Chapter 47 — Family (Part II)

  The distance between the Greywood and Rallsburg wasn't far. Natalie felt the clock ticking in her head with Gwen's every bound forward. Every second brought them closer to Jeremy or Nikki figuring out where her dad was… and to his death.

  What do we even do when we get there?

  Protect him.

  Cinza won't listen to me. They're too scared of him. And… I get that. But we don't have to kill him. There's gotta be another way.

  We will protect him until we find that way.

  Natalie nodded, her face buried into Gwen's back as she held on tight. Wind rushed through her ears and blew her hair back as they ran. She was listening hard for danger, and feeling out with her magic. The animals of the forest would warn her. They remembered her from her time in Rallsburg, to her relief. She had allies everywhere, even if none of them seemed to be human.

  Quinn, and Cinza too… People won't tell me what they're really thinking. They just make decisions for me. Everyone keeps doing that, and it keeps getting worse.

  Perhaps it is time we stop allowing anyone to take charge of our life.

  But I'm still a kid. I'm thirteen. You can't be in charge of yourself at thirteen. I looked it up. I gotta be sixteen at least.

  You haven't been a member of their society for a long time. Abandon their rules. This is your queendom, and you've returned. Rule as you were always meant to.

  I'm not a ruler. I just want to save my dad.

  You are a queen.

  "No," said Natalie aloud. "I'm just me."

  A young doe skipped past her, fleeing some commotion ahead. Natalie slowed, listening carefully. Many voices, mixed, and one stray gunshot. Someone shouted in alarm. She caught the distinct sounds of the zip-ties, same as the ambush she'd carried out only a couple hours prior. Soldiers, ambushing another of Omega's caches. Natalie inched forward, curious.

  If they were able to breach it, they must have someone awakened with them. We do not know who we can trust yet.

  Natalie stopped. The voice was right. Cinza was working with multiple people to coordinate the ritual, including Will somehow. Anyone could be involved, and few of them would likely take Natalie's side. She wondered if Rachel was talking to Cinza… and not to her.

  She is not your ally anymore. Her promise has been broken.

  I broke mine too. I'm here without her.

  "All good?" called Josh. Natalie started, before remembering he said he'd come out on some of the expeditions since she wasn't. Probably picked this one 'cause it's so close to the Greywood.

  "All set, Mr. Miller."

  "...Yeah, just Josh is cool." Josh was audibly embarrassed. A phone buzzed, and Natalie heard the click of a button. "I'm getting a call. Can you guys sweep up all that to bring back? Don't want to leave it out for them to come back and grab."

  "You got it."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Josh rustled away — toward Natalie, in fact, though she was certain he had no idea. She crouched in the branches of the tree nearby, with Gwen and Scrappy lurking in the shadows only a dozen feet away. He emerged, looking a little winded but otherwise the same as when she'd last seen him. He had a cell phone to his ear.

  "Hi. What's up?"

  "Something has happened."

  Natalie tensed up. It was Cinza calling. About me? Did she notice I left?

  "There's a fucking understatement." Josh sighed, rubbing his head and leaning back against a tree. "Remember when I said I wanted to go home and you guys all shot me down? I still hate you."

  "If you wish to leave, I don't think anything remains to stop you. I'd still advise against going public, but you could probably call your parents."

  "I think they know by now anyway." Josh shrugged, though of course Cinza couldn't see it. "We're doing important work here. I'm miserable for the cause. Someone has to keep you from driving straight off the cliff."

  "...About that."

  "Oh, son of a bitch," Josh moaned. He stood back up straight, looking around for any potential eavesdroppers. Natalie instinctively shrunk back in her tree, but Josh never bothered to look up. "What are you doing?"

  "Walking along the edge."

  "Save the theatrics. I just got shot at dealing with this group. Can we be straight? Nobody's listening in."

  "We're going to use the magnetic ritual again, on a single target."

  Josh swore very loudly. He started pacing back and forth in place, face pinched. "Are you insane?"

  "There's no Jackson to interrupt the ritual, and we're safe inside the Greywood. We only have one target to strike, and Agent Ashe is moving in to give us that location. It will not fail."

  "That's not why you're calling," said Josh. "I'm not the battle strategy guy. That's your deal, not me."

  "No."

  "Everybody barely understands how the magnet strikes work. I was reading up on some physicist's analysis of the diaries and he basically concluded it's impossible, and probably made up. We want them to believe that." Josh leaned back against the tree again, free hand pressed to his temple. He looked suddenly exhausted. "If everyone knows we can do it again. Kill anyone, from any distance, just like that…"

  "It's not as simple as you describe, or as easy."

  "You think they're gonna forgive us because of nuance?" Josh snorted. "People are idiots."

  "You give us too little credit."

  "Nah. A person is smart. People are panicky morons. Wisest words I ever got from the movies." Josh sighed. "Thing is, I agree with you."

  "...I was not expecting that."

  He closed his eyes. Natalie tensed up again. She knew what he was going to say, before he said it — the same justifications everyone was leaning on. "Brian's the exception. The golems are practically unstoppable. Unless Grey-eyes steps in, he keeps killing. The military will get him eventually, but how many die in the meantime?"

  "So you think we should go forward."

  "Isn't that why you called me?" said Josh bitterly. "I'm here to reassure you when you're second-guessing yourself. Yes, Rika deserved to be arrested and tried. Yes, there was no way we'd ever get her out of here unless we got them to ambush her. And yes, Brian needs to die, even if we have to do terrible things to pull it off." He slid down the bark until he landed in the fallen leaves and underbrush, knees up in front of him. "You and I share the guilt, Cinza. I'm the dark half of this brave new council."

  "...I would never describe you as such."

  "Yeah," Josh snorted, "because you'd get called fucking racist." He sighed again. "Sounds like you've got it worked out?"

  "Yes. Thank you."

  "I'll meet you in Hell someday." Josh closed his eyes again. "What about her?"

  "She's in my room, exhausted. I think she's sleeping. I don't wish to disturb her."

  "Yeah…" He took a deep breath. "Who tells her?"

  "This was my decision. I will tell her… after."

  "She's going to hate you forever."

  "I will bear that burden. No one else."

  "See you on the other side."

  "Take care."

  Josh hung up. He stayed where he was on the ground, leaning against the tree, rubbing at his eyes, hiding his face from Natalie. Finally, as one of the soldiers called out looking for him, Josh finally stood up. He shouted back, hurrying to rejoin them. They set off.

  Natalie fell back against the tree trunk. She hadn't realized she'd been leaning forward. She waited for the tension to ease out of her muscles, for her body to relax even a hair, but it never did.

  We must keep moving. They are, and they do not yet know you are gone.

  Yeah… yes. You're right.

  Natalie waited until the soldiers were a good distance away, then dropped out of the tree onto Gwen's back. In a moment, they were off again, rushing through the forest with only the gentle moonlight lighting their path—and only the tears in Natalie's eyes giving a sign anything had occurred.