Page 45 of Okay, I Regret a Little
Chapter 30
Rei
T
hings seemed to go back to normal after the riot. Wren’s spell eventually wore off, so the witches weren’t shouting their plans to the entire prison anymore. No one moved on the witches because they were waiting for Venus to get out of medical. I didn’t know if it was going to be another riot or not. That would be dangerous with everyone wanting to kill Venus. Faust could handle himself, but I didn’t want him in the middle of all that. I was starting to think we needed a different distraction to get out of here.
We were back in the mailroom after dinner a few days after the riot. The potion ingredients should get here any day, and according to Wren, Venus would get out of medical. Brody wasn’t around to allow the witches to visit her, and the rest of the guards weren’t feeling any witch love after they heard what caused the riot. Venus was probably planning some triumphant return, and she had no idea what was waiting for her.
As far as revenge plots went, I was winning, and she totally had it coming.
“I’m just saying, if we try to start another riot, everyone is going to go straight for Venus. She’s got it coming, but I think people are going to kill each other just to get to her. I don’t care if anyone kills Venus. It’s only fair since she wants me dead, and she had Astrid killed. I don’t want to leave a body count behind on our way out.”
“That’s adorable, Rei,” Wren said.
“Shut it, Wren. Not all of us are serial killers,” Dakarys said. “I like some people in here. I don’t want to see them die in a prison riot because you turned everyone in Silverhold against the witches.”
“No, you shut the fuck up. That was sheer poetry.”
Rajack was always so easy going and it didn’t surprise me he jumped in to play peacemaker. I didn’t know the first thing to say because I agreed with both of them. Wren’s little plot was pretty epic, but I also didn’t want anyone to die that hadn’t actively plotted to kill me.
“I think we can all agree the witches earned what’s coming to them. We need to remember we don’t have a problem with anyone else. We wanted to leave here legends, not hated. People will figure out the witches were spelled when the riot broke out. We want to leave here with people thinking we got out and got justice for Astrid on the way out. If we sneak out during a bloodbath, that is going to be our legacy.”
“I can agree with that, but I don’t have another suggestion for us to sneak out during chaos,” Wren said. “What about a fire?”
We all poo-pooed on that. A fire was worse than a riot. We still needed some form of chaos. This was what they made me for. What tricks did I have in my arsenal?
“What about a power outage?” I asked.
I was still getting used to the whole electricity thing. I wasn’t sure if I could manage a full prison outage, but I just thought it and turned the electricity in Brody’s baton against him. Honestly, I thought it was just going to shock the shit out of him, but the damned thing exploded.
“That could work. You said you thought you might get a new tail. Where are you with that?” Rajack asked.
“You’re such a little demon fangirl,” Wren snorted.
“Fuck off, Wren. We need everything in our arsenal if we are going to make it out. Rei gets new powers with every tail. She might get one we need.”
Except I was only just figuring out how to get new tails, and I couldn’t exactly force it.Somethingwas happening, but it wasn’t there yet.
“I think a new tail is happening, but it’s not going to get here before we break out. I get that I’ve got unknown powers, but all of you have your magic back now. We need to work together.”
Wren cracked her neck.
“It’s so nice not having those cuffs drain my magic. It would be nice if I could cast a prison-wide confusion spell while the power is out. You have to have something of the person you want to confuse to do that.”
I grinned. I couldn’t do the whole prison at once, but I wasn’t totally without my skills. It was kind of an accident I figured out I could do it, then Hauser had to put me through the ropes to duplicate it. It was one of my first jobs, and I was still learning the ropes. I thought I had everything planned, but the pack of wolves I was stealing from came home early.
“I can put out a pheromone that will confuse everyone in the room. I can’t do the entire prison, and it will eventually wear off. Problem with that is that unless I’m not last in line, the three of you will go crazy too.”
“That’s hot,” Wren said.
“It’s a neat trick, but there are violent offenders in here. Only break that out if you need to. I have certain magic as a sphinx that will confuse people but is a little more predictable.”
“So, it’s settled then. A power outage?” I asked.
“And all of us working together,” Dakarys said. “Rajack has his strength back, and Wren and I have our magic. The potion ingredients should get here in two days, and then we make our move.”
I should have felt good, exhilarated. I was getting out of here. This was probably the biggest heist I’d ever planned. My blood should be pumping.
It wasn’t. I told myself I’d be calling him once we were far away. I needed to get out of here, but it felt like I was betraying Faust.
