“It’s here.” Nyalla parted the thorny leaves and pointed to the phone, face-down in the sandy dirt. She and Terrelle had searched the area while Gabe kept guard. The Find My Friends app wasn’t specific in location beyond a thirty-foot radius, so they’d needed to scour the area, agreeing to claim that one of them had lost their cell phone if some helpful human asked why they were digging around in the brush and cacti that grew wild just outside of Baby Beach.

She picked up the phone and turned it over. The battery was dead, but otherwise it didn’t appear damaged. Some of the cacti were broken nearby. Terrelle knelt down and swiped her hand across something, bringing her finger up to peer at it.

“Idiot. Well, Snip got caught and he bled. There’s not enough blood here to be concerned that he’s dead, though, just in case you’re the sort that gets concerned about stupid Lows getting their heads knocked off their bodies.”

Gabe came over to them, looking between the phone, and the smear of red on Terrelle’s fingers. “Well, this changes things.”

The information demon sighed. “Yeah. Hopefully Snip won’t tell them about the fake Job’s Tears and our plan to do a heist.”

“I’m not sure they’ll interrogate him,” Gabe said. “Hopefully they won’t believe we’re smart to have figured out their plan and just assume Snip was spying, or was trying to rob them, or something. They’ll most likely use him as a bargaining chip. We get Snip and stop insisting that we want an angel to verify the exchange — an angel that would clearly know the Gormand was pulling a switch and keeping the artifact for himself.”

Terrelle snorted. “Even a Gormand isn’t that stupid. You might not realize this, but Lows mean nothing to demons. They’re disposable, fun to use or tear apart without any remorse at all. They’ll torture Snip for info, then kill him. They’ll know he has no value to us in an exchange.”

“Maybe not,” Nyalla chimed in. “I agree with Gabe, I think they’ll use him in the exchange. You might be a demon, but as far as the Gormand knows, Gabe and I are two humans, and most humans would want to rescue a member of their team, would want to ransom them and make sure they returned alive. He’ll use Snip’s capture to intimidate us into accepting the artifact with the ancient’s verification, then send us on our way.”

“So what’s our new plan?” Terrelle asked

“Not much different than the old one,” Gabe said. “We take the fake artifact and Snip tonight, act properly cowed, then steal the real one.”

Nyalla looked down at the phone in thought. “The angel will most likely take off once the Gormand gives us the fake Tear, but the demons will need to take a boat or plane back somewhere, either to get to a gate back to Hel, or to meet up with another buyer.”

“Plane,” Terrelle announced. “A boat will take too long. Plus lots of demons are uneasy about being in large bodies of water for any length of time, and they’ll want to get out of here fast before the we give the fake Tear to the Iblis and she discovers the deception.”

“Then we’ll have all night and early morning to steal the Tear,” Nyalla said. “There are only about ten flights off the island each day and no late-night flights. The first plane leaves at nine in the morning. We can steal the Tear before they leave for the airport, probably while they’re partying it up, celebrating after the midnight exchange.”

“No.” Gabe frowned. “They won’t celebrate prematurely. If the first plane off the island is at nine, they’ll want to make sure we’re on it, off the island, and that the angel is satisfied the deal is done before they can relax.”

“So we steal the Tear while they’re watching us board the plane? How is that going to work?” Nyalla asked.

“They’ll send skinny demon to watch us board the plane, which means we can fool him into thinking we’ve left by doubling back once we’re past security. He’ll stand around outside where he can’t see whether we actually board or not, to watch the plane leave. While he’s doing that, we’ll steal the Tear from the Gormand. The ancient will, not doubt, either be leaving on the plane with us, or off on the island doing his own thing.”

“Or hanging with the Gormand,” Terrelle interjected. “Which one of us is going to be the thief?”

“Someone who won’t raise his suspicions.” Nyalla said.

“Someone human,” Terrelle said. “At least someone who is temporarily human.” Both of them looked at Gabe.

“I’m not good at stealing. I’m not even good at being a human. And he’ll recognize me. He’s met me twice and he got close enough to bash my face into the table, so I’m guessing even if he was half-blind he’d recognize me.”

“We need another human,” Terrelle announced. “I’ve got a weak enough energy signature that as long as I stay far enough away from the Gormand, he won’t recognize me. And I’ll wear a disguise, which will be so much fun. I love disguises.”

“How are you going to swap the artifact if you have to stay away from the Gormand?”

“Remember that guy renting the catamarans who wanted me to pay for sex? Marco?” Terrelle grinned. “Well, once wasn’t enough and I’ve been a bit of a regular customer. He has skills that extend beyond the bedroom. He can pick pockets. And I’m willing to bet with enough financial incentive he’ll pick this Gormand’s pocket.”

“That’s perfect,” Nyalla said excitedly. “Then we hide out on the island, watch to make sure they get on the plane, then we safeguard the Tear to make sure no one ever uses it again, and go home.”

“I’ll have to figure that safeguarding thing out later,” Gabe said. “Right now I can’t do much on that score as a human. I’ll need to just hold onto it until either I regain my grace, or until I can get it to Rafi.”

“Why Rafi?”

Gabe grinned. “Because he owes me one. He doesn’t tell anyone about my being temporarily turned into a human, and I don’t tell anyone about that time he flew at top speed into a billboard.”

Nyalla nodded. “It sounds like we have a plan, then. Well, the beginnings of a plan. We’ll work out the details of the airport sneak-out while Terrelle meets with her friend for the pick-pocket swap.”

“And then we hope that they kept Snip alive.”

“And that Snip kept his mouth shut.”