Jenks darted between Ivy and me. “How are we going to get in, Rachel?” he asked, alighting beside me on the counter.

I felt safer with him watching her, and I purposely turned my back on Ivy. “I’m going in as a mink.” Ivy made a noise of disbelief and I stiffened. Brushing the loosened flour into my hand, I dumped it into the trash. “Even if I’m spotted, they won’t know it’s me. It will be a simple snatch and dash.” Trent’s words about my activities flitted through me, and I wondered.

“Burglarizing the office of a councilman is not a simple snatch and dash,” Ivy said, the tension seeming to ooze from her. “It’s grand theft.”

“With Jenks, I’ll be in and out of his office in two minutes. Out of the building in ten.”

“And buried in the basement of the I.S. tower in an hour,” Ivy said. “You’re nuts. Both of you are bloody nuts. It’s a fortress in the middle of the freaking woods! And that’s not a plan—it’s an idea. Plans are on paper.”

Her voice had become scornful, pulling my shoulders tight. “If I used plans, I’d be dead three times over,” I said. “I don’t need a plan. You learn all you can, then you just do it. Plans can’t take into account surprises!”

“If you used a plan, you wouldn’t have any surprises.”

Ivy stared at me, and I swallowed. More than a hint of black swirled in her eyes, and my stomach clenched.

“I have a more enjoyable path if you’re looking for suicide,” she breathed.

Jenks landed on my earring, jolting my eyes from Ivy. “It’s the first smart thing she’s done all week,” he said. “So back off, Tamwood.”

Ivy’s eyes narrowed, and I took a quick step back as she was distracted. “You’re as bad as her, pixy,” she said, showing her teeth. Vamp teeth were like guns. You didn’t pull them unless you were going to use them.

“Let her do her job!” Jenks shouted back.

Ivy went wire tight. A cold draft hit my neck as Jenks shifted his wings as if to fly. “Enough!” I cried, before he could leave me. I wanted him right were he was. “Ivy. If you have a better idea, tell me. If not—shut up.”

Together Jenks and I looked at Ivy, stupidly thinking we were stronger together than alone. Her eyes flashed to black. My mouth went dry. They were unblinking, alive with a promise as yet only hinted at. A tickle in my belly swirled up to close my throat. I couldn’t tell if it was fear or anticipation. She fixed upon my eyes, not breathing. Don’t look at my neck, I thought, panicking. Oh. God. Don’t look at my neck. “Rot and hell,” Jenks whispered.

But she shuddered, turning away to lean over the sink. I was shaking, and could swear I heard a sigh of relief from Jenks. This, I realized, could have been really, really bad.