—And?—
—She’s open to listening—
“Let me ask you a question,” Theo says. “Have you had any local children go missing, especially ones from low-spark families?”
Behind us comes a crashing sound, then a small man with tired eyes and long black hair strides forward. “What do you know? What!”
“Wait, brother. Stand down,” the woman says, the concern in her voice obvious.
“Like fuck I will.” Suddenly a gun is in his hand and he’s aiming it at Theo. “Tell me what you know, bitch.”
No one has to prompt Donovan. Another golden arrow takes out his pistol, and maybe the tip of the man’s finger as well. He drops to the floor, swearing and groaning.
Not flinching, the leader-woman snaps her fingers. “Take him out back.” Turning to Theodora, she sighs. “His son disappeared a few weeks ago, so I won’t apologize for his behavior. I hope for your sake you really know something about these kidnappings, otherwise you’ll find leaving here…difficult.”
Instead of answering, Theo takes out her phone and clicks on a photo of our rescuees—huddled under blankets and eating sandwiches.
The woman pales. “Where is this? When?”
“We rescued them from a Conclave facility yesterday. They are safe, but need to be reunited with their families.”
The woman’s gaze has not left the cell screen. She traces a finger over the image then looks up, slightly glassy eyed. “Any others?”
“These were the only ones at the facility we raided.”
“We will take them immediately. These children belong to our community, tell me where they are.”
We’d already decided to keep Gareth and Opal out of this.
“No. We’ll bring them to you,” I tell her, speaking up for the first time. “They can be here within the hour,ifyou promise to guarantee their safetyandour safe exit from this shithole.”
Theodora and the leader are staring each other down. After several beats, Theodora nods. —They’ll protect the kids withtheir lives…this is good. Max. Get to the farm. Bring the kids back here in the van…now—
—On it, Sparkles—
The woman takes a breath then gets back to business. “There are more kids missing than this handful. What else do you know?”
Theodora is about to answer when another figure steps down the rusted mezzanine above, boots clanging on the metal stairs. This one is younger, her hair a faded red, and wearing a down jacket that’s losing feathers.
And she’s vibrating with rage. “I know him.” She points a trembling finger at my face. “I’ve seen him on TV. That’s Cosmo Drakeward, the son of the Conclave leader.”
The men who had lowered their guns snap them back up.
The burly brawler from before laughs, a jagged, ugly sound. “The Drakeward prince in our backyard?”
Red-hair jumps the rest of the way down, her eyes glinting with a mix of hate and greed. “We’ll hold him, think of the leverage. We could trade him for our kids in Quo.”
She lunges toward me, but the leader steps into her path, her arm out like a steel bar. "Back off, sister."
“Are you kidding?" the red-head snarls. “He’s evil, and he’s an opportunity.”
“And yet," the leader says, her voice low and dangerous, "he is standing here with an offering of something infinitely precious.”
Theo doesn't wait for the argument to settle. “Our friends will bring the children here, but if anyone so much as looks at Cosmo as a 'trade-in' again, there will be no future help from us.”
“What’s she talking about?” the redhead asks, her hand still hovering over her holster. “Help with what?”
“I said fucking stand down!” the leader yells. “What else do you know about our missing children?”
