Finally she felt the fear fade, stroking at its edges, soothing it away.
“What do you think we should do?”Cath, anxiously.
Is she asking me?I don’t have any clue.“I’d say we should go back and get him.”
“No,” Henderson vetoed, immediately.“We go on and hope nobody’s found the exit.”
“What if they have?”Rowan clamped her mouth shut, wishing she hadn’t asked.
“Then we’re dead.”Henderson’s motion could only be sensed in the blackness.“Everyone, hand on shoulder.Let’s go.”
The sound of their footsteps fell into a dark, silent well.Rowan reached for Justin, again, felt nothing.Anabsence.“He said tranquilizer dart.”Her voice was ragged.“Why would they do that?”
“He’s valuable,” Yoshi said.“Was one of their best operatives, and they need to figure out how he escaped them.”
“Not to mention the fact he’s been linked to you,” Henderson added.“And if they can break him, they can root out any Society cells they find.”
Rowan swallowed a sob, willed her mouth to seal itself.
They trooped on in silence until Henderson halted.“Here it is.Rowan, can you do one more thing?”
She felt pale as glass, past exhaustion and in an enervated haze.“I think I can.”Heard her voice crack, and hated the weakness.Why couldn’t she be strong?Like Justin, like Cath?
I was so sure I was ready for this.
“Good.Scan out there, tell me if anyone’s waiting to surprise us.”
Rowan closed her eyes.Yoshi’s hand tightened slightly on her shoulder.It wasn’t Justin’s support, but did make her feel a little better.She took another deep breath, centered, and cast her awareness out the way Kate had taught.
Kate.Was she dead?Justin had said something about everyone being corpses.
Contact.
—what the?—
—it’s me?—
—oh God?—
Rowan sagged in relief.“It’s Eleanor.And Boomer, Bobby, a couple others.No Sigs that I can feel.”
“Good.”Henderson felt for the keypad.
A shock-blast of worry and tight-throat claustrophobia, awe and fear and terror combined.She drowned in Cath’s emotions for a moment, her knees buckling.
“Careful, Ro.”Yoshi dug his fingers into her shoulder.The grating pain helped, gave her a focus.She stumbled out, her hand tight on Cath’s shoulder.
It was a good thing her eyes were closed.Light played over her face.She flinched, blinked.
“Dammit, Boomer, turn that off.Are they following you?”Eleanor lowered the rifle from her shoulder.
“Rowan!”Bobby cried.
“We need to move,” Henderson barked crisply.“Any other survivors?”
“Not that we saw.”Eleanor exhaled, hard.“We were in the infirmary looking for Rowan.Boomer had one of his presentiments.They came there last, I guess.If it wasn’t for Bobby, they’d have caught us too.”
“The infirmary last?That makes no sense.”Zeke’s dirt-smudged face swung around, and he looked straight at her.
