The gears were turning in Rey's head, and he might have figured out a way to get out of this predicament. However, it would require precise planning, and if a single thing went wrong, it would be an All-You-Can-Eat Soul Buffet, with Rey as the dessert, while the others were the main dish.

  They were looking at him expectantly, and he let them. For all parts of the plan were not fully realized, and he didn't want to seem like an idiot in front of everyone by speaking too early. Besides, they all considered him very smart and valued his intelligence and insight. He needed to make sure that he kept this persona up, even though he was cheating, as he knew about the future.

  He chuckled as parts of his plan fell into place. "Oh, this is good."

  "What's good?" Filomena asked.

  Rey's eyes fell on her, and he had just found a way to confirm a suspicion that had been gnawing at the back of his mind for a long time. That made him laugh, slow at first, then all at once. The others' looks of confusion turned worrisome as they must have thought he had lost it.

  "He's gone mad from fear," Jerry said.

  "I agree," Maria added.

  Kassandra stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Rey, is everything okay?"

  “Kassi, my lo…lass…” He almost said, love. That was a good save. Good one, Rey. "I am more than okay. I have just figured out a path for our salvation. I can get us out of here. All I'll need is a brave volunteer to have a face-to-face chat with the lovely demon outside."

  Again, everyone fell silent, something they had been doing a lot lately. It was as if whenever Rey said something a little out of the ordinary, he put their computing systems on hold.

  "What?" Rey looked around. "No one wants to offer themselves as tribute? I'm rather disappointed. It could've been a classic Hunger Games moment."

  "I'll—" Kassandra started to speak, but Rey interjected.

  "But Rey, what is the plan?" He said in an excellent imitation of Kassandra, but she didn't think much of it. "It's only fair that you all must've wanted to know the plan before presenting yourself to the scary demon. Trust me, if it were me, I would too."

  "Then stop wasting time, and start jabbering." Tia, of course, who always had such rosy words spilling from her tongue that sometimes Rey wanted to cut it off.

  "The plan is simple, we throw open the doors and invite Unokir inside," Rey replied. "And cue the outrage."

  And outraged they were. Only Kassandra waited with crossed arms. Rey shot her a smile and a wink.

  "That's it," snapped Jerry. "He's officially gone mad."

  "I say we lock him up and toss the key," Tia added.

  "You cannot be serious," Filomena cried.

  Even Ajay lost confidence in him. "Rey, please be serious. We're in a dire situation."

  Rey decided now was the time to jump in. "And I am serious, Mr. Charmander." One by one, they quieted to hear him speak. "The plan is simple. One of us will invite the big, scary demon for a candlelight dinner and tell him they're serving the entire village on a silver platter, provided they are left off the menu."

  "Then why don't you go meet him yourself?" Tia said. "It is your plan."

  "You remember how I finger blasted him, and all my gusto about wrath and ruin," Rey replied. "He's never going to believe I've defected to his side or that I've had a change of heart just because we've had a little bit of food shortage. Look at us, we don't look nearly malnourished enough or mad with hunger that we would consider joining his side. I definitely don't, and I won't for a long time. Until there is grass by the well, I'll be grazing it like a hungry cow. I wonder if my shit will turn green."

  He hadn't meant to say the last part out loud. But once again, his intrusive thoughts had won, and the others once again looked at him all weird.

  "Hey, it's my grass. I called it first," Rey snapped.

  "And you can have it," Kassandra said. "Let's talk about your plan. So, you want one of us to invite Unokir inside, while the rest of us are doing what? Hiding to ambush him?"

  Rey snapped his fingers. "That is exactly what the rest of us will be doing. But wait, there's more. We don't need to fight him, no, we're going to trap him inside this castle. After all, he's tried so hard to get in here, why waste all that effort if he just leaves so quickly and doesn't enjoy the amenities of this fine establishment?"

  "And how will we do that?" Filomena asked.

  "The third door," Kassandra said, eyes widening with each word as the details of Rey's plan fell into place for her.

  "Right again, Kassi," Rey exclaimed. "One of us, let's say…" He rubbed his chin, looking at everyone, and they shirked their gaze away, just like students in a classroom, so that the teacher wouldn't pick them. But this was all a show. He knew who he was going to choose before he even started this charade. "Tia!"

  Her expression noticeably soured. "Why me?"

  "Just an example, my dear," Rey mimicked his most lovely teacher, who hated Rey for some reason. "Let's say, Tia here will go to our besieger and tell him that she wants to defect to his side. You'd better play this part with as much vigor as you muster, dear. Convince him that you hate the rest of us for stealing your toiletries or something like that. Open the gates and bring him to the third door. You will also have to convince him to smear the door with his blood to open it. If you can convince him of that, the battle is half won already. With this blood on the door, he won't ever be able to leave the confines of the castle. We'll jump him then, shove him in the well room or the armory, and dash off into the night. Simple."

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "Simple," she mocked him. "Get someone else to do that, then."

  "Why not you?" Rey asked. "All those in favor of volunteering, Tia, please raise your hands?"

  Just about every hand went up, save for Maria, who it seemed didn't raise her hand in most situations, for fear of earning bad karma or something. Rey made a mental note to remind her that she was already in Hell; no matter how much good she did, she would still be in Hell. Angels wouldn't come down here to pluck her out of this demon-infested place and take her to the Kingdom in the clouds.

  "Fuck you all," Tia seethed. "What is stopping me from giving you all up?"

  "But that's the plan, Princess Peach," Rey cried. "You give us up, and we take care of the rest. All you have to do is bring him in and get him to smear his blood on the third door."

  "And if he cuts me open right then and there."

  "He won't," Rey replied. "Because you won't tell him where we're hiding until he is in. You can even make it part of the deal that you want to be left alive. You play your part well, and you will make it out alive, I am ninety percent sure of that."

  She squinted at him. "You're using me as a scapegoat."

  "Of course, I am, but a scapegoat that will be the first to escape if this goes south."

  Which it most likely will, but it's best that the others didn't know about that.

  "Fine, but you better be watching my back when I go meet with that fuck."

  "Don't worry, if he tried to do anything nasty, I'll shoot him back out in a jiffy." Rey smiled for more than one reason. He had his scapegoat, and he would get confirmation if she was working with Unokir from the start.

  ******

  For safety's sake, they waited a few more hours to prepare before they put their plan into motion. Kassandra even went to check from the watchtower if the coast was clear, so to speak. Rey's heart was in his mouth the entire time.

  Thankfully, no demons were awaiting them at the tower. Perhaps the demons were foolish to believe that it was merely a decorative tower, without any actual purpose.

  Kassandra had reported that the demon horde had lessened considerably from the one that had attacked them. There were mounds of demon corpses everywhere, and a man in a suit lounged upon such a mound close to the castle door as he chewed on a piece of meat.

  So, the plan was set, and everything was ready. All they had to do was get everything moving. But Rey couldn't help but feel that he had overlooked something, as they were going down to give the all clear to everyone.

  Kassandra gripped his arm and stopped him. "Can you trust Tia to do such an important task alone?"

  "It's because I don't trust her that I'm sending her alone," Rey replied. "If she's lying to us, her lie will be exposed soon, and if Unokir doesn't like her or the deal, then I lose someone I don't care about losing."

  She surveyed his face for a moment. "It's why you didn't let me volunteer, because you were going to make her do this all along."

  "Yep," Rey said with a smile. And I do care about losing you.

  "But how will you know if she is trying to betray us if you send her out there alone?" Kassandra said.

  Rey nodded. "Good point. I guess there'll be a slight amendment in the plan. Ah, thank you, Kassi. That would've come to bite me in the ass."

  She smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

  Rey frowned. "To bite me in the ass? I didn't know you were into that sort of stuff."

  Kassandra's cheeks flushed. "What? No! To point out your mistakes."

  But Rey was laughing before she even finished.

  "Oh, I'm so going to get you back for this." Then the smile withered from her face. "Rey, if we don't make it out of this..."

  "We will," he replied. "I've seen the future, remember."

  "Then why are you so tense?"

  He gripped her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. "We'll be fine." He said more to reassure himself than for her.

  They reached the others with no biting of any kind, thankfully. Everyone had taken fresh weapons from the armory and were prepared for the upcoming fight, which, if it worked properly, would be over in a heartbeat.

  "Ladies and gents, the coast is clear," Rey said. "We can begin the plan—bite the demon in the ass, and then run away."

  Kassandra snorted. "Really small name for a plan."

  "I know. I tried to shorten it, but you can't compete with simplicity."

  "Call it what you want," Tia snapped. "But if you fuck me on this. I swear, I'm coming back as a demon and hunting you down to the ends of Hell."

  "Doubtful," Rey said off-handedly, without realizing he should've kept his mouth shut.

  "Why is that doubtful?" Tia asked slowly. "We saw the demons making a ring around Gloria's soul. They couldn't get to it. You said that the demons have a certain time limit before they can descend on a soul. So, why are you doubtful that I cannot do the same?"

  Rey sighed. "I guess, we're doing this. It's because of how powerful Unokir is. I just saw a possible future where he kills you outright and gobbles up your soul almost right away. You see, your soul can only hold off demons for a certain time. Think of it as a barrier or forcefield around the soul. The greater the difference between the demon's rank and your rank at the time of death, the faster it will erode the barrier and get at your soul. The weaker ones take time. This was why Phil felt darkness encroaching on him; the longer it took him to reach his soul. In other words, Unokir is so strong that your soul will barely be able to hold him off for a minute, and even that would be a feat."

  "And you want to send me to such a demon," Tia snarled.

  "I'm not," Rey replied. "We're bringing him to us, or well, you are. You will talk to him at the door, and once I give the signal, you can open the door for him, and the rest you already know."

  "And this will change the future where I die and he gobbles up my soul?" Tia asked.

  "Yep," Rey lied. He knew nothing about the future anymore. This was entirely new for him. Last time, Phil, in his demonic state, hungry for souls, had opened the door. Phil wasn't here, nor was a demon present that could open the door.

  Tia nodded. "Okay, but you better not—"

  "Don't worry, Barbie. We'll be right here to back you up if anything goes wrong." Rey smiled and then added. "And if you do die, I'll make sure you get your second chance at life, which won't happen. I assure you. Ready?"

  "As ready as I'll ever be," she grumbled and took her position by the unbarricaded door.

  Jerry had removed all the fortifications and barricades to the door, or there was no way she could've opened the door. Even Sergei, with his super strength, wouldn't have been able to move it a smidge.

  Everyone ran into the corridor and hid themselves in the well room and the armory. Only Rey remained, hidden behind the staircase, as backup in case things didn't go as planned. He planned on giving the demon another—click, click, boom—if he so much as moved for Tia.

  Tia pounded on the door and opened the slit. "Hey Unokir!"

  Rey frowned. Yes, he will totally buy it that everyone else is asleep if you make so much noise, dumbass.

  Unokir showed up at the door a few moments later. "Ah, my sweet lass, this is a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be that rude boy again."

  "Yes, well, they're trying to dig their way out of this castle," Tia said.

  Rey was impressed. Not bad. That was a better lie than that everyone was sleeping.

  Tia continued. "I'm here to extend an invitation to you."

  "Invitation for what, Tia?" Unokir asked.

  Did she tell him her name yet?

  "A feast."

  Tia pulled aside the bolt and smashed the door open full speed. Rey nearly shot out of his hiding spot. His heart raced as Unokir sauntered in and caressed Tia's cheek lovingly, who quickly closed the door behind him and bolted it shut.

  "I hope you've been giving them some sleepless nights," Unokir said.

  "Like you won't believe," Tia purred.

  Then everything fell into place. Who it was that had been causing that banging. Who had attacked Bahar? Who threw the bucket in the well, burnt their food stores, and left the watchtower door open? Who was the demon that had been hiding in the castle?

  Rey looked at Tia and used Identify, but he knew what he would find.

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+3]

  Once again, fate course corrected to hit Rey with a 'Surprise, Motherfucker!'