“I don’t have to think about it,” Ty says. He smirks. “I’m hard to sneak up on.”
“Anyway,” Savi says with a roll of her luminous eyes, “tomorrow is the full moon. Another reason I find it remarkable that you’re all out carousing tonight.”
“We took a pit stop to fight off some of Vinca’s minions,” I tell her. “So not really as relaxing as a night of pure carousing would have been.”
“I do not carouse,” Ariel says icily.
“Of course not,” Winter murmurs. “I’m sure it all gets boring after the first few empires fall.” She smiles at the look he gives her.
“We’re pretty sure that all the red cloaks were a distraction,” Ty tells Savi. “But we don’t know from what.”
She considers this. “Maybe the point is that we won’t know. Maybe they’re just making noise. I think we have to be ready for her to make her move tomorrow.”
“We need to assume that it’s battle stations the moment the sun goes down,” Ty says. “And we keep you three as far away from each other as possible. If you think she’s going to make this happen on the back of a sacrifice that involves all of you, the simple workaround is to keep you separated.”
“One of the things I did with the spell I cast,” Savi says quietly, “is to bind the three of us together in such a way that we cannot be tracked. Not when we’re all together.”
Ty stares at her. I watch the muscle in his jaw jump. “That’s a risky decision to make all by your fucking self.”
“I thought it was strategic,” she replies coolly. “The three of us are not exactly helpless. Rather than secluding ourselves in little bolt holes of questionable security all over the valley, we can stay somewhere together that allows us to useallof our power.”
“I don’t hate it,” Ariel says after a moment. “I also think it’s unexpected enough that it might take Vinca and her followers by surprise as well.”
“The good news is that we all told Briar we’d have a New Year’s party with her,” I remind everyone. When they all stare at me blankly, I widen my eyes. “New Year’s Eve is also tomorrow, friends. It’s a real big night all around.”
“I forgot,” Winter says. “I was so focused on my first Christmas without Gran that I forgot it was New Year’s too.”
I look over at Briar, storming around behind the bar like she has half a mind to start beating on it with her fists. Energy I can appreciate, honestly.
“None of us can seem to scent or scan anything on her that feels the least bit dangerous,” I point out. “Why not hang out with her on a big night like tomorrow? It doesn’t sound like she wants to come here. When she invited us, she said we shouldhang out, not that we shouldgo out. Maybe we should make it seem like we want to stay home. It’s already warded. Protected. There are patrols.”
Ty is quiet. If he’s not automatically telling me no, I’m pretty sure that means he can see what I’m saying.
Winter nods. “I think the three of us need to stick together.”
“Did you have a vision?” Savi asks, looking intrigued.
“No.” Winter shakes her head. “But I’ve seen a million horror movies. The minute you split up, you die. Everyone knows this.”
There’s a little more discussion, but not much. It’s clear that we all agree. Savi does that thing with her drink again, it seems like something shimmers in the corners of my eyes, and then it’s obvious that we’re back in tune with everyone else again.
Ty and Savi head out to go get a last look at Crater Lake before the day of the full moon dawns. Ariel tells them that he’ll meet them up there, on the other side of the towns that were flooded when the lava tubes were blown open, with what sounds like only a few hardy—and pissed-off—survivors. The lake itself might be empty now, but there’s still no sign of Vinca or her temple. No one thinks this is a good sign.
While the three great powers of the valley make their travel arrangements, Winter and I get Briar’s attention at the bar.
“Thanks for telling us about this place,” I say. “I used to come here in the summers when I came home from college.”
“I alwaysmeantto come here,” Winter says.
Briar looks a lot like she wishes we hadn’t. I smile broadly. “And tomorrow night? Are we still on?”
Now Briar looks horrified. Then embarrassed. “Do you not ...? I mean, I’m totally cool to do nothing.”
“No, we want to hang out,” Winter assures her. “Obviously.”
“Are you a party in the New Year sort of person?” I ask, leaning into the bar. “I went to the ball drop in Times Square once and it was hideous. I kind of vowed that I’d never do a New Year’s party again.”
“I can do whatever,” Winter says, so casually that I almost believe her. But she keeps going. “If I’m honest, though, the way everything’s been the past couple months? I wouldn’t mind being low-key.”
