The man looked at me, lifting a brow. I knew he was trying to figure out if he should admit he knew me, but I didn't know the answer to that either. If I spoke honestly, I might be able to save these men, but I'd never be able to go back. I wouldn't see Callah again.
Yet the Wyvern tipped his head. "We brought you deer. Did you not like it?"
"We're not hunting," I told him, moving forward so there were no hunters between us. Slowly, I lifted my gun out to the side. "I'm going to set this down."
"Oh, that's a very good idea. I have two dogs trained just on you," the Wyvern said. "Ayla, show him."
She stepped from behind a tree, revealing a brownish dog on one side and one that was mostly black on the other. "Hello, Tobias," she said.
And from behind me, Elijah gasped, "Ayla!"
"I told you," she snarled at him, "to stop killing people!"
I lifted a hand to silence him. "And you know we don't have a choice," I said, making her talk to me. "These men just learnedwe've been sent as a distraction. You need to know that. We are here to be noticed."
The Wyvern made a gesture, and the entire forest around us moved. Men, women, and Dragons eased into view as if by some miracle. I twisted, unable to keep myself from looking and counted ten here, six there, and at least seven more on my other side. There were more behind me, which meant the odds were at least even, and likely in their favor.
"You got noticed," the Wyvern promised. "The bigger question is why you want to be?"
Slowly, I bent, setting the gun on the ground as far away from me as I could reach. "Men, put your weapons down. We've already lost."
Jonnas groaned, clearly suffering from what the dog had done to him, but I couldn't look back. I had to find a way to handle this. I had to walk this line.
Or not.
"Ayla," I said, standing slowly. "I am the team leader here. I havethe code.I also have a suspicion Gideon is leading people to Lorsa right now. They left yesterday. We're the mistakes. The worst hunters. They sent us out to die so the real attack could get around your line!"
"Fuck!" the Wyvern snarled.
And another man, the bright yellow one, moved into sight. "When?" His word was thick with an accent.
It was Elijah who answered. "We don't know. All we know is, this makes no sense. We were just talking about it when you found us."
"We need to turn back," Jeshiah said.
And the Wyvern chuckled. "Oh, it's too late for that. Surrender, and I'll let you live. Move wrong, and we'll feed all of you to the dogs."
"Do it!" I told them. "Trust me. This is your chance to be free. This? It's an opportunity you never knew you wanted, but you do." And I turned to face them. "Lay down your guns, and I will make sure they let all of us live, but you will never go back. Do you understand me? You can die, or you can live free, but you cannot return to the Righteous."
And to my surprise, men began kneeling, setting their weapons aside. Not all of them, but far more than I had ever expected.
Eighty-Five
Ayla
When Holly and Pepper had begun lying down and sitting alternately, I'd known Tobias was out there, trying to signal us. That Lansin's dogs were doing the same proved it. The problem was where they were. Thankfully, we had more than enough dogs.
Demon was sent to the east. Steel went west, checking the camps on either side of us. Within ten minutes, both dogs were back with notes saying their camps were experiencing the same, so Zasen picked a point and arranged for all of us to meet up. The dogs kept looking, letting us know where the whistle was coming from - or so we hoped - and we needed to be ready for what could be coming.
But I hadn't expected this.
We'd come upon a group of hunters screaming at each other, unaware of how their voices carried out here. The group was so intent on their argument, all of us were able to sneak up, right on top of them, but as the eastern camp moved to close them in, one man spun.
That was Tobias. He'd yelled for his men to be silent, but the dogs were already excited. Too many were growling, and itcarried. Like a thrumming in the chest, that was the sort of noise that should give these men nightmares.
"Do something!" I'd begged Zasen, so he'd stepped forward.
And now, Tobias was ordering these twenty-two men to lay down their weapons - and most were listening. Sadly, most was not all. Just behind Tobias, a scrawny, young-looking man tried to bolt instead of give up his gun.
