She smiles at my mom across the table. “Then I’d love to, thank you for the invitation.”
We finish the meal, and when I’m helping Hannah into her coat near the coatroom, my mom catches my eye and mouths, “I love her.” I mouth back, “Me too.”
I’m looking forward to the chaotic but merry Thatcher annual Thanksgiving in Aspen more than I ever have before. If it goes well and we’ve met each other’s families, I plan to propose to Hannah by the end of the year.
9
“I’m attaching a map I drew of the prison. There are three underground levels, and the lowest one is where they keep the most valuable prisoners. Impenetrable, the propaganda calls it? All it took for a guard to let me in was a low-cut top and a hand job.” -- Decoded message from ILF undercover operative Nightingale to ILF handler Hiro Tanaka
Briar
“Thready.”
Ellison mutters the word from Nova’s arms as we run back toward our camp as a group. Theron is right behind us, and my skin won’t stop prickling with worry about what he might do.
Stella and the rest of Command Team Two are watching us, hidden in the jungle. Marcus wanted us to have backup if things went bad. I have to trust my back to people I can’t even see, but I know they’re capable.
“She’s lost a lot of blood,” Marcus says from nearby. “She’s typeOnegative. I’m not a match.”
“I’ll give her my blood,” Nova says.
“Are youOneg?” Marcus asks.
“I don’t know. Does it matter?”
“Yeah.”
I speak up. “I’mOnegative. I’ll do it.”
The dirt path through the jungle narrows, forcing us into a single-file line. Nova takes the front, her pace close to an all-out sprint. The jungle’s song of caws and calls plays on, oblivious to our frantic rush to help Ellison.
“If she loses consciousness, do you know how to transfuse?” Marcus asks from right behind me.
“No.”
There’s a momentary pause before he says, “Wyatt, you and Chance and Stella stay with the Tider until I can get there.”
“We will,” Wyatt calls. “We’ll be all over him, don’t worry.”
A droplet of rain lands on my cheek. A thin line of Ellison’s blood marks the dirt beneath our feet, fear for her knotting in my stomach. If his cut was meant as a warning, Theron went too deep.
“Amira and Olin!” Marcus calls, the raindrops intensifying. “Work with Command Team Two to give the garden and the farm advance notice of what’s happening. Make sure you secure the Sub.”
“She’s barely conscious!” Nova cries from the front of the line.
“What about aromium?” I ask, because it speeds healing.
“Not an option,” Marcus says.
Probably because she’d have to be outside our shield to have her aromium active, and she can’t get a blood transfusion in the jungle.
Adele cuts out of line, running ahead of the rest of us. We were in such a hurry to get to Ellison that we left the aromiumswitch hidden in a bush, and I think she wants to get to it without Theron seeing where we hid it.
Rainfall slices through the thick, humid late morning air. When we reach the switch point, Adele puts the switching device next to Nova’s right hip first, powering off her device with a beep.
Nova shudders, the deactivation hitting her hard. Marcus takes Ellison from her, Ellison limp and unconscious now.
“Give us a five-minute lead,” Marcus says as Adele switches off my aromium.
