The Devil's Crown

XLVI I Have What We Need.

West yanked the mask off of his face the moment he was in the safety of the interior. The lady that he doesn’t even know her name was put back in the Banquet Hall, he weeping could be heard all the way from here.

Well, what she was wasn’t something for the weak-hearted. All that blood, a man on the floor of the terrace drowning in his own pool of blood….fake blood of course. The whole thing was a scam.

“Oh s**t!” Julian exclaimed as he did the same. “Did you see the look on their faces?!”

West doubted that he was able to see anyone from that distance but he kept the comment to himself. Shifting his attention to the man that was lying on the ground, Marquis Micheal. His once pure-white shirt was now coated in the blood that was placed beforehand inside his jacket.

“Put your mask back on,” West uttered interrupting the excitement.

“Why?”

“Well, if you want your face to be engraved in the memory of a Noblemen then go ahead but remember that you will be on your own,”

“Sheesh man,” Julian shrugged in shock as he did as he was told. “You didn’t have to say all that.”

West ignored him again as he squatted down and shook the shoulder of the Marquis.

“Come on now, you know that you weren’t going to die,” said West not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of his face.

Indeed the Marquis was told beforehand to act along or he would expect a bullet in – not only his head but his whole household. He had no option but to comply. Being told wasn’t enough to keep him from collapsing. West wasn’t surprised.

“O-oh my God…” the older man mumbled as he struggled to sit straight. His eyes darting to look at his now redshirt. “My...I would have thought that this real blood if it weren’t for the smell.”

“You did a good job out there, Marquis,” said West. “I hope that you keep the little quarrel that happened out there to yourself. You do remember my promise?”

The Marquis gulped harshly almost as if he was swallowing down his soul. The blue glare coming from underneath the hood on West’s head caused his bones to shudder. His guts were telling him that he wasn’t joking, gambling with his life and everyone that he held dear was something that he couldn’t gamble with.

“Take him to the hall,” West gestured for Julian and he did as he was told. He spared himself another nagging lecture on how irresponsible his actions were.

Before the door to the room was shut, a hand came in between to hold it. West turned to look at it. Scarlet. He knew from the soundless footsteps, it took him a while to get used to the way that she sneaks up on him every time. It came with time the realization that it wasn’t her sneaking in on him, it was the way that she normally walked. A silent shadow between the lines of the Rebels. Not that he was complaining about her gifted feet…he was uncomfortable when he doesn’t sense everyone around him.

“What are you doing here, Scarlet?” he sighed as his gut feeling was revealed to be true as Scarlet walked inside. He unzipped the mask while yanking the hood of his blonde hair.

Scarlet could almost swear that her heart skipped a beat at the sight. What the hell is wrong with you scarlet snap out of it! she smacked herself from within as shuddered. Yes, West looked like one hell of a fine man but no! She swore that there were no romantic relationships down this road! It just doesn’t work.

She cleared her throat. “You know that I can sneak in and out undetected,” she said. “I’m not that known either in the social circles.”

“You can’t be too sure,” he barely said as he turned his attention elsewhere.

“Are you sure that they are going to do what you asked?” she puzzled and found it weird. The way General Toptenov just gave in. But, he did see a Noble fall to his doom. He would have gotten into further problems if he lost anymore on his watch.

“No,”

“Yes, right…”

“Wait what?!” she exclaimed cluelessly. “What do you mean no?! Then what the hell is going to happen?!” her hands were raised in anger at the stupidity that this gorgeous man was saying.

West turned to gaze at her with such innocence that she almost believed that she was guilty. “By now, they should be thinking of a way to come inside and take over Casablanca,” he simply said.

“And you are just sitting here doing what?! Nothing!” Scarlet snapped out. Regretting it as she saw the way his brows flinched in disappointment. This was as much as he could give for a reaction and she knew that that tiny muscle movement meant that she stepped on dangerous grounds.

“If you are going to be nothing but a loud woman then I suggest you be on your way, Scarlet,” West hissed as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“J-Just tell me what’s going on, West,” she stuttered. “Are you or are you not in control.”

There it was again, that gaze that made her weak to her knees.

“If that will give some calm to your heart then, yes,” he simply said as he looked around and returned to lock gaze with her as he said yes.

“Now, if you have got your answer I would ask you to return,” he sighed.

She nodded once. It was enough cornering him. She turned on her heels to exit and just then the door opened revealing Allen as he walked inside with his laptop in hand.

“Oh, Scarlet,” Allen splashed a smile. “Didn’t know that you are supposed to be here.”

“She isn’t,” West replied. “She will be on her way. Come in.”

It took Scarlet a couple of minutes to prevent herself from pulling out the knife that was hidden in her stocking underneath her dress. She wouldn’t be able to harm that was for sure but at least she would get out some pent-up anger.

She burst out of the room. Allen hurriedly stepping to the side to give her space, blinking at her back – clearly anger back figure.

“Is everything okay?” Allen asked West only to be ignored.

“Did you gather what we need?” West changed the subject.

Allen took a second to respond. “Yes!” he said as he walked forward placing the laptop on the table that was standing in the middle of the room. It felt weird to be planning something in such a luxurious place. He missed the dew floor of the warehouse along with the rusting window frames. It gave them a feeling of safety, unlike this unfamiliar place. The picture of someone jumping at them at any moment didn’t leave his mind.

“I got a rough plan of where everything is going to be,” said Allen. “Where they going to hit and all that since they probably got it figured that we can see everything inside, as well as all the entrances.”

“Do you know about the bombs?”

“The traps?” Allen questioned only to answer himself. “No, I don’t think they are aware that there are traps at all the entrances.”

“Where are they going to hit?” West stated as he got up to head to the table as well.

“Here,” Allen pointed out. “This is the only point that they can come through without being seen for a good while.”

“How long will they be in that blind spot?” West almost roared, giving Allen a heart attack.

“I-I don’t know for sure but 5 minutes? Maybe more if there are more men,” Allen frowned a little as he squeezed his brain.

“That’s too long,” said West. “Any other way to see them coming in before they reach that spot?”

“Well there isn’t…but,”

“Spit it out,”

“This point has no doors!” Allen exclaimed as he pulled out another floorplan of that part. “There are no windows nothing. So, the only way to get it is to bring that wall down. And of course, they are capable of doing so in pin-drop silence you will never know that they are coming through.”

Allen was talking in so much enthusiasm that it made West question his mentality. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of what he was saying. There was no way to understand how the head of a tech geek was functioning, something about all this talk about high-tech made a spark inside him.

“You can’t be expecting us to be just standing there waiting for them to come in are you?” West raised an eyebrow. “They could be coming at us from someplace else.”

Allen shook his head with determination. “I’ve studied this plan…this hotel for a week now. I can confidently say that I know every corner of it…unless there was something that was kept off the plan, a secret passage, then no. Other than that, I know that there isn’t a spot perfect for them to get in other than that one. No camera’s on that side, no cameras inside for at least 5 minutes. This is the spot.”

The way that he said it gave West no choice but to believe him, not that he doubted him before but…it was not his life alone at stack here. West walked slowly back to the sofa, his leg was limping badly from being on his feet for so long. Sometimes he even feels that it responds to his moods. He needed nothing more than to sit down and think this through.

“What should we do then, Allen?” West had no other hope but to believe that the founder of the problem is also the solution bearer.

West never felt so relieved until he saw Allen nod his head.

“I do,” Allen nodded again as he looked randomly across the room as if the solution was around them. “They might not make a sound but they are definitely going to make a disturbance….” He paused looking for a way to explain.

“The ground! No matter what they use, they are going to cause an unusual disturbance to the ground. If we can catch that disturbance we will know when they are coming in, even the exact moment that they are going to come through! By that time we will be waiting on the other side. No one will see it coming”

He was panting by the time he gulped. West was staring blankly at him.

“You wouldn’t be telling me this if you didn’t have whatever equipment that you need to make this work, I assume?” said West, his blue regaining focus on Allen.

Allen nodded.

“I have it, West. I have the equipment.”