“What would be the purpose of this little charade?” McClusky asked dismissively.

“We might learn where the portal is, how it’s guarded, perhaps even something of how they’re maintaining this prison,” Brad said with a smile that didn’t seem to have much of a charming effect on the Council wizards. “After all, that information would be necessary for us to take any advantage of the uprising you propose.”

“But this infiltration exposes us to risk,” Mac argued. “We don’t know how they’re identifying each other, but if they spot a plant, then they’ll know we’re on to them. We have to act quickly and decisively to have the advantage. What we need to do is revive every prisoner we can find, set a day and time, and then everyone takes over their guards at once. Then we take a few hostages and head straight for that gateway.”

Brad turned to me. “What do you think of this plan, Katie?”

I gulped. “Me? What does my opinion matter?”

Brad gave me a smile that I was certain had to be magically enhanced. “I nominate you as our leader.”

“I’m in charge here,” Mac insisted.

“We never agreed upon that,” Brad said, his voice silky smooth, the aural equivalent of melted chocolate. “I know you would never agree upon an elf as the leader, so we will compromise. A wizard may lead us, as long as Katie is that wizard.”

I opened my mouth to say that I wasn’t really a wizard, but Owen elbowed me in the side. When I turned to look at him, he shook his head almost imperceptively, and I could have sworn he was fighting back a smile.

Mac sputtered, too irate for words, and glared at Owen and me. Owen maintained an expression of pure innocence. Brad’s smile was even more innocent than that. “Shall we put it to a vote?” he asked with a glance over his shoulder to his people, as if to remind us that the elves had the wizards outnumbered, even if the vote split along those lines.

“Very well,” Mac grumbled. “But you’re making a mistake.”

“Katie’s been MSI’s secret weapon for a while now, so you may be surprised,” Owen said, speaking for the first time in the meeting.

“So, Katie, our fearless leader, what do you think about the prison break plan?” Brad asked.

I gulped and took a couple of deep breaths. I’d never led much of anything in my life, despite Owen’s vote of confidence. I’d never even been an officer in a club when I was in school. I was more likely to be the person who got things done behind the scenes. “I think the uprising should be a last resort,” I said when I trusted myself to speak and sound authoritative instead of like a scared little girl. “There haven’t been that many uprisings that were actually successful. They’ve been more symbolic than anything, something to rally around without doing any practical good. Has any inmate prison uprising ever resulted in the inmates going free for good?” I directed that question at Mac. To be honest, I wasn’t sure of the answer, but it didn’t seem like the kind of thing that was likely to happen.

Mac shrugged grudgingly, but he didn’t speak, so I continued, gaining confidence as I went on. “We’re at even more of a disadvantage because we don’t yet know how to get back home. Information gathering should be our first priority, and we need to know about both sides of the portal. We need to find any fellow prisoners who were taken after we were and see if they know anything more about what Sylvester’s doing. Since people are being sent here for knowing too much, someone’s bound to know something important. For instance, I know there’s an MSI security operative here who was taken after we were, and if I find him again, he may have information.”

“I will spread the word through my people,” Brad said with a nod.

“But be careful about that. Mac was right that we should keep this in separate cells. If they’re smart, they’ll have had at least one plant in among the prisoners, someone we’re likely to trust. If we don’t all know each other, they won’t be able to track all of us down, no matter who they catch. You have warned everyone you’ve awakened about writing down possible memory triggers, right?”

Everyone in the room pulled pieces of paper out of their pockets. “Good,” I said with a nod, suddenly feeling very official. “Then we’ll need to learn about this side of the portal. If you’ve got someone who could infiltrate the gray guards, that would be good. You may need to observe them a while to fit in. Check for magic use to make sure your illusions don’t give you away. We shouldn’t meet too frequently. Earl at the bookstore makes a good information drop point. Do any of you know an elf named Perdita?”