“Yeah,” Jean said from behind her. “Totally rude, Delaney.”
She was also in black, her hair French braided back from her temples and finished in two long plaits. “I brought snacks.” She strolled past Myra and stopped in front of me.
“You—” I said.
“Nope,” she said. “There’s no more talking this over. No more tricks. You are not going to rescue Ryder without us. You’re welcome.”
Myra stepped up beside her and checked her watch. “Bathin will be here in a minute. Youweregoing to ask him to take you weren’t you?”
“I…fine. Yes.”
Myra scoffed. “I knew it. Like he wouldn’t have told me when you contacted him. This was always going to be us with you, no matter what you tried. So here, swallow this.”
She opened her palm. In it were three very small pebbles. “These will make it so Bathin can keep track of all of us, and so we can find each other if we get lost.”
“Cool.” Jean grabbed one, popped it in her mouth and swallowed.
Myra pushed her hand toward me. “You too.”
“This is gross,” I said, picking the smaller of the two pebbles.
“If you hide that in your pocket or cheek, or under your tongue, I’m gonna kick you in the shins,” she said.
She popped the rock in her mouth, waited for me to do the same.
The pebble tasted faintly of river and dirt and salt. It also tasted of magic: a sweet, honey spark.
Myra unscrewed her water flask, drank, and handed me the flask.
I swallowed and chased it with water. “So you have this all planned out?” I asked.
“We follow the plan we agreed we’d undertake at dawn. Except we do it early, because we have to.”
“Because you knew I’d go without you,” I said.
She dropped her hand on my shoulder and bent her head until she caught my gaze. “Because we have to. We have to save Ryder. Waiting around for the sun to rise isn’t going to help. Did you sleep any at all?”
I nodded. “A couple hours. Did you send Bertie?”
“No, but she talked to me. She wanted to come with us.”
“I know.”
“Why did you tell her to stay behind?”
“Fewer people involved, fewer people I can lose,” I said. “Which is why you and Jean should—”
“Are going with you,” Jean said firmly. Myra nodded.
Before I could find some other way to argue them out of their decision, a voice called out. “Reed sisters, are we ready?”
Myra lit up at the voice, and Bathin strolled over to us. Behind him were four people I did not expect: Xtelle, Avnas, Hogan, and Old Rossi.
“So ready,” Jean agreed. “Hey, Rossi. Did you bring my money?”
“No,” he said. “Delaney, you lost me lunch money.”
“What was the bet?” I asked.
