by Chele Cooke
The activity beneath the crumbling shield was much the same as when the Cahlven had first arrived in Adlai. Soldiers ran back and forth with supplies, and citizens watched with confused expressions, wondering what they were supposed to be doing. The only difference now was that most of the soldiers were wearing masks that covered their noses and mouths. They skirted wide arcs around the Veniche in their paths but, surprisingly, never asked them to move.
Georgianna placed her pack down in the front room. The door was broken, and drifts of snow sat halfway down the slim hallway. Their boots tracked wet prints throughout the house; something her mother would have chastised them for, once upon a time. Nobody cared now. Even her father didn’t have it in him to complain when he saw the state of the interior. He huffed, propped his hands on his hips, and told Braedon that his first job was to get the snow back outside where it belonged.
“Gianna?”
Georgianna spun around, almost slipping in the snow drift. She grasped the doorway and held herself upright.
“I thought that was you.”
Taye stood knee deep in the snow, a dozen feet from her. His hands were shoved deep in the pockets of a Cahlven coat that was far too big on his lanky frame. But his hat, pulled low over his eyebrows and ears, was made of pale fur and leather, and made him instantly recognisable. A dark, almost black strip of leather curved over his head from ear to ear, and she remembered stitching it into the hat when the last join had broken.
Georgianna found the lip of the doorway and stepped back out of the house to join him. He stared at the snow hiding his feet as she trudged through the undisturbed snowbank to meet him. Why he hadn’t gone to the general path, she didn’t know, and didn’t ask. She just shuffled over to meet him, carving the path for herself.
“Hi Taye.”
He lifted his head. Reaching up, he inched his fingers under the collar of his coat and scratched, looking anywhere but at her. “I…” He faltered, staring down at the snow again. “I wanted to—”
“Apologise for being such an outrageous bastard that you chased me with a gun?”
His eyes were as wide as a rabbit caught in the sight of a hunter’s bow, and he looked just as skittish as he stepped back. “Hey! That’s not fair.”
When his gaze finally lifted to meet hers, Georgianna raised an eyebrow and grinned at him. “It’s not fair you shot at me either.”
Taye pursed his lips. “I didn’t shoot at you. And I didn’t have a choice. The Cahlven weren’t letting anyone stay without joining. I couldn’t leave Nyah again.”
Georgianna laid her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”
He didn’t look like he believed her. Their friendship had taken a beating and was bent out of shape. But it was still there, ready to be fixed. The fact he’d come to find her proved that much.
“You know, you didn’t let me get to the apology,” he said.
Georgianna grinned at him. “I thought it would sound a bit forced after I actually saved everyone. I thought I’d save you the embarrassment.”
He didn’t return her smile, or her mockery. He grasped her wrists and held her hands against his shoulders as he looked down at her. “Seriously, Gianna. I’m sorry. I was so… I was blinded and you never deserved my anger. I love you, and I’m sorry.”
Her smile softened, melting like snow in the beginning of the wash. Sliding her hands to his chest, she pressed her palm over his heart. They were wearing too many layers for her to actually feel the pulse of life, but she knew it was there.
“You are forgiven,” she said, and after a moment of consideration, added, “as long as you don’t ever side with invading soldiers who want to kill us all again.”
Taye let out a nervous laugh and nodded. “That I can promise.”
“Good.”
Georgianna stepped away from him and broke the connection. Glancing back at the house, she wondered whether the others would be cursing her name for abandoning them to the work inside. Taye followed her gaze, retreating a step.
“Are you back at your Uncle’s?” Georgianna said before he could bolt.
Taye nodded. “Just until people start moving. Word is that people are heading north again.”
“That’s right.”
“Nyah doesn’t want to stay here. We thought it best to go, see if we can help up there.”
Georgianna smiled and tucked her hands into his pockets. “That sounds good for you both.”
“Yeah, I thought so. But, uh…”
“What is it?”
“Nyah and I were talking about… about joining.”
Georgianna snorted. “If you weren’t, I might be annoyed with you, Taye Rann. After all I went through getting that ring into the Compound.”
He chuckled and scuffed his foot under the snow. “We want to do it soon. As soon as we get to Nyquonat.”
Georgianna nodded to herself. “Wow, that is soon. I mean, it’s not when you think about it, but… that’s great.”
“Nyah wants you there,” he said. He looked away, cursing himself. When he looked at her again, his expression was pleading and hopeful. “I want you there, Gianna.”
Georgianna paused, cold breath caught in her chest. She hadn’t discussed it properly with her family yet, but she had assumed she would be staying in Adlai, at least for the time being. She didn’t want to be a leader of the Veniche. She would rather go back to being a medic and nothing more. And yet, she was known to the Cahlven and the Adveni. She was used to dealing with them now. And Beck would need help.
Still, she couldn’t dismiss that hopeful look in her childhood friend’s face. He wanted her at his joining, and she had chosen what she felt she should do when helping Edtroka, when fighting the Adveni. She wanted to be there for him and for Nyah.
And they did all deserve a little celebration.
“Then I will be there,” she said. “I may have to return to Adlai soon after, but I will be there when you join.”
Taye beamed, and all that had ever come between them was forgiven. He leaned forwards, grabbed her hand, and squeezed tight. “Thank you.”
He released her, turning and ploughing a new canyon through the snow. There was a bright and energetic bounce in his step that made Georgianna smile. She had made the right decision.
She jogged and skidded the last dozen steps to catch up with Dhiren and his long stride. He had his head tipped back, face turned up to the weak sunlight breaking through the clouds. The icy, compacted snow of the path seemed as steady as dry rock beneath his sure-footed steps. He didn’t glance back; he only shortened his gait as she came up to walk by his side.
She had left Halden, Braedon, and her father back at the house. Braedon was once again proving to be less than useful as he excited himself over little tasks that remained half finished, and Halden grimaced as he told Dhiren that it was probably best that he didn’t return to the tunnels with him.
Georgianna had taken the opportunity, making her excuses and then running as fast as the snow would allow to catch up. He didn’t appear surprised to find her at his side, and she wondered if he’d been expecting her to jump at the chance to talk to him alone.
But he didn’t mention it. He barely made a sound as they walked the long road back to the centre of Adlai.
“Are you leaving?” Georgianna said as they descended the steps into the tunnels. After the walk from the camps, she had given up on finding some tactful way to start the conversation.
Dhiren paused. The light from outside just reached his legs, leaving his face and body in shadow as he kicked the bottom step. Clumps of snow fell away from his boots and sloughed onto the ground.
“Dhiren?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk down the tunnel. Georgianna jogged to catch up. “Suns, Dhiren, will you answer me?”
He glanced back, chuckling. “You worried I was going to run off without telling you? That why you followed me all the way here, because you thought I was going?”
<
br /> “No, of course not.”
But it had crossed her mind that he wouldn’t want to make a fuss; that he might simply leave in the middle of the night to avoid the attempts to make him stay. She had promised that when it came time for him to leave, she wouldn’t stop him, but that had been when they were fighting with the Adveni and the Cahlven. That was over now. He didn’t have to go anywhere.
She had also promised that, when it was all done, she would go with him. Surely he didn’t expect the same of her now. Things had changed.
They turned into the narrow tunnel, Dhiren leading the way as they picked through the dark. Georgianna spread her arms, brushing her fingers along the rough walls either side. It was odd that she would miss this place. So much had happened down here; so much she would rather forget. But it also held such good memories. She had met Keiran in these tunnels.
“Taye and Nyah are joining when they reach Nyquonat,” she said.
Dhiren huffed. “Good for them.”
She supposed she couldn’t ask for more emotion from him on that point. He didn’t exactly know Taye or Nyah well. “He’s asked me to be there. I won’t stay, though. At least, I don’t think I will.”
“More negotiations?”
It was Georgianna’s turn to frown as his words took a tone cooler than the snow he’d kicked off his boots. “Something like that.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything more. His caution of the dark shadows was gone and he surged on ahead. She struggled to keep up.
“That’s why I was wondering what your plan is,” she called after him. “If you’re thinking about leaving.”
He ignored her.
The enclosed path spilled out into the wider tunnel that held their home. Lights flickered through the open doorways.
Dhiren stopped, and Georgianna grabbed his arm, wheeling him around. “You must have known I wouldn’t leave, now. Not with my family. I know what I said, Dhiren, but—”
“Shut up, will you?” Dhiren wrenched his arm out of her grasp.
He pointed at the doorways of the tunnel cars.
Georgianna frowned. The place had become so familiar to her that the lights flickering out of the doorways hadn’t phased her in the slightest. But when a shadow moved across the light, she jerked in surprise. Nobody was meant to be here.
Dhiren pulled a knife from its sheath, and Georgianna drew the copaq that had become a regular feature at her hip. They crept towards the tunnel car.
It was probably a Belsa, recently released from the Veniche and looking for something familiar. Or a dreta released with nowhere to go. But they couldn’t risk being surprised if it was an Adveni, looking for information to get revenge.
They raised their weapons.
The person flung themselves around the doorway, jumping down the steps. Georgianna jerked in surprise. Dhiren’s grip tightened around his knife.
They both relaxed at the sight of Jacob straightening up.
Only, Jacob wasn’t supposed to be here, and he looked much closer to the Jacob of old than the one they knew now. He backed up against the tunnel car. His hair was wild, his face pale, and his jaw jittered to the same beat as his gaze darted around him.
“Jake?” Georgianna said, slotting the copaq back into her belt.
Jacob let out a gasp of recognition. She stepped towards him and laid her hand on his shoulder. He lurched away from her.
“Jake, what’s going on?”
“Lacie.”
“What about her?” Dhiren said. “I thought she was on shift, waiting for a decision from the Adveni.”
Jacob shook his head so frantically that his curls whipped into his eyes. “I went… I went to take over. It was my turn.”
Georgianna leaned closer; she couldn’t help herself. A memory so similar to this flooded into her memory before she could push it away. That time, it hadn’t been Jacob panicked and rambling in the dark. It had been Taye.
“Jake, where’s Lacie?”
He shook his head, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.
“I’ve looked everywhere. She’s gone.”
“Here, Jake, have a seat.”
Dhiren grasped Jacob gently by the shoulder, leading him back to the doorway and easing him down. Jacob rocked under the grip, but Dhiren did not let go, anchoring him to where he sat, stopping him from bolting. Georgianna hadn’t seen Jacob look so frantic in a long time.
She joined them, standing on Jacob’s other side as Dhiren crouched, glancing at her before turning his attention back to Jacob.
“Something bad’s happened,” Jacob said. “She wouldn’t have gone. I don’t understand. We were safe.”
“Shh.” Dhiren soothed Jacob with all the skill of a parent calming their child. His thumb rubbed back and forth across the front of Jacob’s shoulder. “Let’s start from the beginning, okay? We’ll track her down. You said she was on shift, right?”
Jacob nodded. “She was waiting for the Adveni envoy like we’d been told. I was meant to take over. I swear, I was on time. I—”
“Alright, alright.” Dhiren cut him off. “Nobody is blaming you.”
“Dhiren’s right,” Georgianna said. “We just need to know the details.”
“But what if something’s happened to her?”
A spike of fear, colder than the mid-freeze wind, lanced through Georgianna’s chest. Jacob looked up at her, waiting to hear that it would be okay, that Lacie would be okay. He expected Georgianna to tell him it was all a misunderstanding and that the Adveni had been in contact already, so there was no need for the shifts. But doubt was edging in on her. Lacie wasn’t the type to go off alone without telling anyone, and they hadn’t heard anything from the Adveni.
Still, Georgianna fixed a reassuring smile in place and stepped closer, placing her hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “We don’t need to worry yet. It’s probably all just a misunderstanding. Knowing Lacie, she’s probably helping Beck back at the camps, and you two just missed each other.”
Jacob didn’t look convinced, and neither did Dhiren. But the moment Jacob looked at him, he switched to a reassuring expression and squeezed Jacob’s shoulder. “Look, we were meant to be packing the rest of the bits here,” he said, waving to the tunnel cars. “Getting ready to take them back to the camps. How about you stay here, and—”
“No!” Jacob jumped up, freeing himself. “I have to keep looking, I have to…”
His words melted to nothing as he met Dhiren’s stern stare, but unlike the Jacob of before, he didn’t shrink away from the confrontation. Squared up like this, he seemed taller.
“Someone needs to stay in case she comes here,” Dhiren said. “You’re too worked up, and this packing needs to be done. It’ll keep you busy while George and I will head back up and check with the others. We’ll find her, and this will all be a big misunderstanding.”
Jacob hung his head. Georgianna didn’t know how long Dhiren’s reassurance would keep him down here. Dhiren clapped him on the arm, and Jacob turned to climb into the tunnel car.
Georgianna called after him. “We’ll let you know as soon as we find anything, Jake. I promise.”
He didn’t reply.
Dhiren and Georgianna dumped the bags they’d brought with them and jogged back into the small tunnel. Georgianna spread her arms and let the walls of the tunnel guide her feet, as she moved faster through the dark. She almost toppled when Dhiren grabbed her and pulled her to a sudden stop.
She turned to him. “What?”
He glanced behind, peering through the dark to ensure Jacob wasn’t following. Dhiren clearly trusted Jacob’s intentions of staying put as much as Georgianna did. But they couldn’t worry about both him and Lacie.
“You got weapons?” Dhiren said, his voice a warm whisper in the dark.
“Copaq and knife. Do you really think we’ll need them?”
“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that Lacie goes missing when the Adveni haven’t responded?”
She did
n’t want to believe it. She wanted to think that Dhiren was being paranoid, or that Jacob had worked himself up over nothing. She wanted someone to lie to her and tell her it was all okay. But Dhiren’s expression was grim, and he’d never been averse to the cold truth.
“No,” she said. “No, I don’t.”
He nodded. “Then let’s go. And pray we’re both wrong.”
“We have to tell Beck and the others about this,” Georgianna said, turning in a circle and looking around the small room. “We have to get their help.”
They’d looked everywhere they could think of without returning to the camps and alerting the others to the problem. They had both thought it was best not to worry anyone until they knew there was something to worry about. But now, Georgianna couldn’t be sure they weren’t merely putting off their return because of the implications of telling the others. Letting Beck know that they couldn’t find Lacie wouldn’t mean she was missing; it would mean she’d been taken.
There were too many suspects, too many places to check. She and Dhiren couldn’t do it alone. Perhaps if they knew where Beck was, they could find a way to avoid him while gathering the others, but Jacob wouldn’t wait much longer.
It was a futile hope that took them back to the building at the intersection where Lacie had been waiting for the Adveni envoy. She hadn’t been there before, and there was hardly any chance she would be there now. But it was another way to put off the inevitable, if only for a few more minutes. Georgianna had hoped it would give her time to figure out what to say.
It hadn’t, and now she stood in an empty room while Dhiren crouched on the floor, staring at nothing.
“It’s time, Dhiren. She’s not here. She’s not anywhere we—”
“This is Adveni.”
Georgianna’s frown deepened. She walked over to meet him. “What?”
