The redhead shakes her head, chin coming up, stubborn as ever. Like she’s ready to square off against me.
I glare through her. I could take the information right here. Force her tothinkit. And I will, if I have to, to protect Eliza.
But my stomach still roils, headache throbbing from earlier when the Ancients tried to unlock my brain like a treasure chest.
Mags works to keep her thoughts steady. But even Ash sees the guilt behind her gaze.
She changes the subject. “Instead of disclosure, distraction’s been the name of the game for too long to remember. Can’t imagine that will change now.”
“Speaking of that… seen more from the suits while we were gone?” I ask, voice embittered. “We left things…unfinishedwith them.”
“Heard about your adventure from Ash.” Mags lets out a slow breath. “Local chatter says they pulled back.”
Ash frowns. “Just like that?” His eyes meet mine, swirling with knowledge of Eliza’s rescue.
“Not exactly,” she replies. “They’re still around. Watching. But they’re not pushing… or too crazy about explaining how a couple of local-yokel cowboys stormed a top-secret location.”
“But what if they come back to the café?” Eliza asks, her voice threaded with fear.
I wrap my arm around her, comforting her with my mind. Her shoulders instantly relax. “Then, I make sure they never come back.”
Mags’s gaze shifts to me. Then back to her. A flicker of curiosity lingers—like the Sentinels. “I don’t think they’ll bother you for awhile… because maybe they realized something,” she whispers.
“What?” Ash presses.
“That they’re not at the top of this anymore… and something spoke that they couldn’t ignore.”
Something tightens in my chest. It doesn’t feel like relief or victory but something else.
Like even they answer to something higher.
“And whatever it was,” she adds quietly, “it wasn’t asking.”
I glance out towards the mountains. The place where the sky tore open. Where they stood, and something bigger than all of us shifted.
“They’ll come back,” Eliza says softly.
“Yeah,” I answer, pressing a kiss to her temple. My gaze lifts to the horizon. “Next time,” I say, voice low and resolute, “they won’t walk away.”
“About that,” Ash says in dark tones. “I’ve been thinking of some new safeguards. Protocols to protect our communities. Figure it’s time we get those dampeners working right again… maybe add some government suppressors for good measure.”
“Not for us, forthem,” I growl.
Ash nods. “Josephine and I had our own run-in with their damn insects. Annoying as hell. Time for some bug spray.”
“And maybe zappers,” Jo adds with a wicked chuckle. I can already tell she’s a fighter like Eliza.
Good. We need mates like that.
The pieces of the puzzle finally fit together. “The cabin in the north pasture. Where I found the dampener. That was Sentinel handiwork?” I ask.
“What you two sound like you saw. Small drones about yay high,” Ash explains, talking with his hands. “They looked like?—”
“Dragonflies,” Jo cuts in, a nervous edge to her voice.
Eliza and I exchange a look.
“More talk later,” I say, feeling the pull again.
