—Wes, yes! Come find me—Theo’s mind is screaming, pouring every ounce of her energy toward him.—Reach for me…I can pull you out. I’m strong enough—
For a heartbeat, I see him. Not the pale, tethered boy on the bed, but a different man altogether. Vibrant—but terrified.
—No,I have to stay hidden. It’s the only way…if I wake up…I have to stay, Theo…I have to stay in the deep—
Wes’s image flickers like a dying candle flame.
—Wes, no! Don't go back—
The connection snaps.
Theo collapses against the side of the bed, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps. “Wes!" she cries out, her voice raw.
I catch her before she hits the floor. “He was there, right there," she sobs.
“I know," I mutter, checking the door. We have to move. “I saw him too."
“Why is he hiding?” she asks me.
I don’t have an answer, but I’ll find one.
That’s my job. To find all the answers.
???
Time passes too quickly.
But within the past five days, I’ve ordered supplies to last us the weekend, drawn up tactical maps using every scrap of information Duncan could glean from the internet, and given Donovan and Ludo lessons on using a gun.
On Thursday evening, I once again stand in front of the old chalkboard in our basement meeting room. “We’ll have to leave the vehicles nearly a mile from the cabin, so from there we will be hiking. The forecast is for freezing with several inches of snow already on the ground. Has everyone got their cold-weather gear—in muted colors?” I add for Theo’s benefit.
She rolls her eyes at me.
“Tomorrow we will drive to the forest, then get settled. Once it’s dark, Ludo, Cosmo, Donovan, Max and I will shift and scout. Saturday during the day, we’ll plan. Then hit the facility and hope for extraction on Saturday night. It’s a five hour drive from Windward to Opal and Gareth’s farm. You’re sure they will be home, Willow?”
“Yep.”
“Good. But this next thing is crucial, if at any point I decide we fall back and our goal is unattainable, you follow orders, no heroics.” I look firmly at my cousin. “We won’t give up, but becoming a dead martyr helps no one.”
I lean forward, resting my hands on the work table. “The chances of this operation being successful are eleven in one hundred, so not great. But when calculating the odds, it was impossible to account for a couple of things.”
I take my time to look at each one. “The determination in our hearts and the will of the Gods.”
Drakeward scoffs, but I continue. “And most crucially,” I turn to look at Theo, “the power of a divine Goddess. If anything will even the playing field, it’s you,pulu.”
???
ALEXIS
Friday morning and our plan is in action.
Leaving Validus Vale goes as smoothly as I could have hoped, and we are soon convoying north. We take back roads, and most of the routes are eerily deserted.
Are the people of Havengard lying low because of all the unrest?
It wouldn’t surprise me.
Theo slides her hand into mine.
