{"id":4042,"date":"2019-07-31T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T04:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4042"},"modified":"2019-07-30T20:20:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T00:20:58","slug":"twenty-01-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4042","title":{"rendered":"Twenty – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Anselm smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve grown bolder,\u201d he said, leaning back and studying Matt with an appraising gaze.\u00a0 The smile suggested that he\u2019d agree to whatever plan Matt proposed, but watching his eyes, Thom found himself uncertain.\u00a0 There was just something tugging at him, setting his guts churning.<\/p>\n

He hoped against hope that he\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n

Matt inclined his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to lose if I hold back,\u201d he said, his voice quiet.\u00a0 \u201cThings I can\u2019t afford to lose\u2014things that none of us can afford to lose.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t do this and if somehow we do things wrong, we\u2019ll still lose.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I need you and the Hunt on board with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anselm nodded slightly, still watching him.\u00a0 \u201cSo you need all of our fighters as well as more information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore information to start,\u201d Matt said.\u00a0 \u201cI have to hope that a preemptive strike is feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if it\u2019s not?\u201d\u00a0 Anselm\u2019s brow arched.\u00a0 \u201cWhat then?\u00a0 What do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bunker in,\u201d Matt said.\u00a0 \u201cWe martial everything we can muster to meet them and hopefully turn him back.\u00a0 The only problem is that I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers did,\u201d Anselm said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat makes him different?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have things he wants.\u201d\u00a0 Matt\u2019s hands curled into fists on his knees.\u00a0 Thom swallowed hard, watching him.<\/p>\n

I have a bad feeling.\u00a0 God, do I ever have a bad feeling.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t going to go the way Matt hopes it will\u2014that he expects it will.<\/em><\/p>\n

He almost laughed at himself, swallowing the bitterness that welled up.\u00a0 So what else is new?\u00a0 I always have a bad feeling about something.<\/em>\u00a0 Thom almost\u2014almost\u2014shook his head.\u00a0 I could be wrong.\u00a0 I have to be.<\/em><\/p>\n

Instead, he stayed still, watching Anselm\u2019s face.\u00a0 His expression had barely changed.<\/p>\n

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?<\/p>\n

His heart said one thing while his gut said the other.<\/p>\n

Thom kept on hoping his gut was wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] Anselm smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve grown bolder,\u201d he said, leaning back and studying Matt with an appraising gaze.\u00a0 The smile suggested that he\u2019d agree to whatever plan Matt proposed, but watching his eyes, Thom … 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":[299,325,14],"tags":[178,150,171,170,181,149,148,168,147,165,158,146,195],"class_list":["post-4042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-20-book-7","category-story","tag-anselm","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction","tag-wild-hunt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-13c","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042","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=4042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4043,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042\/revisions\/4043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}