Four and Eight.
“Son of a bitch,” Garrett growled under his breath.
I tended to agree with the sentiment, for too many reasons to count. Near the top of the list was the fact that Four and Eight might not have even still been in Haven at all, if I hadn’t pushed so hard for them to join the effort before Oasis. Right below that was the sinking feeling that the only way the Legion could succeed at keeping two Shapers locked up in the brig was if they were making use of the cell I’d designed for Parker. But that wasn’t the end of it.
While Auckus hadn’t said as much, his announcement of Glenbark’s trial for high treason might as well have been an announcement of her own pending execution. It wasn’t as if she had any chance of receiving a fair trial. How could she, when they were going to be weighing the decisions based on her relationship with “demons?”
“We have to get them out of there,” I said.
Tired as we were, no one had anything to say to that, but I was pretty sure the feeling was unanimous, if only reluctantly so. My sluggish mind made a valiant effort to set in on the problem, but I couldn’t seem to make it much further than that we probably had the tools for the job. We had an alien ship that could apparently teleport, after all—or something like it—and we also had a Shaper who could turn herself invisible. What more could we need?
A plan, probably. Including what the scud we’d do after magically yanking our friends out of Auckus’ grimy clutches.
Even after all of this, Glenbark still had to have a strong base of supporters within the Legion. She was far too good of a leader not to. If we could find those loyal servants, get word to them somehow…
Tomorrow.
We’d meet with the others. Franco and Johnny would know how to get it done, and who to get it done with, respectively. In the meanwhile, world burning or no, I needed to get some sleep if I wanted to be of any use to anyone.
Parker, having noticed our lack of sleep and apparently agreeing in his own superior way, announced with much eye-rolling that he was going to take us down to the meeting site under the cover of night so that we could sleep under our own stars instead of among them.
It almost seemed… not affectionate or caring, I guess. But at least mindful. Considerate.
Garrett must’ve read the thought on my face as we strapped into our seats in the flight room, because he reached over and took my forearm, his expression grave.
“Never forget what this bastard was willing to do to all those people.”
I held his gaze, surprised not only by the lack of my irritation at his need to point out the obvious, but by the realization that I actually appreciated the reminder—that I in fact was starting to feel something like camaraderie with the man who’d obediently killed Shapers for years and had more blood on his hands than I ever wanted to think about.
It wasn’t something I could recall having ever seen in the storyvids: the valiant hero persisting on, fighting the good fight with or without the blessing of the masses, until he one day looked around and realized that his only allies were the monsters and the killers he thought he’d been fighting. It was a sobering thought. But then again, maybe I wasn’t the hero. Maybe none of us were.
In the scudstorm currently ravaging the once-fair planet of Enochia, I wasn’t sure the situation even permitted for heroes anymore. There was only the truth, and the lies, and the people who were willing to kill for their belief about which was which.
I nodded to Garrett, and he released my arm as Parker brought us out of orbit and began the descent to Enochia.
Never forget.
I never would.
21
By the Tomes
After a particularly itchy incident with a puffscratch thicket at the vulnerable age of six, I’d never really been the biggest fan of camping in the wild. That said, by the time we’d made it groundside, found sufficient coverage for the big alien spaceship among the older, taller trees, and prepped a nearby hollow for sleep, the mossy ground beneath my polymer pad might as well have been made of clouds and pure sunshine. I was dead tired, far too tired to argue in the least when Garrett and Siren opted to stay up and sneak off into the bushes together for “first watch.”
How anyone could be ready to swive through the advanced sleep deprivation after everything else we’d been through, I had no idea. Then again, it had been less than a mile from where I lay that Elise and I had first come to share our own pleasure after a long, tumultuous day spent on the run after we’d escaped the Legion assault on Franco’s old home. So maybe it wasn’t so unbelievable. In fact, if she were here now… The thought put a smile on my face and a pang of longing in my heart. Neither one lasted long.
I was dead tired, and I slept like it. But if I’d thought lying down had been the most wonderful feeling on this side of the planet, I’d been sorely mistaken.
Waking to Elise’s loving eyes on mine, and her warm, strong hand on my cheek. That took the prize. So much so that I was certain at first I must be dreaming.
“Well isn’t that just sweet as a demon’s taint,” came Garrett’s muttered voice from somewhere nearby.
My eyes widened. Not a dream, then? I reached for Elise’s cheek. Warm and soft. And real.
“Lise?”
She smiled and bent down to plant a kiss on my forehead, and another on my cheek, stopping at my ear to whisper, “I can’t believe you went to space without me.”
I blew out an airy laugh and wrapped my arms around her, overcome with relief. “I can’t say it was part of the plan.”
“Oooh,” she cooed, squeezing me back. “You had a plan? Fancy.”
“That’s me. Fancy to the bone.” We disengaged, and I sat up to look curiously around.
Garrett was sitting protectively over Siren’s sleeping form a few feet away, watching us with a look I might’ve called amused disgust. Back in the direction of the ship, I spotted Franco, Johnny, and James talking to Alton Parker. Though talking might’ve been too friendly a word. Both Johnny and James were holding weapons at the ready, and Franco didn’t look much less tense. I caught Johnny’s eye and pumped the air in a sign to take it easy. He frowned but briefly touched his chest in an informal salute.
“You just got here?” I asked Elise.
“Pretty much. We went to our clearing first, but Parker must’ve heard us. He showed up, explained the basics, and guided us back here. Imagine my surprise when we found you camping beside a spaceship.”
“Beats sleeping where he could theoretically whisk away at any moment.”
Parker, clearly having heard the quiet comment even from fifteen yards away, shot me a frown. I focused back on Elise, trying to ignore the raknoth completely.
“What happened back at Haven? Are you all okay?”
“We’re all fine,” she said, then cocked her head, reconsidering. “Physically, at least. I think Johnny’s more upset than he’s letting on about the whole…”
“Sanctum-backed mutiny?” I offered.
“Yeah, that.”
“Have you heard anything? Other than the reel bullscud, I mean?”
“A little,” she said. “We’ve been in quiet contact with Dillard, and with General Hopper.”
“Hopper? Is he still…”
“On our side?” Elise asked. “We think so. Can’t really be sure about anything anymore, it seems like.”
“But still, that’s pretty good news, right?”
She gave a half-hearted shrug, looking reserved for some reason I didn’t grasp. We had a ship. We had a Shaper who could turn invisible. And now she was telling me we had a strong ally on the inside. By all means, it sounded like the perfect recipe for a quick and relatively smooth rescue mission. And yet…
“Are there any plans to get our people off the noose?”
“There’s plenty of talk,” she said, still distracted by something.
I was about to ask what was bothering her when she shook off her daze and turned to me with a serious expression.
“There’s something else.”
I searched her face again, noting the bits of tension there that I’d overlooked in my raw excitement at simply seeing her here in front of me. “Tell me.”
“Remember how I said I was going to help my dad compose a new message to Burton Kovaks?”
I nodded, suddenly uneasy about where this was going, though I couldn’t quite say why.
“That was… Well, scud. I was sort of lying.”
I stared at her, feeling unsteady. They weren’t words I’d ever heard her say before.
“Sort of lying?”
She nodded slowly, biting her lip. “I knew there was no point in composing another cold message after your interview. Because Burton Kovaks contacted me three days ago.”
“Oh…”
It was all I could think to say. I wasn’t even sure what to think.
It wasn’t like I could be angry with Elise for hiding something from me, could I? Much as I hated to admit it, my hiding things from her had been pretty much standard fare in our relationship up until only recently—first because I’d been told to keep her out of our business when we’d met, then because I’d simply been too wounded to tell her a lot of what I’d needed to after Carlisle’s death. And she’d loved me anyway.
No, I couldn’t reasonably be angry with Elise for this. But that didn’t stop the hurt from churning in my stomach, threatening to evolve into something ugly and unreasonable.
“What did he say?” I forced myself to ask.
“In essence, that he feels they can’t stay silent and watch from the sidelines anymore.”
“Well that’s… good,” I said. But good was the last thing I felt at the look on Elise’s face. She’d done something. Something she felt was necessary, I thought, but also something she was reticent to tell me. But why?
She met my gaze. “I’m going to meet with him.”
“Like scud you—”
“Hal…” She didn’t need to say my name loudly or harshly to draw me up short. She just let her tone settle the scales, reminding me with that one word how much love and support she’d never stopped showing me, even when I’d done my best to push her away.
I tamped the ugly feelings down as best I could and forced myself to breathe before I spoke again.
“I’m sorry. It’s just… Well, you know what happened when Franco and I met with the guy.”
“Which is why I was scared to tell either of you about any of this.”
“Because Kovaks is dangerous.”
“No. Because you’re both kind of overprotective beardsplitters when it comes to giving me space to handle things on my own.”
I opened my mouth and hesitated, knowing she had a point.
“I love you,” she added. “But you can’t really tell me that’s not true.”
I sighed. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”
She took my hands in hers.
“Can I at least come with you?” I asked quietly, already pretty sure I knew the answer.
“He asked me—”
“To come alone.”
She eyed me uncertainly. “No. To specifically not bring you.”
“Well that doesn’t sound suspicious or anything,” I said.
Elise only looked thoughtful. “I kind of get the impression they’re afraid of you, though I’m not really sure why.”
“Maybe they just decided to get with the times,” I muttered.
I had a sneaking suspicion it actually had something to do with that bizarre test they’d given me—the one that had involved me opening my mind to a rune-worked helmet, of all things. I hadn’t forgotten the way Kovaks’ pasty-faced friend had recoiled from me after whatever the helmet had shown him. Like I was a wild animal, liable to lose control at any moment.
I still didn’t understand what that had been about. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
I focused back on Elise and was swept by an odd mix of fear and guilt at the conflict written across her face.
“When?” I whispered.
“Today.”
I swallowed, resisting the arguments that tried to escape my mouth. It felt wrong, just nodding along. Felt wrong even thinking about letting her stroll into danger alone when we’d only just reunited, and when the world was churning faster than an industrial waste processor out there. But where had my patronizing hero act gotten any of us?
For the sake of Enochia, we needed those Emmútari records. I was more sure of that now than I ever had been. And if that hawk-nosed bastard Burton didn’t want me to be a part of it…
“Just… if he yanks one of those little wands on you,” I said, standing and offering her a hand up, “don’t try to yank back with telekinesis.”
It still made me blush on the inside, thinking back to how I’d dived straight into that trap and put myself out cold upon my first meeting with Burton Kovaks under the Penitent Pass.
Elise smiled as I hauled her up, patting the collapsed spear strapped across her back. “I’d rather stick to the basics, if it comes to that.”
And that was my raven-haired warrior girlfriend for you.
I pulled her in for a kiss, and only relented when we were interrupted by an appreciative noise from Siren, who’d apparently woken up.
“Well isn’t that just as sweet as goja pie,” she said.
Elise stiffened against me, adopting the disdainful look she normally reserved for serpents and other wriggly creatures. I turned and looked between Garrett and Siren.
“I think you two have been spending too much time together.”
“I think we’ve all been spending too much time together,” Garrett said, shooting a dark look toward Alton Parker.
Siren laid a hand on his thigh, and some silent communication must’ve passed between them, because he perked up like a Hound at the dinner bell, eyeing the bushes where they’d had their first watch last night.
“Again?” I asked before I could remind myself that I probably didn’t want to know.
Siren rose from her blankets and arched her back in a languid stretch, full yawn and everything, before innocently turning for the woods, away from the ship. “I think I need to stretch my legs a little.” She shot us a smile. “Wake myself up.”
Garrett stood to join her, shooting me his signature smirk, with a clear overtone of, That’s right, Raish. You jealous?
That smirk wavered, however, when Siren turned back to us, her eyes turning positively mischievous as they flickered over me then roamed much more attentively along the length of Elise’s body. “The more the merrier, by the way.”
For the second time that morning, I found myself completely at a loss for words—albeit for entirely different reasons. Elise might’ve been similarly caught off guard, but she regained her senses much more quickly.
“I typically refrain from casual strolls with people who’ve tried to murder my boyfriend.”
Siren just made a slight pouty face, then shrugged, took Garrett’s hand, and turned for the woods.
“There’s something wrong with that woman,” Elise said quietly, frowning after the retreating pair.
“There’s something wrong with that man,” I added.
She smiled, and kissed me. “Come on. Johnny looks bored over there. Let’s see how the meeting of the minds is going before someone starts shooting.”
The meeting of the minds, it turned out, was mostly spinning in neat little circles, with no clear sign of moving forward.
“There’s nothing to be gained by it,” Franco was saying as we approached. “And in all likelihood, a civil war on the other side of things, assuming she truly retains as much support as Hopper believes.”
“We can’t leave her to stand trial with High General Ass Grabber in there,” Johnny said. “We all know how that one turns out.”
“If you would simply listen to what I’m telling you…” Parker started, then turned at our approach. “Or perhaps you’d prefer to hear it from your chosen messiah.”
Parker rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”
“Yeah,” Johnny muttered. “Because I’m the idiot for not understanding your made up raknoth words.”
“Did something happen?” Elise asked as we joined the tense circle in the shadow of Parker’s ship.
“Nothing of note,” Franco said. Then, with a glance at Parker, “Or of human compassion.” He turned to me then, and looked like he was about to express some of that human compassion and say hello when Parker cut in.
“Will you tell them, Haldin? I tire of this pointless chatter.”
“Tell them which part?” I asked.
“The part where none of our petty human concerns matter, apparently,” Franco offered.
“That’s definitely his favorite,” I said.
“Tell me about it,” Johnny said, still watching Parker suspiciously. “Shouldn’t we, like, put this guy in some shackles or something? I dunno about you, but I don’t trust the superpowered planet-wrecker here to play nice. And why are Smirks and Lady Lust with you anyway?” he added before I could answer, shooting a frown off in the direction the two ex-Seekers had disappeared for second watch. “You didn’t happen to accidentally join the League of Evil Bastards overnight, did you broto?”
“I’m standing right here,” Parker said.
“Exactly my point,” Johnny said.
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