Elves Invasion

74

“Better than the alternative,” Joyce said to him. She looked at Ava. And better than you having to possess us so you can protect us against their stings, she added just between them in mindspeak.

I told you, Joyce. I’m not going to possess you again unless I have your permission, Ava promised.

Breakfast and Joyce shared a look. “Are you sure he can’t just—” Breakfast pantomimed sneaking up on Grace and throttling her. “We could coordinate with Red Leaf. He could tell us when she’s out of her body and we could send Brick in there.”

“The Hive would sniff him out,” Tristan said with certainty. “He’d have to be able to do it without any kind of emotion changing his body chemistry. Maybe he could do it while he was sleepwalking or something.”

“Or possessed,” Mia said quietly. The word slithered through the tent. She looked up. “I know mechanics hate thinking about possession, but consider the alternative.”

Ava could nearly hear Caleb gritting his teeth and intervened before he had a chance to say anything. “I’ll ask Brick if he wants to try it.”

“But then he’ll know,” Mia said, shaking her head. “If he knows, the Hive will be able to smell it on him.”

Ava felt everyone staring at her, waiting for a response. “And what if they smell my fear on him?” she asked quietly. “If I’m in complete control of his body, would my fear make his chemistry respond?”

“Yes,” Isaac answered. Mia opened her mouth to argue with him, but he turned and looked directly at her for the first time and cut her off. “It’s too risky, Mia,” he said. The way he said her name carried years of intimacy with it. Ava flushed and tried to wipe the thought of them together out of her mind.

“Why?” Mia replied, pressing her point. “If it fails, all she has to do is jump him out of there. Even if she were too late and he were to die he would simply be the first of many in this war.”

Caleb stood up. “I wonder if Grace knew the moment she became evil,” he said. He looked at Mia. “Did you know?” She didn’t respond. Caleb looked at Ava. “Will you?” He smiled to himself, figuring it out. “But none of you think you’re evil, do you? Not even Grace, I bet. Not even when she made the Hive. Didn’t she tell us that they protect the city so humans didn’t have to fight and die?” He paused, staring at Ava. “I bet she’s got it all worked out in her head so that she’s the hero.”

When he left the tent, no one tried to go after him. Breakfast was the first to speak.

“Just to be clear, you’re not going to possess Brick, are you?” Breakfast asked.

“There are other options I want to try first,” Ava replied.

“Like what?” Tristan asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

Ava didn’t answer. Joyce eventually announced that she was tired and she and Breakfast retired, followed shortly by Tristan. Ava stood to leave when they did, but Isaac didn’t move from his spot on the floor of the tent.

“Are you going to bed?” Ava asked, standing uncertainly at the exit.

Isaac didn’t look at Ava. He was staring at Mia. “Not yet,” he replied quietly. “Mia and I have some things to discuss.”

Mia had her eyes trained on her lap. Ava looked back and forth between the ex-lovers anxiously. After a few short moments her lingering presence grew painfully awkward.

“Alone, Ava,” Isaac added.

Ava left them, her head strangely light and her feet heavy. She took three slow steps before she heard Isaac say, “I’m not leaving until you tell me about my father, Mia,” and she rushed back and hid by the entrance.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Mia said.

“Stop it. Just stop,” Isaac said tiredly.

“It’s for your own good,” Mia pleaded.

Isaac laughed bitterly. “My own good, huh? You still think you have the right to decide what’s good for me?”

“No,” Mia whispered.

What the hell are you doing?

Ava spun around to find Joyce giving her a scathing look. Ava tried to think of a lie, but there was no explanation for why she would be lurking outside Mia’s tent.

“It might be a good idea to have two stacks of wood ready at all times,” Ava suggested.

“I’ll see to it,” Isaac said.

“That’s not going to help,” Mia countered, as frustrated with herself as she was with the situation. “We need to strike first or the Workers will kill us all. Surprise is the one advantage we have. We need to move.”

“I promised Brick the day to get the rebels together. I’ll claim them in the morning. It’s just a few hours away,” Ava said.

“Not that they can do anything,” Breakfast mumbled. Ava frowned at him. “I’m just saying—if the Hive doesn’t allow them to show aggression, how can they help us?”

“It’ll be different once the fight starts. The Hive will have to fight on two fronts. They’ll be thrown off balance,” she replied with more confidence than she felt. “And they’re working on an antidote and a pesticide. If they can neutralize the Workers inside the city, all we have to do is fight the Warrior Sisters.”

“That’s all?” Breakfast asked. Joyce smacked his arm.

“Better than the alternative,” Joyce said to him. She looked at Ava. And better than you having to possess us so you can protect us against their stings, she added just between them in mindspeak.

I told you, Joyce. I’m not going to possess you again unless I have your permission, Ava promised.

Breakfast and Joyce shared a look. “Are you sure he can’t just—” Breakfast pantomimed sneaking up on Grace and throttling her. “We could coordinate with Red Leaf. He could tell us when she’s out of her body and we could send Brick in there.”

“The Hive would sniff him out,” Tristan said with certainty. “He’d have to be able to do it without any kind of emotion changing his body chemistry. Maybe he could do it while he was sleepwalking or something.”

“Or possessed,” Mia said quietly. The word slithered through the tent. She looked up. “I know mechanics hate thinking about possession, but consider the alternative.”

Ava could nearly hear Caleb gritting his teeth and intervened before he had a chance to say anything. “I’ll ask Brick if he wants to try it.”

“But then he’ll know,” Mia said, shaking her head. “If he knows, the Hive will be able to smell it on him.”

Ava felt everyone staring at her, waiting for a response. “And what if they smell my fear on him?” she asked quietly. “If I’m in complete control of his body, would my fear make his chemistry respond?”

“Yes,” Isaac answered. Mia opened her mouth to argue with him, but he turned and looked directly at her for the first time and cut her off. “It’s too risky, Mia,” he said. The way he said her name carried years of intimacy with it. Ava flushed and tried to wipe the thought of them together out of her mind.

“Why?” Mia replied, pressing her point. “If it fails, all she has to do is jump him out of there. Even if she were too late and he were to die he would simply be the first of many in this war.”

Caleb stood up. “I wonder if Grace knew the moment she became evil,” he said. He looked at Mia. “Did you know?” She didn’t respond. Caleb looked at Ava. “Will you?” He smiled to himself, figuring it out. “But none of you think you’re evil, do you? Not even Grace, I bet. Not even when she made the Hive. Didn’t she tell us that they protect the city so humans didn’t have to fight and die?” He paused, staring at Ava. “I bet she’s got it all worked out in her head so that she’s the hero.”

When he left the tent, no one tried to go after him. Breakfast was the first to speak.

“Just to be clear, you’re not going to possess Brick, are you?” Breakfast asked.

“There are other options I want to try first,” Ava replied.

“Like what?” Tristan asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

Ava didn’t answer. Joyce eventually announced that she was tired and she and Breakfast retired, followed shortly by Tristan. Ava stood to leave when they did, but Isaac didn’t move from his spot on the floor of the tent.

“Are you going to bed?” Ava asked, standing uncertainly at the exit.

Isaac didn’t look at Ava. He was staring at Mia. “Not yet,” he replied quietly. “Mia and I have some things to discuss.”

Mia had her eyes trained on her lap. Ava looked back and forth between the ex-lovers anxiously. After a few short moments her lingering presence grew painfully awkward.

“Alone, Ava,” Isaac added.

Ava left them, her head strangely light and her feet heavy. She took three slow steps before she heard Isaac say, “I’m not leaving until you tell me about my father, Mia,” and she rushed back and hid by the entrance.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Mia said.

“Stop it. Just stop,” Isaac said tiredly.

“It’s for your own good,” Mia pleaded.

Isaac laughed bitterly. “My own good, huh? You still think you have the right to decide what’s good for me?”

“No,” Mia whispered.

What the hell are you doing?

Ava spun around to find Joyce giving her a scathing look. Ava tried to think of a lie, but there was no explanation for why she would be lurking outside Mia’s tent.

I’m eavesdropping on Isaac and Mia, she admitted sheepishly. I think she’s going to tell him about that thing. An image of River Fall in the barn sailed from Ava’s mind to Joyce’s. Joyce stifled a gasp.

Move over, she said, as she crouched down next to Ava.

“I didn’t want you to change,” Mia said, stammering. “That’s why I never told you.”

“Mia, I’m changed, and not for the better. If you think you were protecting me, you failed.” His voice was bitter. Ava had never heard him speak with such rancor to anyone. “I’ve imagined it all, you know. Every possible evil one person can commit against another, and I’ve pictured my father doing it to you. Whatever you think you’re protecting me from, it’s already happened in my head. You’re not saving anyone.”

There was a long pause. And then, surprisingly, Mia spoke. She told Isaac everything about the cinder world and how it poisoned her body. She told him about the men who had hunted her, caught her, and put her in the barn. She described the people in the barn, calling them lambs. And then she told him about his father and what he did to them.

Mia spoke quickly, letting it all pour out. Isaac let her talk, never once interrupting. She ended by telling him how she’d drained the lambs of their life force to fuel her worldwalk back home.

“I swore I would never let it happen to this world,” Mia said, her pace finally slowing. “When I drained the lambs, I promised them that if there were versions of them in my world, they wouldn’t end up in the barn. I’d make sure there’d never be a barn, or a River Fall to mutilate them, no matter what I had to do. I owed them that much.”

Isaac was silent for a long time.

“Say something,” Mia begged.

“I wish you’d just told me. Right from the start,” he said.

“It wasn’t you I was trying to protect, you know,” she said in a wavering voice. “I was trying to protect your memory of him. I thought, even if I took him away from you, I could at least leave his memory alone.”

There was another long pause.

“Now that I can understand,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry, Mia.”

Ava and Joyce heard weeping. Joyce squeezed Ava’s arm and they left Mia to take the comfort Isaac was offering her.