{"id":3619,"date":"2018-06-08T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3619"},"modified":"2018-06-07T18:18:55","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T22:18:55","slug":"thirty-nine-05-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3619","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-nine – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMarin?\u201d<\/p>\n

I heard Seamus\u2019s voice as if it were distant, echoing down a tunnel to reach my ears. It wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019d had that sort of experience, but this time I was sure the reasons were different. Nothing was attacking me, not yet.<\/p>\n

Nothing except my own fear, anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarin.\u201d His voice was firm, somehow closer. I sucked in a breath and shook myself, looking at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight,\u201d I said, my voice coming out hoarse and choked. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. \u201cPaul,\u201d I barked. \u201cCall it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHeard,\u201d he called back. The bell we\u2019d rigged in the watchtower rang once, twice, and then again. He paused, then repeated the pattern. My attention shifted back to the mist gathered at the far end of the field. The rain was starting to come down harder now, but the mist remained.<\/p>\n

Someone\u2019s holding it there.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWho would be able to hold that?\u201d I asked without looking at Seamus. He shifted uncomfortably and held his peace for a moment too long, earning a sharp look. \u201cSeamus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few,\u201d he said, voice almost lost to the rain. \u201cDangerous to speculate. I could be wrong and that would lead us down the wrong path for how we\u2019ll deal with whoever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

I exhaled a curse. Matt touched my arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cAietes is driving this bus, Mar. He\u2019s what we have to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWill he negotiate?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a chance,\u201d he and Seamus both said at the same time, in the same breath. I jerked, startled, gaze bouncing between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou both sound pretty sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDamned sure,\u201d Seamus said, jaw tightening. \u201cNot with us, usually not with anyone. He takes what he wants because honeyed words no longer work for him. He lost that sort of credit long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants Hecate,\u201d Matt whispered. \u201cWe can\u2019t let him take her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever,\u201d I promised.<\/p>\n

The mist hadn\u2019t moved, though the drums grew still louder, the rain harder. Thunder rolled. I took a breath.<\/p>\n

So now we wait. Let them make the first move.<\/em><\/p>\n

Others were starting to filter into their positions at the wall, moving quickly. I hoped that Hecate had managed to get Lin and Thom below, to safety. I wouldn\u2019t be able to go and check myself, nor could I spare anyone with me for the task.<\/p>\n

All I could do was hope and trust that she\u2019d know what to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.] \u201cMarin?\u201d I heard Seamus\u2019s voice as if it were distant, echoing down a tunnel to reach my ears. It wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019d had that sort of experience, but this time … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,291,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,181,149,148,159,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-39-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Wn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3620,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3619\/revisions\/3620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}