\u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen tonight, Thom,\u201d I said quietly as I drifted up behind him.\u00a0 He stood at the mouth of the tent, staring at the driving snow that was drifting into knee-deep piles in places.\u00a0 At that point, I wasn\u2019t even sure that the attack would come the following day, either\u2014it would be too hard to move on the ground with snow calf-deep nearly everywhere.<\/p>\n
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I wrapped mine around his waist and we stood there together, staring at the snow.\u00a0 If not for the dim reflection of the fire off the flying flakes and the snow already on the ground, it would be nearly black as pitch out there\u2014a darkness we were still slowly getting used to, even four months after the end of everything we\u2019d ever known.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to believe that,\u201d he murmured softly, \u201cbut I can\u2019t.\u00a0 I\u2019ve just got this feeling, Mar, and I can\u2019t shake it.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to happen tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this?\u201d\u00a0 I nodded to the storm outside.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure who was on the night watch in the tower, but I knew for certain that I didn\u2019t envy them one bit.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think so, Thom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this breaks, he\u2019ll be on our doorstep in the next heartbeat,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost asked how, but I elected not to.\u00a0 If he\u2019d seen anything about the coming battle, I wasn\u2019t sure that I wanted him to share it with me.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to force him to lie to me about it if the outcome was bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still wish I knew why he wanted us so badly, though,\u201d Thom murmured, then closed his eyes and sighed.\u00a0 \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeans to an end, I guess,\u201d I said softly, resting my cheek against the warm, soft cotton of his sweatshirt.\u00a0 His coat was slung over one of the storage bins by the fire, but the hilt of his sword dug slightly into my belly where I was pressed against his side.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a long game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA game,\u201d he echoed.\u00a0 \u201cSome fucking game, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing the long game, too,\u201d I reminded him, tilting my face to peer up into his shadowed eyes.\u00a0 There was worry there, clear in their blue depths.\u00a0 I could see it even in the dim, even with our backs to the fire.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re in this for the long haul, trying to survive just the same as they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cNot just the same.\u00a0 We\u2019re different, Mar.\u00a0 We\u2019re supposed to be here.\u00a0 They\u2019re\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot?\u201d\u00a0 I smiled weakly.\u00a0 \u201cWhether they\u2019re from one of the Otherworlds or not, they\u2019re here now, Thom.\u00a0 Possibly exiled like Phelan and Neve.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head slowly.\u00a0 \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel right.\u00a0 That\u2019s all I\u2019m saying.\u00a0 Us, here\u2014this feels right.\u00a0 Cariocecus, Vammatar\u2026it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course not.<\/i>\u00a0 I closed my eyes and swallowed a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cThey may not have a right to be here<\/i>, but they\u2019ve still got a right to be<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying that they don\u2019t have that right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said, perhaps a little too quickly.\u00a0 I sighed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas, I love you, but this world isn\u2019t black and white and without the shades of gray, we\u2019ve got no idea what good and bad are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to take our land and our lives, Mar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know it,\u201d I said, trying to be soothing.\u00a0 \u201cAnd we\u2019re not going to let them.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019ve got no right to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not saying that.\u00a0 I just want them off our patch, that\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0 His arm tightened around me.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s too much to be asking.\u00a0 We were here first, after all.\u201d\u00a0 His eyes slid shut.\u00a0 \u201cAnd Cariocecus is here for more than just the land and the node, but I can\u2019t for the life of me figure out why and it\u2019s driving me crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s doing the same to Phelan,\u201d I admitted.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been up the walls over it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know that we\u2019ll ever know why, Thom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Thom said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI think will.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that by the time we figure it out, it\u2019s going to be too late.\u00a0 No one goes to all the trouble of turning someone against their fellows just to gain the land they\u2019re standing on, Mar.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t have used Leah like that if there wasn\u2019t more at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t thought about Leah in weeks.\u00a0 Now that I did, I felt a pang of regret for the way we\u2019d treated her\u2014but she was the one that had taken supplies and run.<\/p>\n
I hope she found a safe haven somewhere.\u00a0 I hope she broke free of the voices.<\/i>\u00a0 Not for the first time, I wondered how many others of our merry band were as vulnerable as she was.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least there hasn\u2019t been any evidence of anyone tampering with anything this time,\u201d I said, half to myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s hope that the fact that we haven\u2019t noticed any evidence means that there isn\u2019t actually any tampering going on,\u201d Thom muttered.\u00a0 \u201cSince last time, we at least noticed it first.\u201d<\/p>\n
As my arms tightened around him, I swallowed hard and hoped against hope that he was right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen tonight, Thom,\u201d I said quietly as I drifted up behind him.\u00a0 He stood at the mouth of the tent, staring at the driving snow that was drifting into knee-deep piles in places.\u00a0 At that point, … Continue reading