hope it works out. Your dreams aren't bullshit, but still… it's not logical." She handed him the envelope.
I walked out of my room. "Hallo, Zamara."
"Yeah, didn't mean to wake you up, Ana. But he's on my shit-list."
"Don't be mad at him. I threw myself at Tyb. He told me 'No' a few times, too." I felt embarrassed to tell her that, but still, the blame is mine. I pushed the envelope.
"Saying no and following through are two different things, Ana."
"I didn't give him a choice, Mara. It was either give me what I want or help me whittle a dildo. He didn't like the idea of a sharp thing near a penis, evidently. He capitulated. I seduced him with bravado."
Mara looked from me to Tyb and back to me. " You said that?"
Tyb and I both nodded. "Yeah, I did. I'm not a hussy, I swear. But he brings it out in me."
Mara swiped a hand over her face in a tired gesture. "Goddamn your fucking dreams, Tyb. This makes things a little…Hmm, shaky, shall we say? You don't want to poke the pissed off grizzly bear with a sharp stick in its eye."
"Yeah I do. I want to blind him with that stick, first. He'll do something stupid if he's pushed. He'll lose sight of what he wants to get even. He's petty like that."
"Your little bower from him won't be so safe if he gets pissed enough. He'll raze the goddamn countryside on a quest for blood."
Tyb looked absolutely certain. "He can raze. He'll still end up at the wrong end of my pointy stick. I've got a couple advantages over him, the least being that I can be patient. Second advantage, he'll never know what will hit him. Is that postal box still available?"
"The one from years ago? Yeah. I still have the key and have been paying for it… Going to be placing an order soon?"
"Yup. Still buddies with the satellite guy?"
"Why yes I am. What's your plan, Tyb. I can see the hamster running on its wheel in your head. You're up to mischief."
"I'm toying with an idea, is all. I can guarantee it'll get a reaction from Haytham. I can guarantee he'll get enraged and I can guarantee that it'll bring him out of hiding."
"And what purpose does this fulfill?" Mara's expression seemed very unamused with Tyb.
"He'll come raging like a bull from where ever he is. Team A takes him down, Team B storms the castle and rescues Princess Aisha from the clutches of Haytham. You'll be on Team B, I know you'll like going Commando."
"Hey, the Commandos drink a lot of tea. They are a respectable lot."
I sat in silence, wondering just how exactly we'd bait Christos. "So, how exactly do we get him out of hiding? I know it'll involve me."
Tyb looked at me with his shrewd, amber eyes. "I'm trying to think of a way to piss him off royally without you being naked on the internet."
Well, okay then. "Me just being alive?"
"Not enough. We want 'Insane in the Membrane' kind of anger."
Mara broke the silence. "You know, Ana naked would just drive him nuts…"
"There are only two things that Christopher Haytham holds dear beyond belief. His power and his toys. He never liked competition. Wouldn't even have to be hardcore to piss him off. Just the thought of some other man between my thighs would set him off."
"I want you to think about planting that thought, Izzy." At Mara's bewildered expression, Tyb explained, "Ana died over that cliff. She's Izzy."
"Well, that makes things convenient." Tyb's brow knit and Mara finished her thought. "When you open the envelope, you'll see."
"Okay, so no matter the method for pissing in Christos's eye, said urine needs to be delivered to his eye. How will this happen?"
Tyb spoke with a smirk. "I was thinking maybe we'd text him from an untraceable phone or email him through a series of proxy servers. Send him an URL. At the end of that, a message from Izzy, here, invoking the ghost of Selesta. Could taunt him into stupidity. He'd try to track where the image sourced from, but would either hit a brick wall or have to buy the company to get that info. The reason I suggested naked, is
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