“I don’t think it would matter, sir,” Derek breaks in. “They’re fighting a battle already.”
“What do you mean?”
“Greyskins, sir. A thousand of them. Maybe more, we couldn’t get really close.” Derek clears his throat. “Sir, I think it was the same group of greyskins that the villagers said passed through here last night. Only they are aggressive now.”
Jeremiah is silent for a long time, probably thinking to himself. “I don’t understand why they didn’t attack Orick. They are not behaving the way greyskins normally do, and it makes me wonder what is going on.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me, sir.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Jeremiah says, seemingly to himself. I can see him from this distance, scratching at his chin, deep in thought. “It would seem to me that Olivia has another enemy attacking her already.”
“Who, sir?”
Jeremiah shakes his head. “One that I don’t wish to get close to. A very powerful enemy.”
“Who, sir?” Derek presses.
Jeremiah lets out a deep breath. “I could be wrong, but it could be my son, Mitch. It would explain why the greyskins didn’t attack Orick.”
“You mean he’s controlling their minds?”
“It would seem that way. His power has grown.”
“What should we do?” Scott asks.
“Continue with our plan,” Jeremiah says. “We should be mindful of where Mitch might be. He may not even be near the greyskins. Starborn powers have a tendency to grow with use. He could be controlling the greyskins from a good distance away. If that’s the case, then we could use them to our advantage. As far as we are concerned, they are simply more soldiers serving our cause.”
“Except that they will turn on us at any second to bite us,” Derek says.
“We just have to be prepared,” Jeremiah says.
“Should we tell the rest?” Scott asks.
Jeremiah stands there, looking at the ground for a minute. “No,” he finally says. “I don’t want their minds on something unimportant. We just need to keep them focused on breaking through that wall. Make sure that when we set out in the caravan, the vehicles carrying the RPG’s are in front.”
“Yes, sir.”
Neither Derek nor Scott seem to like this answer, but they accept it without further discussion. I watch Jeremiah for another minute. He stands alone as Scott walks away and Derek hobbles. I wish it wasn’t just sound that I could pick up. I wish I could read Jeremiah’s thoughts. Of course he looks at this as an advantage and of course he’s not going to tell his soldiers that there are greyskins already attacking Anchorage. Why would he run the risk of demoralizing his men when he didn’t have to? If they had come with him that far, they would be less likely to turn back once they got there.
I wonder how this new revelation will change the plan. Will it make it harder or easier to kill Jeremiah and Olivia? What’s my role in all of this? I know I’ve got to give Evie away to Jenna before we leave. I’m guessing that will be tonight at sunset. But first, I’ve got to persuade Jenna to take her.
I leave Evie with Gabe and make my way out into the street. I find Mike and Jenna sitting on one of the sidewalks with a plate of cold food in front of them. They huddle together with blankets, trying to keep warm in the sun, though even it can’t seem to overpower the chilled air.
Mike glowers at me, but Jenna’s face seems more tame. I don’t really know what to say, so I just sit in front of them in the middle of the street, bringing my coat tight around me.
“What do you want?” Mike snaps.
“Did you rest well last night?” I ask.
“What’s it to you?” he says.
Jenna places a hand on Mike’s arm. “Take it easy.”
“You take it easy!” Mike says. He tosses his plate to the ground and it cracks into pieces, a loud crashing echoing through the streets. He gets up from the sidewalk and begins walking away.
I’m actually glad that he’s leaving. Talking to Jenna alone will be much easier than trying to talk to both of them.
“I was hoping you and I could have a word,” I say.
“Is it about your little girl?” she asks. “Evie?”
“Yes,” I say.
“Mike would never have it,” Jenna says. “He’s more focused on getting us out alive.”
“You shouldn’t worry about that,” I tell her. “You aren’t prisoners here in the sense that you’ve done anything wrong. Jeremiah just wants to see something through, and once it’s done, he will let you go.”
“Well, we don’t want to take part in any fight,” she says.
“And I will talk with him,” I tell her. “I don’t want you to be here any more than you want to be. This isn’t your fight.”
Jenna watches me, nodding as I talk. She seems more receptive to conversation now that Mike isn’t around.
“He’s not going to let me take your little girl,” she says.
“Let me make a deal with you,” I say. “If I can make sure you get out of here safely with a vehicle and plenty of gas, would you take her? Otherwise, Jeremiah will probably force you to go to Anchorage.”
Jenna looks away from me and toward Mike. He’s arguing with some guard about something—probably about being let go. “I think he would go for that,” she says, looking back at me. “Why do you want to get rid of her so badly?”
“That’s just it,” I say. “I don’t necessarily. But she can have a bright future somewhere else.” Part of me wants to tell her about my sister’s ability to see the future and that Evie will one day help in taking down Jeremiah, but it would be too much to explain. Jenna will probably never know how important it is for her to take Evie away.
I just wish it was possible for me to take her and raise her myself. I never really thought about having kids, but this is different. Evie needs someone that cares about her and loves her. Gabe is already so good with her, and it would seem that we are an item now, I guess. So, we’d just make a perfect little family. Life wouldn’t be easy, but whose life would be? Of course, it would be hard to raise Evie knowing how she was going to die. I would constantly feel the need to do something about it, sort of like how I feel now—like the fact that we are going to try and kill Jeremiah
and
Olivia, despite the future Waverly has seen.
“I just wish Mike would have never taken the route through Elkhorn,” Jenna says. “I knew something bad was going to happen.”
“But nothing bad has happened to you,” I tell her. “You’re being held against your will, sure, but you’ve been fed and given a safe place to sleep. And now, I’m going to make sure you’re released. Doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
Jenna sighs and nods. “I guess you’re right.”
“Besides,” I say, “I think you were meant to wind up in Elkhorn.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if you’re going to take Evie, then that means she will be safe. My future is uncertain. I could be dead by the end of the day, and she will have no one.”
Jenna nods.
“Evie has an important future ahead of her. I know you can’t understand what I mean, but it’s true. She is special.”
“I understand,” Jenna says, smiling. “Every child is special in this world. It’s our duty to protect them.”
I don’t contradict her. That’s not exactly what I meant, but if it’s enough for her, then it’s enough for me.
I leave Jenna on the sidewalk, satisfied that I’m helping secure the future. Tonight, Evie will be with people that will keep her safe. But first, I’ve got to talk to Jeremiah.
I find Jeremiah talking with Ethan and Stephen near the entrance of the town. I think about listening in on their conversation before going up to them, but I don’t really care what they are saying to each other. I don’t trust any of them, really. At one point, I would have trusted Ethan, but the way he’s been acting toward Waverly just makes me mad. So, I lump him together with the others, if only to keep myself focused.
When I approach them, Jeremiah stops talking, and looks at me with a smile.
“Hello, Remi,” he says. “I was actually wanting to talk to you about something.”
I nod at him. “Same here. You first.”
“I wanted to make sure you planned to sneak into the compound with us,” he says. “I want a group of individuals who are comfortable with each other.”
“Who all is going?” I ask.
“Myself, Ethan, Stephen, Waverly, and I hope you and Gabe.”
“Is that a small enough group?” I ask.
“I think it’s just right.”
I look at Ethan, who seems to be off in another world, and then at Stephen who stares at the ground, seemingly in a daze. I don’t know what’s up with Ethan, but I know that Stephen is still struggling with losing the people of Elkhorn. They were his family. They were all he had left. I feel sad for him.
“I will go with you into the sewers under one condition,” I say.
Jeremiah’s eyebrows lower as I say this. He doesn’t like conditions. “What is it?”
“I want you to let Jenna and Mike go,” I say. “They have nothing to do with this. They’ve agreed to take Evie with them so long as they are allowed to go free.”
“I’m sorry, but no,” Jeremiah says. “I can’t trust them.”
“They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I say frustrated. “They aren’t part of this fight.”
“As far as you know,” Jeremiah says. “But they could be spies sent from Shadowface. I’m not going to risk letting them tell her that we’re coming. It would ruin everything.”
“Olivia will be too preoccupied with the greyskins surrounding her city, don’t you think?”
Jeremiah’s eyes narrow. “How did you know about that?”
“I overheard you, obviously,” I say.
“Not having you with me is a risk I can afford,” he says. “Letting Mike and Jenna leave is a risk I
can’t
afford, but I am willing to compromise.”
“Go on,” I say.
“They must come with us to Anchorage, but can leave before the fighting begins. So, you will need to take Evie with you, if your plan is for them to take her. They can have a car, but only once we get there.”
“It’s too risky,” I say. “They could get caught up in the fight. I don’t want to take Evie within a mile of that place either.”
“That’s the deal,” Jeremiah says. “Take it or leave it.”
I let out a huff, but I know it’s all I’m going to get and it will have to be good enough for Mike and Jenna.
“But that’s only if you agree to help us get through the sewers,” Jeremiah continues.
“Fine,” I say.
I spin on my heel and start walking away. I can hear steps following me and when I turn, I see that it’s Stephen. We are several feet away from Jeremiah and Ethan who are now in another conversation discussing their plans.
“Why are you giving Evie to strangers?” Stephen asks.
“Same reason you gave her to me,” I lie. “I can’t take care of her.”
“I thought the two of you were getting along,” he says.
I feel tears starting to come and I don’t understand why. I swallow them as best I can, trying to force the lie out naturally. “I can’t take care of a kid, Stephen. No more than you can.”
“I can take her then,” Stephen says.
I shake my head at him. “You already gave her up,” I say. “Look at yourself, Stephen! You’ve been walking around looking like a greyskin. You couldn’t take care of her if you wanted to.”
“I’m just surprised by you,” Stephen says. “She was the reason you came to Elkhorn in the first place.”
“In a way, I guess. But everything has changed. Things will always change.” I take a step forward and lower my voice to a whisper. “Honestly, I don’t know why you’re helping Jeremiah.”
“Before Shadowface destroyed Elkhorn,” he says, “I thought I had already lost everything when I lost my wife. But when most of my people were killed in Elkhorn, I found out what it truly meant to lose everything. Jeremiah’s my only chance to see retribution.”
If he only knew who Jeremiah really was,
I think to myself. I want to tell him, but I can’t. Stephen is fragile. Who knows what he would say or do right now. He would probably kill Jeremiah where he stood, which is what I want to do too. But he has to help us get to Olivia. Then, and only then, can we change the future.
The evening creeps up slowly with long shadows crawling down the sidewalks. The blood-red sun shines just above the horizon while orange and purple clouds paint the sky.
I feel confused. Remi just told me that Evie, Jenna, and Mike have to come with us to Anchorage. I thought for sure we would be sending Evie off before the fight. This looks like the same sky that I saw in the vision. Have we become so consumed with helping fate run its course that we accidentally changed it?
Everyone that is going to Anchorage—at least seventy people—carry guns with them. Everyone except Jenna and Mike who stand in the crowd, fuming because their wrists have been tied behind their backs. Jeremiah’s lack of trust for them might get them killed if we’re running into greyskins, but Remi has already assured them she won’t let that happen. I still don’t know how this is supposed to play out. The plan is to allow Mike and Jenna the chance to leave with Evie just before getting to Anchorage, but by the time we get there, the sun will be gone and the painted sky will be lost.
I hope I haven’t somehow altered Evie’s future. But it’s either do that or we send her away at a different time. It’s impossible to know. The burden of my power weighs heavily, and I wish I could be relieved of it.
I walk the street, making my way to my assigned vehicle where I will travel with Ethan, Jeremiah, and Stephen. Remi and Gabe will take a different SUV with two guards, Evie, Mike, and Jenna, so they can help them escape when Jeremiah gives the order.