“Can we force Suryn to come with us?” Nash asks, and all heads snap to him. He tenses a little. “I mean, if she’s going to be murdered for marking us, maybe she’d be interested in escaping too, that’s all I’m saying.”
I try to picture the redheaded arrogant ass of a Sentinel voluntarily fleeing with us. “Yeah, I just don’t see that happening. She doesn’t seem like she’ll ever be our biggest fan.”
“But we don’t even know her, so can we really say for sure at this point?” Enoch defends, and I bristle.
“Are you defending her?” Knox asks, voicing the question that’s on the tip of my tongue.
“I’m not…” Enoch trails off. “I don’t...maybe...yeah, I guess I am defending her. I don’t think we can just write her off based on what happened today.”
I give an incredulous snort. “Why the fuck not? She called you filth. I don’t know what kind of rose colored Chosen glasses you’re viewing this chick through, but there is no part of her that is okay with the fact that she marked you.”
“But didn’t you guys say you were all freaked out in the beginning too?” Nash counters.
“Dude, that was not the same thing,” Sabin tells him. “We didn’t know what the marks were all about, but we were all on board with Vinna.”
I don’t point out that Sabin wasn’t exactly on board until a little bit later. Technically, he’s right though. He was worried about how fast things were progressing, but he didn’t actually hate me—which is not the case with Suryn.
“But you guysdidsay that you were all okay being on board because you trusted the magic. Shouldn’t we be trusting the magic in their case too?” Siah asks, gesturing to Enoch and the others.
“Not when the magic is tied to a ruthless psychopath,” I counter.
“You could have been a ruthless psychopath for all I knew when we sealed our bond,” Siah counters.
I open my mouth to dispute what he’s saying and quickly close it.
Fuck, he has a point.
“Trusting the magic becomes a moot point if they decide all of us need to die. If sticking with her equals death, then we need to find a way to either sever the tie, or like Ryker said, trump her claim,” Kallan states, his features pensive as he stares blankly out of the back window.
Something about the look on his face has me pausing. I’m clearly not a fan of the Sentinel who marked them or this situation, but I realize in this moment that this can’t be easy for any of them. They’re now tied to someone they don’t know, with an uncertain fate that’s not looking so good, no matter what angle it’s viewed from.
“I know we’re all feeling antsy and very eager to get away from here, but the reality is we don’t have to decide tonight. This whole tribunal thing buys us some time. Tawv said they will call one tomorrow, but I don’t know if they decide in one day or if it takes time,” Sorik states.
“Yeah, I have the feeling it could go either way. The Sovereign seemed pretty convinced they’d just do what she wants,” Siah points out.
“So if they decide pretty quickly against us, then we have our answer on trying to trump the marks and fighting our way out of here. However, if we get time, then we can try to learn as much as we can about this place and our options. We can see iftheirSentinel was just having a bad day,” Sorik tells us as he gestures to Enoch and his coven. “And gauge if we think there’s any hope that she could be swayed to our side. They said we can go where we want, so let’s try to find some answers if we can,” he concludes.
The rest of us go quiet as we consider that plan.
“That works for me,” I state at the same time the others voice their agreement.
“Let’s fucking hope the tribunal consists of a bunch of people the Sovereign pissed off,” Torrez adds, and we all sound our agreement.
“If we do get a chance to do some reconnaissance, I want the covens to stay together. We can find more if we’re looking in different places, but we need to be smart about it. Enoch and the Shields, you guys stick with each other and watch each other’s backs. Same goes for us. We can split up to cover more ground but still be somewhat safe in numbers. If anything even remotely feels off, signal, and the other group will come running.”
Everyone nods their understanding.
“I think it would be best if I stay close to our rooms with Vaughn,” Sorik adds. “No one has paid him too much attention with everything going on, but that could change the more they see all of us. If they learn that he does whatever he’s commanded to do, that could be used against us.”
I release a tired exhale. “Good point,” I agree. “We can take turns watching him here; that way you’re not cooped up all the time.”
Sorik gives me a kind smile. “I wouldn’t be bothered by the down time, so don’t worry about me. It will give me time to see if there’s any hope of reversing or completing what went wrong when Adriel tried to make him a lamia.”
I turn to look at Vaughn. Sorik’s words swirl around in my mind. A spark of hope settles in my chest. I don’t want to acknowledge it, but as I stare up at the fairy lights above our head, I can’t help it. Who knows what abilities lie in the marks of the people of Tierit? If there was ever a place where Vaughn could get help, this place is probably it. I work to keep the newfound hope under my boot though. I don’t want that hope to get too high, or think of what things could be like if Vaughn were to get better. Getting excited over possibilities, maybes, and long shots has not really turned out well for me, and I worry somehow that just my hope alone could jinx all of it.
“Okay, let’s all get some rest then,” Ryker calls out. “Enoch, you guys can take this room,” he instructs, pointing to the room on the right. “Sorik, you and Vaughn can have the back room, and we’ll take the two on the other side. Everyone cool with that?”
Shrugs and nods answer Ryker’s direction, and slowly everyone disperses to their designated room. I watch as my Shields tiredly break away, and I’m once again struck with how fucked up all of this must feel for them. Sabin steps into my line of sight and offers me a hand up from the twins’ laps. I get up with a groan and wonder if I’ve ever been this tired before.
