Page 159 of Scarlet Wars
I felt three pairs of eyes shift to me.
Jackson offered me a small, encouraging smile. “Want to tell us what you saw?”
Oh gods, I really didn’t.
Not now.
Not like this.
Not with all of them looking at me like I was supposed to deliver some world-altering prophecy.
I dropped my gaze to the uneven ground, picking at the dirt with the edge of my boot. “As I said before, it was…deeply personal. And I need to piece it together first.”
No one said anything for a beat.
Then Caden’s voice came out quiet and careful. “Did it show you anything about who orchestrated the whole thing?”
I shook my head. “No. But…”
He looked at me, waiting patiently for me to gather my spiraling thoughts. “But what?”
“Considering what they showed me, it was definitely not the United Chiefs who were behind it.”
Everyone stopped walking at once. Caden’s tone was softer now, low enough to feel more than hear. “It was about Alek?”
I met his eyes, and for a heartbeat, the forest didn’t exist, only the two of us and the question hanging there like a threat.
“Not exactly,” I said a lot rougher than I intended. “I’m not sure.”
I dragged a hand over my face, trying to push back the ache in my skull. “I need time to piece it together, and right now…I’m too exhausted to think.”
Before Caden could reply, James suddenly stopped short and lifted a hand. “Hold up.” I nearly walked straight into him.
He crouched low, squinting at the dirt, until I saw what he was studying.
Tracks.
Fresh ones.
Humans: heavy boots, moving in formation. And not passing through. Circling.
James exhaled sharply. “They’re sweeping the perimeter. If we all head straight for the border, we’re screwed.”
Jackson looked up. “So what, we wait them out?”
“No,” James said, already shifting into strategy mode. “We split. Smaller groups are harder to detect. Jackson and I will loop east. You two cut straight for the border, and portal out. We’ll meet you in Kanata C.”
He didn’t say if we make it. But I heard it anyway.
Caden gave a curt nod. “All right. Move fast.”
We peeled off, the forest swallowing us in two different directions.
Caden and I slipped through the trees until the shimmer of the border came into view, subtle, bending the world behind it.
We pressed our backs to a thick pine trunk, breath held, listening. There was nothing but the wind.
After a few minutes, Caden leaned in. “Looks clear.”
