One afternoon, as Jade and Alina sat on the porch, Nicole slammed the front door and passed them in a huff. As she stormed out of the yard, Alina whispered to Jade about her.
“She seems to hate me more now I’m friends with Oliver—and so does everyone else in town. Did they want me to be miserable and friendless, and this ruined their plans?”
“I have a different theory,” Jade said quietly. “When you first started hanging out with Oliver, Christine mentioned the girls might never warm up to you now. You’ve nabbed the boy they all wanted.”
“I haven’t nabbed him,” Alina replied. “We’re just friends.”
“Right.” Jade’s eyes twinkled.
“I don’t like him that way. I was worried I might, but there’s still Zaiden—and besides, we’re leaving soon. Maybe then everyone will see there’s nothing going on between us. If I do succeed in freeing Carthem, I’d only be more hated here. I guess I have to fail for anyone to like me.”
Jade put her hand on Alina’s back. “They aren’t worthy to be your friends. Enjoy your time with Oliver. He’s fun, and handsome. I’m not surprised so many girls like him. Are you sure he thinks of you as a friend, though?”
“Yes, pretty sure. And if not, we’re leaving anyway.” Alina traced her finger along the wicker of the porch swing. “I’ll miss him, though.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Christine poked her head out the door. “Alina, Jade—Baylor wants to speak to both of you right away.”
Three weeks after the nightstalk attack, Rex and Baylor were healing nicely, though the doctor expected some scarring. In spite of this, Rex looked more like his handsome self, and Baylor removed the patch from his eye.
“Hi, ladies, please sit down,” Baylor said as they came in. “We have some things to discuss. I spoke with Lance this morning about our trip to Jaden.”
“How soon will we go?” Alina asked. The idea of leaving Millflower unsettled her. She would be both sorry and relieved.
“As you can see, Rex and I are doing a lot better. Doc thinks we’ll be recovered in another week or so. But the trip to Jaden concerns us, and we’re unsure of the best way to proceed. Gerard has really thrown a snag in our plans. We never thought he was alive—much less recruiting men and acting as Sampson’s puppet.”
“He won’t give up, will he?” Alina stated.
“No, he won’t, and your escape will make him wiser and more cautious. Their number is their advantage—there’s so many of them, and they must have something protecting them. We don’t understand how a group that size could survive in the wild.”
“Yes!” Alina remembered. “I meant to tell you—they have something from Sampson protecting them.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard them discussing it when a man disappeared after leaving the group. Something about the group offering protection, and Sampson was behind it. Gerard got upset when they talked about it. He didn’t want me to hear.”
“Interesting,” Baylor murmured. “Maybe Lance will have an idea what it is. Our best strategy might be to take it from them; then they’d be dead in a matter of hours.”
“You’re sure they’ll try to take me again?”
“I’m sure, and with no such protection, it’s useless to organize a group large enough to match them. They could simply wait for the creatures to reduce our numbers, which would surely happen.”
“What if we spread out?” asked Jade.
“If we’re close enough to unite to fight Gerard’s gang, then we’re close enough to be hunted by deadly creatures. You saw how many grimalkins came, and there were only four of us. Traveling in a large company wastes lives. Alina can’t defend us all. Gerard has a huge advantage.”
“What do you think is the best plan?” Rex asked.
Baylor sighed. “Lance and I discussed many ideas and kept coming back to the same thing. Our best option is to take Millflower’s most reliable vehicle—which isn’t much, mind you—hurry to Jaden with the four of us, and hope we don’t meet Gerard along the way. It’s simple, risky, and the only plan we’ve got.”
“But we need a defense in case we do meet him,” Alina said.
“Absolutely. Lance and I discussed that, too. We need to be as prepared as possible.”
Alina pulled up her knees and hugged them against her chest. She’d told the others how she escaped from Gerard that night in the woods but had left out some important details. It was too uncomfortable to remember, much less speak of, what the men wanted to do with her. But Baylor needed to know.
“Baylor,” she said, her voice trembling. “I haven’t told you everything Gerard did to me last time.”
Baylor turned hard eyes on her. His nostrils flared but he spoke in a gentle tone. “I worried you hadn’t. I understand this might be hard to talk about.” He paused. “Did his men take advantage of you?”
“No,” she answered, and Baylor’s chest relaxed. “But they planned to, all of them in their turn, and they came very close. I overcame the first man who tried because I stretched the rope loose. Then I escaped into the woods.”
Baylor shot to his feet and paced the room. He cursed Gerard through clenched teeth.
Alina blinked back tears. “I know I can escape them, but I’m terrified of being taken again.”
Rex spoke up. “Don’t worry, Alina, we’ll protect you better this time. We’ll have a plan.”
“Yes,” Baylor agreed. “I’ll consult Lance and see if he knows what might be protecting them.”
“The way I see it, the longer we stay here, the more time Gerard has to plot against us,” said Rex. “Can we set a date to leave?”
“That’s a good idea,” Baylor answered. “One week from today, and we go. That’s enough time to prepare and complete our recovery.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Christine entered. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but your wife is on the phone, Baylor. She says it’s urgent.”
Baylor pinned his eyebrows as he took the
