More gagging noises erupted from Santiago, and he clutched his stomach as he staggered backward.
“Drama queen,” Portia called as he retreated. “What a wimp.”
A low rumble escaped Cole before I spotted the enormous shadow sailing over us.
On mammoth wings, three sets of them, Wu landed with grace that ought to be impossible with so many moving parts.
“Luce,” Wu said, rustling his feathers in an agitated fashion.
“I thought you’d flown the coop.” I cocked an eyebrow at him when he refused to look me in the eye. “You haven’t called once.”
His gaze, when it lifted to mine, shone golden. “I came to warn you.”
Breaking away from Cole, I squared up with him. “What now?”
“My father has located the enclave. His forces are surrounding it as we speak. If we don’t get there, and fast, he will hammer at its defenses until they crack, and then he will kill them all.”
“Thom,” I breathed as my morning-after glow extinguished in a cold rush of guilt for not prioritizing Santiago’s intel and letting Sariah sidetrack me by luring me home to deal with … everything. “Cole?”
Always a step ahead of me, he let the dragon claim his skin then angled a shoulder to make climbing on his back easier.
“I’m going with you,” Santiago said. “Portia isn’t one hundred percent yet — ”
“ — the hell I’m not,” she protested.
“She and Miller can hold down the fort until we get back,” he continued on as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ve already given the Oncas these coordinates. That means someone has to stay behind and play hostess.”
What it really meant was Maggie’s sickness directly affecting Portia had shaken him worse than he wanted to let on.
“As much as I hate to say it, he’s got a point.” I was lucky her eyeballs couldn’t shoot lasers. “Our allies need a safe place to gather, and this one is as good as any.”
“Scoot along now.” Santiago shooed her toward the house. “Go dust something.”
The right hook she smashed into his jaw staggered him, but it put a smile on her face, and he seemed to feel better too. Who was I to stand in the way of true — if twisted beyond recognition — friendship at work?
“I call shotgun.” I swung up onto Cole’s back and fisted his silky mane. “You riding with us, or … ?”
“Cuddling bird boy for however many hours it’s going to take us to get there ain’t happening.”
Without another word, he climbed up behind me. He didn’t hold onto me. He counted on his thighs and charun reflexes to keep his seat as Cole launched us into the skies.
As much as I wanted to quiz Wu on how his father had located the enclave, I had a sneaking suspicion I already knew thanks to Santiago’s intel. He told us Wu had flown there twice, and he spent the night both times. That meant anyone following Wu, like his father, would have stumbled across the enclave too.
Knox warned me when the enclave went dark, it couldn’t be found. But I was willing to bet the loophole was you could if you followed someone in who already knew the way.
Damn it, Wu.
The news about his father imploding The Hole must have rocked him harder than I thought if his knee-jerk reaction was to run straight to the enclave to make sure it was still standing.
An inquisitive rumble vibrated between my legs, Cole checking to make sure I was all right.
“I’m worried about Thom.” I resumed finger-combing his downy hair. “That’s all.”
“He’ll be fine,” Santiago gritted out. Softer, his words blown behind us, he added, “He has to be.”
We arrived near the enclave and set down about ten miles away. We avoided the lake, choosing the cover of the forest to conceal us from flyovers. Under the limbs of an old growth pine, we cornered Wu, whose tucked-in wings meant he couldn’t escape without giving us answers first.
I advanced on him, Cole and Santiago at my back. “You led them straight to Thom.”
“What? No.” He startled. “I would never endanger my family.”
“Your father isn’t your family?” Santiago pointed out without missing a beat. “Who’s to say where your true loyalties lie?”
“Luce.” Wu held my gaze. “You know I would never harm the enclave or allow anyone else to harm them.”
“I want to believe that, but we have proof you’ve spent two nights in the area on separate occasions. What were you doing? Why go there at all? You’re more aware of the risk than any of us.”
“How did you … ?” His gaze snagged on Santiago. “You tracked me. How?”
“Your leg had a nice, big gash it in before we patched you up. I might have left you a present.”
“That’s how you did it?” I swung my head toward him. “Are you serious?”
Wu had almost bled to death helping us raid one of War’s nests and rescue Thom. This was a poor repayment.
“It didn’t hurt him. He didn’t even know it was there.” Clearly disgusted with me, he snarled up his lip. “P.S. Thanks for blabbing. Now he’ll want to cut it out.”
Wu glared at his thigh, the wheels in his head turning, but he only shook his head. “Later.”
I wasn’t certain if he meant he would square up with Santiago later, or if he would cut it out of his thigh after we handled this.
“I came here the first time because Knox sent an SOS. I didn’t spend the night with them, I stayed out here, walking the land, trying to determine what spooked him into making contact.” A frown gathered across his brow. “When the enclave goes dark, it cuts ties with the outside world. It’s the only way to remain untraceable in the digital age. I couldn’t contact him. His message was a one-time transmission.”
“Knox sent you here? Not Kapoor?” A cold lump settled in my gut, a weight that promised bad news was on its way. “I emailed him a report a few days ago from one of Santiago’s secure tablets. He didn’t reply, but that’s not unusual. He tends to follow up twenty-four to forty-eight hours later to clarify things.” But he hadn’t touched base yet. “When was the last time you spoke to him?”
Wu’s eyelids crashed shut, and he reached up to rub them. “He was testing me.”
“Kapoor?”
“No,” Wu rasped. “My father. He wanted to see how much I would risk for the enclave. He requested a meeting, using the enclave as leverage, but he wouldn’t have lowered himself to using those exact words. Threats are beneath him. He’s a male of action.”
“He told Kapoor just enough to guarantee he would get in touch with you.” I pieced it all together. “And then your father sat back to see what, exactly, he would say and how you would react to it.”
Wu jerked his chin in a tight nod. “As I said, testing me.”
“He wanted to be certain the enclave was the right place to apply pressure,” I surmised. “Kapoor proved him right.” And proved his loyalty to Wu, an unforgiveable offense. “Do you think he’s still alive?”
While he wasn’t my favorite person, and I would always associate him with the end of my human life as I knew it, he was a good guy. He tried to be, anyway. That counted for something.
“Perhaps,” he said, but I could tell he didn’t believe it.
Irritated with myself as much as him, I snapped, “You didn’t think to extract him sooner?”
“Farhan is smart enough to remove himself from the equation. He must have gone underground.”
Farhan, not Kapoor.
Must be easier thinking of him the other way around. Less personal. Less … like a friend.
“Threats to family have a way of eclipsing everything else.” I rested my hand on his shoulder. “But friends are a kind of family too. We have to look out for each other.”
Gaze distant, he stared at the point where I touched him. “Am I your friend, Luce?”
“I like to think so, yeah.” I rolled a shoulder and dropped my arm. “You’re a rung below Santiago if you want rankings.”
On my
periphery, Santiago puffed up like a peacock ready to strut, as if his previous ranking of dead last was something to be proud of.
“Find Kapoor,” I bargained with him, “and I’ll demote you again. Rock bottom.”
Pleased as punch, he grinned. “Consider it done.”
With that handled, I turned back to Wu. “What’s out there waiting on us?”
“Two platoons. Fifty charun.” He dipped his chin. “Malakhim. They’re what you would consider angels.”
“One set of wings instead of three.” Santiago swept his gaze down Wu. “I’m guessing that means they’re not as fast, strong, or smart as you.”
“Nothing is,” Wu said, and for once he wasn’t bragging. “The cadre come closest, but … ”
“Famine had to resort to poison to incapacitate you.” The knife wound might have been painful, but the venom on the blade had begun systematically shutting down his body. “The fact remains, even if he’s ten times the birdman they are, they’ve got numbers on their side.”
“Who knows about the enclave?” No, that was the wrong question. Someone would have to know who the enclave was to know how to use them as leverage, who to leverage them against. “Who knows what they are to you?”
“You,” Wu said simply then panned his gaze to Cole. “And I assume your coterie, or at least your mate.”
“We’re not the leak.” I dared him to contradict me with a look. “Exposing the enclave exposes Thom, and I would never do that. Neither would the others.”
Accepting this as truth, Wu inclined his head. “We can figure out the how later. For now, we need to get our people to safety.”
Cole rubbed his chin, thoughtful. “How many civilians?”
“Four dozen.”
The grim cast to his expression made it clear how doubtful he was we could get all of them to safety.
Frustrated, I wheeled on him. “This still doesn’t explain how your father located them in the first place.”
“Luce.” Anguish filled his eyes, the gold in them burning. “Father captured a scout. That’s how he found them.”
“Who?” There had to be worse news to put that look on his face. “Who’s missing?”
“Kimora.”
“Knox’s daughter.” I crushed my eyes shut. “No wonder he was willing to risk getting a message to you.”
Even Santiago grimaced at that. The male who held Thom’s life in the palm of his hand was getting ready to squeeze. He had sent a plea to Wu. That broke protocol. Already, he was putting his daughter’s life above his own, ahead of his people. All Wu’s father had to do was offer to make a trade, a quick lie to get the front door open. And then he would kill them all, Thom included. If we didn’t stop them first.
This was a major complication none of us needed, one that put me in the unenviable position of weighing the girl’s life against Thom’s. For me, there was no question. But I wasn’t going to condemn her if there was any possible way for them both to walk away from this. “Any idea where she’s being held?”
“The front lines.” The edges of his mouth crimped. “That’s how I know she’s still alive.”
“What do we do?” As their fearless leader, I probably wasn’t supposed to ask. But as someone who wanted to avoid more casualties on our side if at all possible, it would be foolish not to lean on their centuries of combined warfare experience. “How do we protect the enclave and Kimora?”
“If we strike first, we give away our advantage.” The set to Cole’s jaw was grim, and I knew he was thinking of the impossible choice between daughter and duty. “They might kill her to punish us, or they might throw caution aside and attack the enclave.”
“We have to prioritize the enclave.” Wu couldn’t meet my eyes. “It’s what she would want.”
“There’s a chance they won’t kill her.” Someone who didn’t know Santiago better might mistake the remark for empathy, but it was ruthless practicality. “They need a way in. She must be resisting if they haven’t breached the sanctuary yet.”
Wu shut his eyes, but I knew from experience it did nothing to block out the barrage of mental images. Resistance was good for us, but it might prove a death sentence for her.
“If they captured her in the air,” Cole said, aware she was an aerial scout, “they have a general area, not a precise location.”
“If you’re right, we could evacuate the enclave before they locate it.” I chewed on my lower lip. “That takes time, though. And where would we put them?”
The silence on his end left me to fill in the blank for myself.
“Fine.” I blew out a sigh. “We stash them at the farmhouse, but when this is over, if we all survive, you’re cutting me a check big enough to cover Dad’s retirement in whatever senior living community he chooses.”
The tightness around his eyes lessened. “Done.”
Cole palmed the base of my neck, his fingers digging in to massage away the tension. “You don’t have to sacrifice your home. We can find other accommodations for them.”
Sacrifice was the word for sure. The farmhouse had already weathered so much, and sheltering the enclave would be the final blow. Of that I had no doubt.
A battle was coming, and this was as good as choosing Canton as the battlefield. With the breach site in Cypress Swamp, maybe I was giving myself too much credit. Maybe it had always been meant to happen there.
“Dad has already said his goodbyes to the place. If he knew what we had planned, he would approve.” After all, he had opened his home, and heart, to me when I had nowhere else to go. “It’s a good plan. There’s enough land that we can shelter some of our new recruits there too. That will give the enclave an extra layer of protection.”
Gratitude shone in Wu’s eyes, mingling with the grimness so often present in his gaze when he looked at me.
“Once we get the civilians to safety, we can circle back for Kimora.” I risked checking with Cole, almost certain he would demur, but wanting backup from some quarter. “Sound good?”
“Trust your instincts.” He kissed me softly on the mouth. “Wu, show us the way in.”
Instincts got me into trouble every day. Mostly the territorial urges that convinced me climbing Mt. Heaton daily for recreational exercise was a great idea, even with Daddy Wu breathing down our necks. And then there were the instincts that roared at me to maim or kill all those who injured my friends and family.
Well, okay, so I had to admit those had always been there.
Wu dissolved the wings from his back, hid them away wherever they went when not in use. “All right.” He rolled his shoulders. “Follow me.”
Then he set off at a sprint through the trees, so fast he almost blurred and left me gaping after him.
“Tag.” Santiago grunted then shoved me so hard I fell on my butt. “You’re it.”
Growling, I leapt to my feet and shot after him, Cole at my heels. I risked a glance over at him, and he was smiling, wide and fierce. I wondered if adrenaline was to blame, or if he found Santiago amusing. I preferred the former to the latter, but he could side with the frenemy all day long if it kept that look on his face. Cole hadn’t had enough to smile about in his life, and one day I aimed to fix that. If we survived.
Wu was a wraith ahead of us all, his movements quick and sure from familiarity. Santiago was likewise silent, if a touch slower. Even Cole, the heaviest of us, was quiet. Especially compared to me. I had to choose speed or stealth.
“Let go.” Cole wasn’t even winded. “Reach for your instincts.”
Easy for him to say. Each time I let go, I let her in. So far, I could push her back out, but what if that wasn’t always the case? Letting her wear a path to the forefront of my brain couldn’t be good news long-term. Then again, we had no clue how many hours or days we had left. I had to be prepared to give it all if I wanted to protect the ones I loved from what was coming.
Breathing as deeply as the constriction in my lungs allowed, I summoned the cold place. It rose around me in a
chilly embrace that turned my breaths into white plumes. Cole noticed and nodded for me to dig in, dig deeper, so I did. Frost obscured my vision between blinks, and then the layer of numbness that separated me from my humanity settled over me.
The landscape snapped into sharp relief, each scent a distinct flag in my mind as my senses heightened. A fluidity crept into my movements, until I pulled ahead of Cole, ahead of Santiago, to run alongside Wu.
A frown puckered his brow, as if he could never truly decide if he wanted Conquest to rise or fall.
We beat the others to a huge boulder sheltered beneath thick evergreens, and Wu turned to me.
“Let go,” he echoed Cole’s earlier advice, his tinged with warning. “Reserve her power for when you need it most.”
A long moment passed where I stared out at him, ice glazing my skin, and wondered why I should listen.
“This isn’t you, Luce.” He braced his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not her.”
Warmth spread through his palms, down my arms, into my tingling hands, and the cold place thawed enough I could shake off the chill.
Cole reached us and nudged Wu aside with an elbow to the ribs, clearing space to frame my face with his wide palms.
“You’ll get the hang of it.” His fingers tangled in my hair. “All it takes is practice.”
“Bringing Conquest forward is dangerous.” Wu examined the rock. “All it takes is Luce getting stuck in that mindset, and she’ll burn herself out. It’s reckless to let her practice when we’re in the field.”
“Yeah, Cole.” Santiago swaggered up to us. “Luce ought to confine her practice to all that free time she’s got. Between building an army and running for her life, she’s got boatloads. Far better she test herself in all that downtime than when she’s surrounded by people who can defuse her if her inner bomb starts ticking.”
Chuckling, I punched his shoulder. “Sometimes I almost like you.”
“Give it five minutes,” he advised. “It’ll wear off.”
Knowing he was right, I turned my attention back to Wu. “Where are we?”
Rise Against: A Foundling novel (The Foundling Series) Page 8