Hermes and I can live with your compromise.”
“Somehow, I think I am going to be nothing but trouble for you. So I wouldn’t count on a lot of rewards.”
Apollo was excellent at heated gazes that made me freeze like a deer caught in his headlights. “I’ll take my chances, my Muse.”
I just shook my head, tried to hide my telltale blush, and snarked, “Cool your jets, Sparky. Should we go get Dr. A and bring him in on the plan or does that come later?”
Both Apollo and Rafe seemed to ponder this for a minute before Apollo said, “The less people know the better. We will discuss this with him later.”
“When can I let Thrace know the plan? He is literally sweating bullets right now, and I would at least like to calm him down a bit.”
Rafe finally took the lead on this one, “Probably as late as possible. My read on Thrace is if we give him too much warning he’ll do something that will flock the plan up.”
I smiled at the use of my word and inquired, “Can I tell him by Friday?”
Apollo consented, “Friday is probably the best choice. Rafe, could you please excuse Calliope and I for a few minutes? I would like a word alone with her.”
Rafe just look resigned as he replied, “Of course, I will be in the study when you are ready to be taken back, Calli.” And without a backward glance, he left me with Apollo.
Apollo took a step towards me again and gazed down at me with his sorcerer’s eyes and said, “I know we haven’t gotten to spend much ti
me together, Calliope.”
I immediately interrupted him as I fired back, “I don’t recall complaining about that.”
His sensual gaze came back as he replied, “I know Rafe has brought you up to speed on many parts of our world, but you can come to me with your questions.”
I tilted my head and gave him the once over as if to judge the sincerity of his statement before I asked, “And you would tell me the truth, if I came to you?”
He seemed to consider his response, “I would tell you the truth as long as I believed that it wouldn’t endanger you.”
“Ok. Truthsayer. I will give this a shot. Why would an Olympian fear a mere demigod?” I asked in a perplexed manner.
Apollo drew near and put his hand at the back of my neck as he looked down at me and replied, “I don’t fear for me. I fear for you and all the other humans in Detroit. The Graces torment anyone they see as weaker. And as a group, the only beings they fear are Ares and myself. They would even love to try to take down Hermes just to prove their power. They are top of the food chain in spite. Unfortunately, they are also top of the food chain in flattery of Ares.”
I returned his earnest gaze with my worried one as I replied, “You’re not making me feel real secure in our plan, Mr. Comforting. And please refresh my memory as to when I said you could touch me, again?”
He didn’t remove his hand and he didn’t say something flirty like Rafe would have. He merely stated without any guile, “It might be a welcome difference for you to be involved with someone that doesn’t let you bend him to your will all the time.”
“So you’re saying that I have literally no incentive to actually get involved with you,” I snarked back.
He threw me a stormy gaze before he leaned down and whispered huskily in my ear. “Think of reforming me as your greatest challenge yet.”
My breath caught as I tried to think of some witty comeback, “I’m really not one of those girls that dates the bad boy in hopes that she can change him.”
He straightened back up as he smoldered at me, “I didn’t say the challenge would be to change me. I said your greatest challenge would be to bend me to your will, my Muse.”
I took a deep breath and drew away from his hypnotic gaze as I sarcastically replied with false bravado, “I wouldn’t bend you Apollo. I would break you.”
“Ah. Evade and retreat behind your sarcasm. Hermes did warn me that you were highly trained at both skills. I will escort you to the study.”
I didn’t speak to Apollo again until I was back in Rafe’s calming presence, and then I just said in a clipped tone, “Thank you for the information, Apollo. I will trust Rafe to keep me posted on your plans.”
He left with a smoldering invitation, “Any time you want to try to bend or break me, I’m waiting.” Then, he left with a nod to Rafe.
I grinded my teeth at his audacity, but my stupid stomach also flipped. I looked at Rafe showing my frustration. “Don’t ask. Can we take off now? I really don’t think I can concentrate on my DUA work.”
Rafe seemed apprehensive about my meeting with Apollo, but he had me out the door before he grilled me. “So should I be worried that you are going to fall for Apollo’s charm soon?” Rafe inquired in a teasing but worried manner.
I tilted my head to try to analyze if Rafe was really insecure, “I don’t think Apollo has any charm. What he does have in abundance is intensity. Does the dude ever just relax or even crack a smile?”
He threw me his impish grin again as he replied, “A sense of humor is not apart of his many good qualities, and he does have many.”
“It’s like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He also seems to think that it is a given that we will have a relationship when I become his Muse. Tell me that I won’t turn out like Mr. Johnny-No-Fun if I’m his Muse.”
He laughed as he drew my hand to his mouth and kissed it. “His soul will not take over your mind, emotions, and personality traits.”
“So what is affected by the soul I might have within me?”
“You will just feel more attuned to the Olympian. Your senses will become more heightened and your instincts, agility, speed, and strength will ramp up as well. You will age at a slower rate. You will be more difficult to hurt, and you will heal more easily.”
“Wow. I always wanted to be Wonder Woman—now is my chance,” I snarked.
He winked at me and teased. “Sorry, sweetheart. You can’t hold a candle to Wonder Woman without the boots and lasso. Although I think I could find that costume somewhere, so I could judge for sure.”
It was my turn to laugh and tell him to keep his eyes on the road and his dirty thoughts to himself. Unfortunately, he was pulling into my driveway much too soon, and my carefree time with him was at an end. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before I bolted out the door. However, just before I shut the door he asked if he could pick me up tomorrow morning since we had karate class after school. I smiled at him and agreed. Dr. A was right. The boys were not going to let me out of their sight until they thought I was on board with their plan. And, I was going to have to lull them into feeling that I was ok with Plan A.
It was one of dad’s overnight shifts at the fire station, so it was just mom and I tonight. Luckily, she was exhausted from her 12-hour shift, so she seemed satisfied with a brief explanation of my day. Plus, she seemed ecstatic that I was going to call and chat with Thrace. So with minimum fuss, I got to head upstairs to call Dr. A from my home phone before I updated Thrace. I was surprised that when I talked to Dr. A that he had already been prepped on the plan. He thought their plan was a good one with the exception of giving the Graces three more innocent victims to exploit. With Dr. A’s recon data, I schemed up an even more ingenious plan that would not put anyone else in harm’s way--well, except me.
Plan B for Team Calli worked like this:
1.Dinner with Thrace and his friends would be at the GAR building where we would slip the boys the nausea drug.
2.We would also slip Rafe something that would knock him out.
3.Apollo would have the job of staying with the decoys, so we would give him a fake location.
4.Then, we drive the guys around all night so the Graces would have to separate. Thrace would be taken to a location on our turf, so Aglaea wouldn’t have back up—increasing my chances of survival dramatically.
5.When she found us, I would fight her. If she bit me, problem solved. If she tried to kill me, I would tell her that I am a Muse while Team Calli moved in with back-up weapons.
6.Next, they would bring Justin to our secret location. Rinse and repeat until all three Graces were dealt with.
Dr. A was scouting the alternative locations that would be the best strategic positions for the fight. Two plans. Two choices. Too many lives at stake to make the wrong decision. Too many “What ifs” and “If onlys” to sort out.
My next call was to Thrace. I let him know that we were starting to find out some valuable intel on the group that was messing with him. “Thrace, I need to know about what time you usually black out on Saturdays.”
He paused and finally said, “It happens anywhere between 9 and 10pm.”
“Well, now that you have your guardian she-devil on duty that won’t happen anymore.”
“You mean guardian angel. I realize true second chances are rare, and right now I don’t even deserve one. So after you save my eyas, I will concentrate on being the best friend that you deserve and letting the chips fall where they may.”