“It means that you’re in the mist,” Shea finally told the other man. “Finding your way out is not going to be easy. Most who get lost here are never seen again.”
“Superstition.” The man’s dismissive voice rubbed Shea the wrong way, reminding her of other missions, others whose assumptions and ignorance put people in danger.
Before Shea could make a cutting remark, Fallon stepped in. “Braden, enough. You know as well as I do that something is wrong. We’ve been wandering for days in land that is unfamiliar when it shouldn’t be.”
“Days?” That was worse than Shea had feared. It meant escaping had just become significantly more difficult.
“As best as I could figure.” Fallon’s deep voice was a steadying influence.
“At least three, maybe four. Time is difficult to gauge when you can’t tell whether its day or night,” Braden said.
“How many men do you still have?” Shea asked.
“We started with a hundred and are down to seventy,” Fallon said. “We’re lucky we had stopped for the night when it descended, or we would have lost many more. As it is, I barely gathered the men in time.”
More of them had survived than she had expected. She had anticipated only being able to locate Fallon. The rest were a bonus.
“I think I can get us out of here,” Shea said. “But it’s going to require you to trust me.”
Fallon pushed a lock of hair behind Shea’s ear. “Always.”
She gave him a smile, one that lit up her face. “Do you have rope or some way to stay connected with each other?”
“Yes, it’s how we kept them from getting lost over the past few days. We tried to just walk close to one another that first day, but more than one ended up getting separated from the group. After that, I had them tie themselves to each other with rope so we wouldn’t lose any more men.”
That quick thinking had probably saved them. Shea wasn’t sure she would have been able to locate Fallon if he’d been any deeper. The men with him would have delayed their descent further into the lands the mist shrouded. She was just grateful she’d found them in time.
“How long before your men can be ready to move?” Shea asked.
Fallon turned his head and barked a command. The sound of movement came from around them.
“We’re ready to go now.”
She noticed the rope tied around his waist for the first time. He shifted slightly when it pulled at him as the men arranged themselves.
She couldn’t help the smile that took over her face. She did love efficiency.
“All right then, I’ll take lead.”
“Wait, we’re really trusting her to lead us out of here?” Braden asked. “We stopped so we could get our bearing. How do we know she can find her way out when none of us could?”
The mist began moving again, veiling Braden and Fallon from Shea’s eyes. She reached out and grabbed Fallon’s arm before he could disappear entirely.
“I trust her with my life. If anybody can do this, she can.”
Shea’s hand slid down Fallon’s arm until she gripped his fingers.
The tug in her chest toward home was faint here, almost nonexistent. For a moment she feared she’d lost it—that she had ventured so deep into the mist after Fallon that there was no way out.
Then she caught it.
She stepped forward, Fallon’s hand clasped securely in hers. One by one, his men followed as they progressed slowly through the mist. Much slower than the pace Shea had set on her journey in. It was a necessary precaution with such a long chain of people.
Fallon was a silent presence at her side, as if he sensed that she needed quiet. That her connection was tenuous at best and she needed her focus. Though she couldn’t see him nor he her, she could almost feel his eyes boring into her back. It was a comforting sensation as they crept through the haze.
*
So focused on that tug leading her out of the mist, Shea almost didn’t notice when the haze thinned. Such an imperceptible change at first, that it was easy to miss. Only the slight flex in Fallon’s hand around hers warned her.
