“We can’t focus on the mercenaries and stop whatever it is they’re doing?” Foil asked.

“We don’t have leads on them. We do have some loose leads on Cradle’s business dealings, places Love Lost’s people have been seen, people they’ve hurt, and some last known whereabouts of March.”

“We go after them, then,” Byron-as-Capricorn said. “All at once, after one target?”

“Coordinated strikes,” Ashley said.

“I dunno,” I said. “I like the focused attack better. Our goal is to keep them from achieving their goals or our worst-case scenario. A focused attack guarantees we take the most problematic person out of the picture.”

“March,” Foil said, definitively.

I drew in a slight breath.

“You don’t think so,” she said. Again, a statement, firm.

“We’re supposed to be cooperating,” I said. “The best order to remove threats would be to remove one of ours, one of yours, another one of ours. It gives the best odds that we see this through.”

“Or we coordinate,” Ashley said. The kid on the ground was inching closer to her while she focused on us, wriggling and twisting until her arms threatened to dislocate, just to get closer, gnashing teeth. “No need to worry about order if we’re going after all of them at once.”

Capricorn shifted. From Byron to Tristan.

“I think coordinated,” he said. “It’s faster, and it means we can support the other groups. Even if we fail on one front, we have better odds of keeping them from uniting. Doing what you say, Victoria, and keeping them from achieving any goals and meeting up.”

I glanced at Tattletale.

“Don’t look at me,” she said. “I’m here to collect information, because it’s warm, and we needed another place to go while March is hunting us. You have some of my mercenaries. You can ask me one favor. I may refuse it. But I’m not getting involved personally. I need to conserve strength.”

“You can be—” Foil started. Parian pulled her back down to her seat.

“I can be such a bitch sometimes?” Tattletale asked. “At least I’m upfront about it.”

“I think we should split up,” Imp said. “Coordinate.”

I had my reservations. Still, sometimes with groups, a mediocre plan that everyone was on board with was much better than a fantastic plan with disgruntled people and people who had no idea what they were doing or why.

I nodded.

“Let’s get organized to hit them all at once, then,” I said. “Three groups, three raids on March and the two members of the cluster.”

Blinding 11.5

The ‘joints’ of the spider’s limbs were higher off the ground than I was, the body headless and featureless, an uneven, almost potato-like form in the center. It was all black, and it moved with a fluidness that stood in stark contrast to the jerky, twitchy way that spiders normally moved.