Macy: If Mekhi isn’t around to hypnotize it, how do we distract it?
Me: Get a banjo and dance the hula?
Macy: You aren’t Timon or Pumbaa and this isn’t the Lion King.
She follows it with an eye-roll emoji.
Me: I know that. I meant YOU
Macy: I’m not Timon either. And I’m sure as shit not Pumbaa
Now it’s a string of eye-roll emojis, which makes me laugh. If Macy and Hudson are rolling their eyes at me like that, then I must really be on a roll tonight.
I start to say as much to Hudson, but Jaxon finally stirs behind me.
“We need to set a trap,” he says.
“What do you mean, a trap? Like a bear trap?”
“Something a little less gruesome, hopefully,” he answers. “But don’t you think that’s our best bet? Home-turf advantage is a real thing. You never attack on your opponent’s home turf if you can avoid it, because it’s the territory they’re most familiar with and therefore most able to defend.”
“And also because it’s the territory they’re most likely willing to die to defend,” I add, thinking back on everything I’ve learned in history class through the years.
“Exactly. Now, we don’t have the time or the resources to lure the monster off its island—so that’s out. But we can lure it out of its comfort zone, away from its cave or wherever it’s living.” He pauses, and I can practically hear the wheels turning in his brain as he continues to plot.
Suddenly, I feel bad about turning to Hudson earlier when I thought Jaxon just wasn’t going to engage with the situation. I should have known better—no matter what he says or does, Jaxon has always made my safety and everyone else’s a priority from day one. And that includes making sure we have the best shot he can give us against an unkillable monster.
“When we had Mekhi,” he continues, “it was okay to take it at its home because we could manipulate the odds with Mekhi’s ability to hypnotize, but with him gone…it’s just too risky.”
He shakes his head, then focuses on me instead of the horizon. “What do you think?
“I think it looks like baby brother is finally starting to use his brain for once,” Hudson comments. “I’m impressed.”
I ignore the sarcasm of that last comment and focus instead on the realization that I have the two most powerful vampires of my generation currently focused on solving the same problem at the same time. Surely that’s enough to get something important done.
“I think it sounds like the beginning of a plan,” I say as I text Macy what’s going on so she and Xavier can get in on the planning session. “So what do you think we should do first?”
“Hopefully not die,” Hudson replies, and I have to admit, he’s summed it up nicely.
99
With Baited Breath
We finally arrive at the island and realize it’s not an island as much as a volcano, partially sticking up out of the ocean. There is a huge crater at the top, but its craggy sides jut straight into the water. Which means, the monster must be inside the crater…and there’s nowhere to land except inside the enclosed space the beast calls home. I can’t help but shake the feeling this is about as ridiculous as fighting a tiger at a zoo—in his cage.
Flint and Eden circle the opening several times, but all we can see from this height, with the bottom of the crater hundreds of feet below the opening, is surprisingly dense forest areas and huge piles of boulders. But no Unkillable Beast.
A thought suddenly occurs to me. “Did any of the books or databases say how big this beast is supposed to be? Should we even be able to see it from the sky?”
Jaxon leans forward so I can hear him over the wind rushing past us. “The stories vary, but most of them say it is massive. Several stories high.”
“Then why can’t we see it?” An uneasiness creeps into my bones as we both stare down into the crater again and still see nothing but trees and rocks. Everything in me says it’s a very bad idea to land inside this crater. We need to turn around. Now.
“Let’s go ahead and land!” Jaxon shouts to Flint, and my stomach pitches as Flint swiftly moves in for a quick descent.
I start to beg Jaxon for us all to turn around and go home, but he squeezes my waist and says, “Everything’s going