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Sam shakes his arms, a movement that reminds me of the wolf inside him. “Yes, Kayla. She could be our way in.”
“Sam, really? The woman pushed you into a literal hellhole.”
Laughing wryly, Sam brushes his thick curly hair from his face. “Because she was angry, Tanner. But she’s not just angry with me. Ragnor cast her out. He put Nico in danger, he stabbed him, then abandoned her. I’m no empath, but I’m pretty sure there are some unresolved feelings there we could use to our advantage.”
I let the idea tick in my head for a moment. I hate to admit it, but Sam could be right.
* * *
We’ve just finished repeating Sam’s idea to the others while drinking lukewarm coffee and eating yet another round of protein bars, when Luther says, “I’m not convinced.” He wipes his mouth and scowls at the protein bar. “You’re saying we ask Kayla to kill Ragnor?”
“No,” Sam says, “not exactly.” He shrugs and tries to relax his shoulders. He’s not used to being the one to speak up, and his new role is clearly rattling him a little. “I’m saying, I’m not sure how the barrier spells work, but isn’t it possible that Kayla can still just walk right through it? Straight up to The Hollow?”
Mack breathes out through pursed lips. “That’s a stretch, Sam. Eve could just have easily cast Kayla out of the spell as she could have left her in.”
“Okay, so Option A: Kayla can still walk through. She gets in, kills Eve, and the shield drops. We go in and finish Ragnor.”
“And Option B?” Luther asks.
“Option B: Kayla begs Ragnor to let her back in. He relents because some kernel of decency inside him feels sorry for her. Kayla kills Eve. Rince and repeat.”
Luther looks down at his coffee, then stirs it with his finger. It’s a gross habit, but also one I envy; the ability to make any drink steaming hot with just a touch. I should be able to do it myself. A lot of water mages can manipulate water particles enough to heat them, but I’ve never been able to master it. Ice, yeah. Heat, not so much.
Noticing me staring, Luther leans over and sticks his index finger into my coffee too. “There,” he says. “Don’t say I never do anything nice.”
I frown at his dripping finger, but I want the coffee too much to object.
“Sam, both of these are risky ideas,” Mack says.
“Anyone have anything better?” I ask.
On the other side of the fire, staring at the trees as if he thinks they might deliver an answer to our problem, Kole is silent. Conflict rolls through him in waves. He doesn’t want to be doing any of this. He doesn’t want to prepare for the eventuality that he was wrong, and Nova is gone. He certainly doesn’t want to ask Kayla for help.
“I don’t see any other way of getting in,” he says. “Not in the timeframe we’re working with. We have less than forty-eight hours.”
Mack nods thoughtfully and scrunches his protein bar wrapper in his fist. “Alright,” he says. “No arguing. We vote. Those in favor of seeking Kayla’s help.”
Sam raises his hand. Tentatively, I raise mine too. Mack, Kole, and Luther follow.
“Okay,” Mack says firmly. “It’s unanimous. Which means we have a she-wolf to track.”
* * *
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” I catch Kole’s eye as the others start clearing up after breakfast, and gesture for him to step away from the group with me.
“If we need her, we need her.” He folds his arms. He’s wearing a black tee that exposes the tattoos on his upper arms. It’s not warm. In fact, early mornings and late evenings are becoming increasingly cold as we inch toward fall. But Kole never seems to feel the cold. Never has.
“You and Kayla…” I feel his aura quiver when I mention her name. “You have history, Kole. You’ve never told me the details of your time together in The League, and I’ve only gathered snippets of what happened when she held you and Nova captive. But I know enough to know she caused you pain, and lots of it. So, are you sure you can stand her being a part of this?”
Kole’s biceps twitch, but his arms remain crossed. “You’re right. She hurt me in many ways. She hurt Nova, too, and Sam. But if we truly need her, I’ll put that aside and refrain from ripping her heart out.”
Not a glimmer of amusement crosses Kole’s face; he’s serious. Deadly serious. If he’d been the one to come across Kayla in the forest, she’d probably be lying dead in the woods right now.
The image of her bloodied body splayed on the forest floor fills my head, and I know it’s filling Kole’s too. He presses his lips together and moistens them. His jaw is tightly clenched like the rest of his muscles.
“Are you feeling it?” I ask quietly. “The Hunger. Is it back?”
“It never went away.” He looks down into my face, and a familiar darkness settles in his eyes. “Nova changed it into something else. She tamed it. She satiated it. Without her, I’m not sure how I’ll—”
