Chapter 31
1236 Words
The talking stopped and Dardennes looked over at me. It was like he was waiting for me to take the reins.
"This is all you, Big J," Tim said softly. "Our people are looking to you for leadership right now. Don't blow it."
"But I don't think I can," I said out of the corner of my mouth, ventriloquist style.
"I believe in you. And I enjoy the comic relief when you screw up, so it's a win win. Either way, it'll be awesome."
I sighed. "Fine." I raised my
voice and my chin, facing my people—my feeps—trying to feel the pride in myself that I was pretty sure Tim felt in me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
"SO…EVERYONE…WE need a plan."
The room was completely silent.
"A really, really good one. Like, super good. An awesomely awesome plan."
A squeak broke the silence that followed, that squeak being the sound of a fae leaning toward me in his seat in the middle of the auditorium.
"And that plan is…uh…"
Tim put his hand up to the side of his mouth to block the view of his lips from the audience as he spoke in a loud whisper. "Contact the leaders of these countries and ask them to help us fend off the attacks of the people attending these concerts."
"Uh…the plan is to…contact the world's leaders. And…uh…tell them to help us." I couldn't say any more. My elevated blood pressure was about to cause me to have a stroke. They actually expected me to come up with a plan? Were they insane? I was just me! I was just a teenager!
"Are you suggesting we contact human leaders of these places where these supposed concerts will be given…and expose ourselves to them as fae…and ask for their aid?" Red sounded like he didn't believe I could be that stupid.
"It's really not a terrible plan," said Niles, frowning but nodding his head. "It could work."
"It would require a great deal of magic," said the old lady witch that always sat next to Red.
"More than we are capable of," Red grumbled.
"No more than it took to bring Jayne back from her elements," Sam said loudly from the aisle in the middle of the auditorium.
Everyone started talking at the same time. Several of the Council members stood and moved down to our end of the table. Soon they were all facing Aidan, Tim, and me. We were the only ones still in our seats.
"How do you envision this rolling out, Jayne?" Aidan asked on behalf of the group.
Tim was in my ear, whispering like crazy from behind my head.
I opened my mouth to start sharing his words, but then I stopped. I sighed. And then I said what needed to be said. "Listen, to be honest, it's not my idea; it's Tim's. But I think it's a good one. Tim? Stop hiding behind me and come out here. Tell everyone what you think." It was time for these fae to start respecting the pixie. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that's what Tim the pixie means to me.
The Council members waited for Tim to comply. I fully expected him to fly toward us in a blaze of glory and start bossing everyone around. But he didn't.
I twisted my head around and caught him slowly moving in reverse. "What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled at him. "Get your sweet, microscopic buns over here and tell us what we should do!"
He shook his head, sounding nervous. "Noooo. I don't think sooooo…"
I knew the look of pixie panic when I saw it. Before he could get out of reach, I threw my hand out and snagged him in midair.
"Hey! Paws off the merchandise, lady!" He struggled mightily against my closed fist. "You're wrinkling my cloak!"
"Sorry, pixieman. Cloak schmoke. Your feeps need you, and now's your moment to shine, so no fair running away."
"I can't!" he nearly screeched. "Jayne! I can't take on that kind of responsibility! I'm a smooth operator, not a dictator! I'm a solo, under-the-radar flyer, a night mover, a rebel…" His voice dropped really low. "…I'm a lone wolf. Don't try to cage me in."
It was time to sober his a*s up. I sighed heavily, directly into his face. "Stop with the theatrics, lone wolf wannabe. You know you have a plan, and no one else here does, so let's hear it. The worst thing they could say is that it's stupid, and I hear that about my ideas all the time. If I can hack it, you can hack it."
He acted like he was swooning over my halitosis. "Okay, okay, no need to t*****e me with the gas chamber. Just let me go. I promise I won't try to fly away."
I released him from my hand and watched him fly in a somewhat jittery path to the space above my knee. He slowly alighted and started pacing up and down my thigh as he spoke. I repeated his words as he dictated them to me so that everyone on the Council could hear him.
"Tim says that we need to bring the leaders of these countries, where the concerts are going to be, here to the compound. We need to impress upon them the gravity of the situation. We need to tell them to gather their armies and prepare to quell any uprisings in their citizenry."
I smiled. I liked dictating for Tim. It made me sound super smart.
"I like the way he thinks," Niles said, his tone respectful. I'd never heard him speak like that.
Tim kept going. He was on a roll. "If they try to refuse, we'll bring the magic, we'll bring the dragons, and we'll bring in the scary elemental to light some things on fire if none of the other methods work." I paused. "Hey. What's that supposed to mean? Am I the last resort part of this plan or what?"
Tim looked up at me. "No. You're the least in control. I think it would help to show them what could happen if they don't follow the program. Give them a taste of some out of control stuff. You know…dazzle them with your inner doofus."
I swatted him off my leg. "I am not a doofus." Would Spike fall for a doofus? No, he would not. Scrum is a doofus. I, however, am a…a…something wiggled in my belly, reminding me what I really was. I am a mom. Holy s**t! I'm a mom! What am I doing?!
Tim had moved up to Dardennes' ear and was telling him more details about his plan. I didn't pay attention to all of it. The gist was that we were going to scare the bejesus out of some important people and convince them that the end of the world was near, that they needed to work with us or basically…die. And once it was all done, we'd wipe their memories clear of anything having to do with the fae. That little addition came from Red, which made me narrow my eyes at him in suspicion. He better not have ever used that spell on me.
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