“Wyatt’s parents were killed by a Purified lycan,” I said. “A wolf the Order created and released. And then the Order recruited their orphaned son to fight the very thing they manufactured.”
“If we can prove this to him...”
“We can have a converted ally. Same goes to other hunters who have the same situation.”
She stared at the tablet. The screen glowed with data that had been sitting in the compound’s own archives, evidence of a twenty-year recruitment scheme built on manufactured grief.
“Percy.” Solomon’s voice, from across the clearing. Measured but carrying a note of approval I rarely heard directed at me. “That was well done.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“I’m not surprised. I’m impressed. Those are different.”
“Getting smarter every day.” I leaned back, and the grin that spread across my face was the first real one in a week. Dimples and all. “Give it time. I’ll be the brains of this operation.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Lucian said. But his mouth twitched.
“I’m serious. I’ve matured. Growth arc. Character development.” I gestured at myself. “New Percy. Improved model.”
“The improved model is still not wearing shoes,” Mira pointed out.
I looked down. She was right. I’d forgotten them at the waypoint stash. Solomon pinched the bridge of his nose. Lucian closed his eyes. And Mira laughed, real and full, and the sound of it was worth every day of silence that had preceded it.
The mood shifted when I raised the question that had been circling since my morning run.
“Why haven’t they found us?”
Solomon looked up from the maps. Lucian’s eyes opened.
“We’re half a mile from a hunter compound,” I continued. “Solomon’s route discipline is good but it’s not invisible. We’ve got a fire going. Mira comes and goes through drainage tunnels every two days. Giselle runs perimeter in wolf form.”
“Lord Farmon grinds medicine that smells strong enough to track from a mile out. Sure, he hid here for years but he was alone then and didn’t have as much attention or crossfire unlikewhat we did recently.” I spread my hands. “And in all this time, not one patrol has come close to this clearing. Not one drone. Not one scout.”
The silence was different this time. Loaded.
“I’ve been monitoring their patrol routes,” Solomon said slowly. “They give this quadrant a wide berth. I assumed it was a coverage gap.”
“It’s not a gap.” I looked at Lucian. “It’s a choice. Someone told those patrols to stay away from here.”
Lucian’s jaw clenched. The king’s mind, working behind those storm-gray eyes.
“Thiago,” Mira said quietly. “He knows we’re here.”
“Perhaps he suspects,” Solomon corrected. “If he knew for certain, he’d act.”
“Would he?” I held my brother’s gaze. “Or would he let us stay exactly where we are, right where he can predict our movements, because that serves him better than chasing us through the forest?”
No one answered.
Because the answer was the kind that rearranged everything you thought you knew about the board you were playing on.
That we weren’t hiding from Thiago.
We were sitting in the palm of his hand.
And I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was waiting for exactly the right moment to close his fist.
55
