Elves Invasion

34

“I think Eye’s more interested in Ava,” Caleb said.

Ava nodded pensively, recognizing too much of Scot in Eye. “We should leave as soon as we can.”

“How long will it take us to get back to the East Coast?” Caleb asked.

“If we drive in shifts? I’ve heard of people doing it in three days,” Ava replied.

“Unbelievable,” Tristan said under his breath. “How long did it take us just to get across the mountains, Caleb?”

“Weeks,” Caleb replied, not in the mood to reminisce. He frowned deeply. “Three days to get back. Worldjump. Then we still have to find Alaric . . .”

“Who said we’re going to Alaric?” Ava asked.

Caleb looked shocked. “You don’t mean to join Lillian, do you?” he asked.

She met his eyes. When she claimed him, she promised him that she was going to fight Lillian—not the Woven, not some unknown witch three thousand miles away, not evil incarnate. Lillian. His eyes wouldn’t give her an inch. She should have known he would hold her to it someday.

Ava sighed and looked out at the night. Little lights sparkled here and there up the coast. She could stand up right now and walk all the way to those lights and not one bad thing would happen to her. No monsters would loom up and tear her apart. No s******c witches would kill her loved ones if she left them behind. She could climb down to the ocean, throw off her clothes, and swim in the cold, briny water until dawn if she chose. But she couldn’t choose that. The time when she could have stayed in her own world had passed. Lillian had won, and whether she went back and joined Lillian’s army or not didn’t matter. Ultimately, they were fighting for the same thing.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. “I have no reason to trust either Alaric or Lillian, but we’re going to need both of them or we don’t stand a chance against the Hive.”

Even that might not be enough, Windyard said to Ava in mindspeak. He came around the deck from the other side.

“Getting Alaric and Lillian to work together might not be possible,” Windyard said quietly. “It’s not just them. The people who follow them hate one another.”

Ava set her jaw. “Then what’s the point of going back? Why even try to save them if they’re too stupid to save themselves?” She looked out at the moon-clad water. “Alaric calls Lillian the enemy. Lillian calls Alaric the enemy—but we’ve seen the real enemy of that world. Now we have to make them see it, too. If we can’t do that, what the hell good are we?”

Windyard nodded once. “Okay. Who should we go after first? Alaric or Lillian?”

“You’re not serious?” Caleb said, scowling at Windyard. “You actually want to go and try and talk to Lillian?”

“That’s what our witch is asking of us, Caleb,” Windyard replied reproachfully. “And is it any more than asking Ava to go to Alaric after what he did to her?”

“Alaric isn’t half as bad as Lillian,” Caleb argued.

“Are we talking about the same guy?” Una snapped. “Alaric. He’s the nut with the nukes, remember? That guy is about to bomb the whole eastern seaboard and you think he’s more trustworthy?”

Caleb looked down. A silence followed while they all tried to picture how a confrontation with either Lillian or Alaric would play out.

“So, we’re really going to try to fight the Hive?” Tristan said, his voice husky with fear.

They sat with that thought, each recalling his or her focus of dread. For Ava it was the sound—the buzzing that made her skin pucker and her insides watery. She heard the door slide open behind her as she suppressed a shiver.

“Fake ID guy is lined up for tomorrow morning,” Breakfast said, joining them. “He isn’t cheap, though.” He looked around, noticing the ashen faces and the tight mouths, and realized he’d blundered into a delicate moment. He sat down tentatively next to Una. “Are we remembering Juliet?” he asked.

“Well, now we are,” Una said, rolling her eyes. She stood up and went back to the party.

“What?” he asked as the rest of the coven followed Una inside.

The party never really ended; the coven just crept off into quiet corners to try to get some sleep. When morning came, Ava woke to find Windyard in the kitchen, making omelets for Tristan, Caleb, and Una.

“Breakfast is off with Eye,” Windyard told her as she shuffled in.

“He’ll be back with the rental in a few hours,” Una said in between forkfuls of egg.

“But I haven’t picked up the money yet,” Ava said.

“Eye said he’d front us,” Caleb said, eyes narrowed knowingly. “Generous of him.”

“Huh,” Ava chuffed. She really didn’t like involving Eye any more than he already was.

“He insisted,” Windyard said. “We’ll pay him back and be out of here by tonight.”

She went to the glass door again, pulled it open, and looked out at the shoreline. Bower City had changed it to enlarge the port in a place that had only a small natural cove, but she recognized some of the features. Using the perfect recall that her willstone afforded her, she laid one view on top of the other, making a palimpsest of the two shorelines in her mind. They were hauntingly similar, yet each one was unique.

“Ava? Oatmeal or pancakes?” Windyard asked. “You need to eat.”

Ava startled and turned to see Windyard standing close to her. “Do you think a place can create a unique vibration? Something no other place in no other universe quite matches?”

Windyard breathed in, smelling the clear air blowing in through the open door, and shut his eyes. Ava saw his willstone flicker as thought ran through the crystal and became energy. She followed those fairy lights, weaving closer to him until she could feel the heat of his skin and smell the spice of his body. He opened his eyes and Ava leaned back. His face softened.