“That I can do,” Nicolai murmured.
Energy buzzed through my veins, mingling with my grace. I slid from the stool and started pacing. “How much of it would we need? Those gemstones?” I asked, already forgetting two of the names. “Onyx and what were the other two?”
“Black tourmaline and hematite,” Zayne answered, because of course he remembered.
“A lot.” Danika twisted at the waist. “Like either several tons of tiny pieces or a really large chunk of the stuff.”
Several tons? I folded an arm across my stomach.
“Where would we even find it?” Zayne asked.
“I doubt the answer is going to be Amazon,” I muttered.
“Not if we want to make sure we have the real deal,” Dez answered with a grin. “Black tourmaline is mined in Brazil and some other places in the world, but most of it comes out of Africa. And no, I didn’t know that until yesterday.”
“Africa?” I stopped for a second. “Brazil? How are we supposed to get our hands on that?”
“I’ve reached out to a few of the clans in those regions to see what they can get their hands on and how long it would take to get it to us,” Nicolai said.
“How would they get several tons or a large chunk to us?” I started pacing again. “I doubt that would be something you can put on a plane.”
“I imagine they’d ship it.” Zayne looked over at Nicolai. “Right?” When the clan leader nodded, Zayne sent me a quick grin.
I rolled my eyes. “What about the others? The onyx and...” Crap, I forgot the other one again.
“Hematite.” Zayne reached out, snagging my arm. He pulled my hand and therefore my poor thumbnail away from my mouth.
“Better news on that front. Hematite can be found in the States. Yellowstone, to be exact,” Danika leaned against the island. “We should be able to get our hands on that and black onyx since it can also be found in various states. How much is available is what’s up in the air. Hopefully we hear something shortly.”
“Gideon has been on the phone with anyone and everyone who has access to any of the gemstones in the States while we wait to hear back about the tourmaline,” Nicolai said. “That’s what he’s doing now. The phone is practically attached to his ear.”
“Do you think we can get enough?” Keeping my hand away from my mouth, I got back to wearing a path in the floor.
“Gideon thinks it’s possible.” Dez tipped his head back against the wall. “The question is going to be, can we get what we need in the time we need it.”
“The Transfiguration is in a few weeks. The sixth.” I started to chew on my thumbnail again, but stopped. “A Friday.”
“What’s today’s date?” Zayne asked.
“The twentieth,” Danika answered.
Zayne frowned as his gaze returned to me. “So, we have a little over two weeks. Your idea of a few weeks differs from mine.”
“A few is at least two,” I reasoned. “We have at least two weeks and some change.”
“And that’s going to be cutting it close.” Nicolai crossed his arms. “Doable. But down to the wire kind of doable.”
Doable was better than LOL, yeah, right.
“If we are able to get enough of these gemstones in time, what do we need to do with them?”
“That’s the simple part,” Danika told us. “Since the portal is smack-dab in the middle of the hub of ley lines, we just need to place them around the portal, cutting over the lines.”
“The simple part?” I stopped, facing her. “I’m assuming you mean around the portal and not just the school?”
She nodded.
“There’s going to be nothing simple about that.” Lifting a hand, I straightened my glasses as they started to slip down my nose. “Besides the fact that our friendly neighborhood homicidal archangel has to have eyes on that school, the place is like a nightmare sandwich of very angry ghosts and wraiths as the bread and Shadow People as the rancid meat.”
“Besides the really strange description, Trin is right,” Zayne said.
“We know,” Nicolai replied. “And that’s where we come in to help. There’s no way just you two are going to be able to move that kind of weight in there.”
He was right, and there was no point in arguing against it. We needed all the help we could get.
“But it will still be doable,” Zayne added.
I nodded. “Yes. Totally doable as in you’ll probably need some intensive therapy afterward, because even though you won’t be able to see most of what’s in there, they’re going to make their presence known and then some.”
“Can’t wait,” Dez said without an ounce of enthusiasm. “So if we’re successful in shutting down the portal—”
“We will be,” Danika interrupted.
“Okay. When we’re successful and we shut down the portal,” Dez began again. “That leaves Gabriel to be dealt with.”
“That’s me.” I raised a hand. “And Zayne,” I tacked on before he could say it. “You guys can’t be anywhere near him. Not to be a downer, but he would kill any Warden in a heartbeat.”
“She’s right again.” Zayne caught my arm again, but this time stopping me. He guided me over to a bar stool. “You’re wearing me out, and I’m just watching you.”
“Not to doubt the awesomeness of a Trueborn and Fallen combined,” Nicolai said as I sat in the bar stool. “But are you two going to be enough?”
“Apparently it won’t be just...” Zayne’s hands landed on my shoulders. “Wait. They don’t know, do they?”
I pursed my lips as I tipped my head back.
“Know about what?” Dez asked.
Zayne met my gaze as he stared down at me. “You didn’t tell them?”
“Didn’t exactly seem like a wise thing to do.” My eyes narrowed. “And it’s probably still not the greatest idea to share, Zayne.”
“Tell us what?” Nicolai demanded.
One side of Zayne’s lips curved up, and he had the same air of wicked anticipation as Cayman had when the demon told him about our plans. He drew his lower lip between his teeth.
“Zayne,” I warned.
“Too late.” He dropped a quick kiss on my lips before I could say another word. “Trin, along with Roth and Layla, came up with the spectacular idea to get backup.”