Part 11 (2/2)

”I came to give you another option.” Cort nodded at me. ”Actually, it was Erin who suggested it.”

Me? I was brilliant, but I didn't know what he was talking about. ”How's that?” I asked.

”Show her, Oliver.”

Oliver's satisfied smile vanished and a cold menacing one took its place-an exact mirror of the one on Ritter's face. No, it was Ritter, and I was standing next to him where Cort had been, except my catwoman suit was nowhere near that tight or that low. And did I really have that much cleavage?

”Wow, that's pretty neat,” Jace said, moving around them. ”It even looks real from the back, though not exactly like the real thing.”

”Well, I didn't see them from behind.” The Ritter that was really Oliver took several steps and peered behind the real Ritter, keeping a safe distance, which I thought was pretty smart, given that the real Ritter's expression had hardened even more.

”Oh, that's much better,” Jace said. ”Now try to do me.”

Jace's blond hair slowly replaced Ritter's black, followed more quickly by the rest of Jace's face and body. Fascinated, I reached out to see how Oliver did it, to see if I could mimic his ability.

Mari looked back and forth between the real us and the illusions. ”Wow, that's incredible. So how many can you do at one time?”

”Only two if I want them to look just like the real thing.” Oliver morphed back into himself. ”Cort says I should be able to do more eventually.”

”Maybe I can do it.” My thoughts were churning. If we could pose as someone who belonged inside the compound, it would be a lot better start than that ridiculous plan.

Oliver frowned at me. ”I don't think you'll be able to. It took me all day to-hey! Get out of my mind!”

I glanced down and found myself looking at Oliver. It looked real enough that I had to touch myself to see that it was an illusion.

”I can't believe you'd do that,” spluttered Oliver.

”You didn't have a s.h.i.+eld.” At least not one of any note. ”Anyway, I'm not in your thoughts, exactly. I'm barely inside. I just watched how you did it.” I let the illusion drop, taking myself from his mind. I really hadn't meant to go inside him, but what a discovery. ”There, I'm out.”

Oliver glowered. ”Don't do it again.”

”Shut up, Oliver,” Cort said. ”You finally have a way to help us. Don't blow it. Or are you saying you don't want backup?”

”I'm just saying she shouldn't-” Oliver broke off when he glimpsed Ritter's face. ”All right. But if we're both going to do it, she'd better watch me again to make sure she's got it. There's a particular problem with the speech.”

Ritter exchanged a glance with Cort. ”The question is how can we use it?” Ritter asked. ”Three or four people won't be enough to take the compound over, even from inside. Not without a plan and a simultaneous attack from outside.”

”No, but it'll be enough to give us a peek and see what the setup is,” Jace said. ”We could even plant some b.o.o.by traps inside.”

”Go inside?” Oliver made a sour face. ”What if we're caught?”

”Then we free you when we free the others.” Mari gave him an insincere smile as she added, ”Cousin.”

Oliver flashed teeth that seemed almost too bright against his dark skin. ”Sure you would. Cousin.”

”Kids, kids.” Jace placed a hand on each of their shoulders. ”Let's call a truce, eh? Oliver, I'm amazed. That's a useful trick. And if we get caught, you can fake that SWAT team like you did in Oregon. They were detailed enough to cause a distraction. Maybe not from behind, but who cares?”

Oliver seemed mollified at the praise and Mari knew when to keep her mouth shut. That left Ritter to decide what to do since Ava had given him total control over what went on at the compound. He paced to the end of the storage shed and back. ”If we take out the new guards that are coming tonight and fake being them to get inside, we'll tip our hand when they pull out early. Because no way am I leaving our people there all night, especially if we begin the siege.”

”We couldn't fake being the guards anyway,” Cort said. ”We know nothing about their protocol except what Erin and Ava have seen from their minds. That won't be enough.”

An idea was forming in my head. ”What about visitors? They've had at least two surprise inspections that we know about. One we even witnessed.” I used the term we very loosely because I hadn't actually been there at the time of the visit.

Ritter's face snapped to mine. ”What are you thinking?”

”I'm thinking we forget the siege for right now and some of us go in there with Oliver, posing as another inspection team or visitor. We take note of the setup, see if we can give our people weapons, and let them know to watch for a signal.”

”What if something goes wrong?” Oliver asked.

”We know they're blocking radio signals from going outside the gate,” I said, ”to make sure their guards aren't overheard, so we can't use radios. But we have detected cell phone signals. We can call out if we need to.”

”If they don't take our phones.” Oliver's voice was a mutter.

I shrugged. ”Well, if it's just you and Mari and me, Mari and I can always s.h.i.+ft and take you with us at least some of the way.”

Jace arched a brow and I knew he was remembering our practices with him. ”You may need to fight your way out. Maybe someone else should go, too.”

I opened my mouth to tell him that was ridiculous, but I couldn't because he was right, and I was suddenly dreading going in with only Mari and Oliver. Even if the two didn't kill each other, they would be next to useless in an actual fight. Oliver's illusions certainly couldn't fight, and Mari's knives wouldn't be much protection against experienced Unbounded. At least she could save herself by s.h.i.+fting out.

”I don't think-” Oliver began.

”The question is, can he do it?” Ritter ran over Oliver's protest, looking intently at Cort.

”Oh, yeah. He does it rather easily, in fact.” Cort's voice told me he wished it were otherwise. ”He should be able to grow stronger with practice. There's even a possibility that-” He shook his head. ”Never mind.” But I had already seen in his thoughts that he thought Oliver might learn to imbue his projections with substance.

Wait. I pulled back mentally from Cort, shocked at myself for spying, but unlike with Oliver, I hadn't penetrated his s.h.i.+eld, only picked up his surface thoughts, perhaps even meant for me. I gave an internal sigh of relief. I hadn't lost myself to instinct entirely. I really needed to talk to Ava about this increase of my abilities. I didn't want to lose what few friends I had in this new life.

”Look, if it fails,” I told Ritter, ”you can always go with the original plan. I know it's a risk, but what we stand to gain far outweighs what we might lose.”

Our eyes met, neither of us speaking. Everyone else seemed to vanish until we were alone. A tremor slid down my back.

”Okay,” he said finally. ”You go in now, before they change guards.” He looked at his watch. ”You have one hour. If you're not back by then, we'll attack the guards, cut the electricity, blow Yuan-Xin's b.o.o.by-traps, and hope that provides you with enough distraction to get out.” In other words, he'd show all his hand instead of doling it out bit by bit as the original plan called for.

”Maybe we should wait,” Mari said, ”and do it all at once. Free them and attack from the inside and out with all our strength on the same day. We'd keep the advantage of surprise. We'll lose that if they discover us tonight.”

Ritter shook his head. ”We need to know what we'll be walking into. We have the original building plans but no idea how the inside might have been modified. We have no clue about locking doors or what kinds of experiments have been done on our people and how able they are to defend themselves. They could be drugged and useless for all we know, or their minds could have been damaged.”

This last he said because of Delia Vesey. The Triad member had been one of the visitors to the compound before we'd arrived. Her machinations were not limited to enemies, as verified by the distinct fear the guards had of a possible return visit. It was she I planned to impersonate.

A sense of excitement replaced the trepidation in the pit of my gut. Ritter had signed off on my plan and that meant he thought we had a real chance at success.

”In and out,” he said.

Sometimes he was so predictable. ”Of course, Your Deathliness. No dallying or fancy stuff. I promise.” Not even Jace laughed at my comment. Probably too afraid of the beating he'd get at their next training session.

Ritter scowled. ”Good. Now just try to remember that.”

<script>