She arched an eyebrow. “You plan on blowing it?”

“Not if I can help it,” I said. “But the end result of all this is going to be the laptop gone and Eddie and me never finishing the recruitment. If they link us to the theft, they’ll link us to you. You could be in trouble.”

“Understood,” she said. “If I leave this gig with a prize like his laptop, it’ll be worth it.”

“I just worry about them coming after you,” I said.

Sabrina remained unfazed. “Don’t worry about me. These guys aren’t as connected as the Alchemists, and I know how to avoid them. Now, what’s your plan?”

“Kind of simple, really,” I admitted. “Create a big distraction. Steal the laptop in the chaos.”

She looked a little disappointed, probably because she’d been expecting something more sophisticated and stealthy. And really, if I’d had the time to concoct a more elegant plan, I would have. Eddie, meanwhile, had no problem with my idea. It was straightforward, which he liked.

“Fire?” he suggested.

“I considered it. But with as close as these buildings are . . .” I gestured around at how tightly packed in everything on the compound was. “Well, I don’t like these guys, but I don’t want to kill all of them if a fire gets out of hand. So, believe it or not, I’m going to take a page out of Alicia’s book. Spell book, if you want to get technical.”

“Alicia probably would burn this place down around them,” he pointed out.

“Probably. But she does have less violent methods. While I was waiting around in Palm Springs, I looked up some of the spells she used on us. Most were pretty advanced, but I think I could pull off the fotianas.”

“The what?” asked Sabrina.

“Think of them as annoying mutant fireflies,” Eddie told her.

I nodded in agreement. “I feel like a swarm of them would be a pretty good distraction—enough to get the masters out of their meeting. Then I can grab the laptop, and we can all run out of here in the chaos. Sabrina, do you think you’ll be able to get out and get your car ready?”

“Sure. The gate guards won’t stop me. And if there’s a big enough uproar, I can claim I’m getting weapons from my car and that Eddie’s helping me.” Seeing our surprised looks, she rolled her eyes. “Come on. You don’t think everyone here has weapons stashed in their car?”

The question then came down to whether I could pull off Alicia’s spell. I’d committed the spell to memory after reading about it, but magic was a lot more than just memorization. Summoning supernatural creatures wasn’t an easy task, especially with no physical spell components to aid me. I spoke the words, concentrating on the power within me, and felt the magic flare up in response. The spell I’d read about had an element of control to it—a way for the caster to direct the fotianas to do the caster’s bidding. I’d planned on having the fotianas do some steady loops of the compound, enough to be distracting and steer everyone’s attention from the masters’ meeting room but not degenerate into complete chaos.

Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out as I’d planned.

It took a lot more strength and energy than I’d expected to cast the spell, and although I pulled it off—barely—I couldn’t actually maintain control. A swarm of fotianas materialized in front of me, hovering there for a moment before suddenly scattering off and flying around the compound at insane speeds and in wildly different directions. We stared after them, gaping.

“Were they that fast at the robot museum?” asked Eddie, eyes wide.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I may not have cast it perfectly. I also didn’t mean to summon quite so many.”

If we’d wanted chaos, though, we got it. The fotianas instantly attracted attention, spinning and twirling around the compound, leaving trails of light behind. And, just like at the museum, the fotianas stung those they came into contact with. Screams and shouts rose up almost immediately, and with them, a cry I hadn’t expected.

“Armageddon! Armageddon is upon us! Warriors, take up arms!”

Sabrina gasped, and I turned to her in surprise. “They mean that figuratively, right?” I asked.

She shook her head frantically. “Are you kidding? These people? It’s what they’ve been preparing for. I didn’t think they’d take this as a sign, though!”

“Look!” Eddie pointed toward a group of Warriors hurrying in our direction. Panic surged into me. How had they linked the fotianas to us?

“The storage shed,” explained Sabrina, steering us away from it. “That’s what they’re going for. They do Armageddon drills to get ready for this, and the weapons they use are in here.”

Sure enough, the mob of Warriors paid us no attention and huddled around the shed as they waited for it to be unlocked. As soon as that happened, someone began passing out swords and maces to the waiting throng. Once armed, they tore off back into the compound’s center, swinging madly against the fotianas, which they’d termed “demons of hell.”

“Well,” I said, having to shout amid all the noise, “they’re certainly distracted. Can you guys have the car ready while I go for the laptop?”

Sabrina nodded, but Eddie said to me, “Let me come with you.”

“Easier for me to slip in and out alone,” I replied.