\u201cThat took less time than I thought it would,\u201d he said, glancing sidelong at me as I caught up with him.\u00a0 \u201cYou want to know why I said it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know me pretty damned well by now,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cYou knew I\u2019d want to know.\u00a0 So tell me why you said it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something I\u2019ve started to realize about our friend who\u2019s about as old as the dirt we\u2019re walking on,\u201d Rory said, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and hunching slightly in his coat against the wind.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s that he\u2019s stubborn to a fault until he\u2019s convinced himself<\/i> that something is stupid or wrong or an impossibility.\u00a0 There\u2019s no way we can convince him shy of an object lesson.\u00a0 Letting him try to wander off and showing him that he can\u2019t is the only way that he\u2019s going to give up the idea of doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think I believe you, Rory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure you have to believe me if I\u2019m right.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced toward me, his cheeks ruddy in the cold.\u00a0 \u201cMar, he\u2019ll try to run.\u00a0 He\u2019ll do it when none of us are looking and you and I both know that things won\u2019t go well for anyone involved if he manages to get very far from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019re likely to never find him again,\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, we\u2019ll find him,\u201d Rory said with no small measure of confidence.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just a question of how many people we lose before that happens and what sort of state of affairs he\u2019s<\/i> in when we do. It doesn\u2019t take a prophet or a visionary to see how it\u2019s all going to play out.\u00a0 Tell me I\u2019m wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not.\u201d\u00a0 I exhaled a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re all trying to keep him from going.\u00a0 I just can\u2019t believe the solution would be to let him try.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alternative would be to send some folks with him.\u00a0 He won\u2019t like it and he\u2019ll probably try to shake his escorts, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach twisted and I swallowed bile.\u00a0 I knew that<\/i> was true, but for some reason, that felt like a smarter option than letting him wander away on his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho would we send?\u201d\u00a0 I asked softly.<\/p>\n
Rory looked at me sharply.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho would we send, Rory?\u201d\u00a0 I asked, the words tasting like ash on my tongue.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have any options that are better. \u00a0Someone has to make sure that he doesn\u2019t abandon us or get himself killed.\u00a0 This is the only way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 He\u2019s dead-set on going.\u00a0 If we can\u2019t talk him out of it, this will have to be what we do.\u00a0 It\u2019ll do for a plan B, anyway.<\/i><\/p>\n
I just hope we won\u2019t need it at all.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThat took less time than I thought it would,\u201d he said, glancing sidelong at me as I caught up with him.\u00a0 \u201cYou want to know why I said it.\u201d \u201cYou know me pretty damned well by now,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cYou … Continue reading