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Clay sent one final look to Samuel and then turned to the rest of the Weavers, seeming to push the man to the back of his mind. “The priority is keeping the spell safe. We’re breaking into two teams. Hale, Calder, and Baer, I want you to go with Harrison. Try to sneak around to the vehicles. Get the fuck out of here.”
“You want us to leave you?” Baer demanded, his eyes wide with horror. Hale wasn’t feeling too good about this idea either. It wasn’t just about keeping the spell safe; they all needed to remain alive to close the rift.
“Clay…” Grey even murmured, obviously uneasy with this idea.
“I know,” Clay grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not a fan myself, but we can try to keep John distracted and everyone else busy, creating an opportunity for them to escape.”
“We’ll protect the spell,” Calder promised. Lucien frowned, his arm tightening about the shoulders of his mate. His lips were pressed together in a hard, thin line. He wasn’t pleased, but he also wasn’t arguing.
“What about the Guardians?” Samuel demanded. Hale’s heart went out to the man. He’d likely known these people his entire life. These were his friends and family. Yes, they knew the risks of being Guardians and that one day the Weavers would come to town, potentially bringing danger with them, but that didn’t mean he was going to be happy or even willing to hand those lives over in the name of stopping the pestilents from destroying the world.
“I’ll do what I can to free them from John’s control and direct them to run to safety. We don’t want them caught in the middle of this either,” Grey replied.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. The sooner we get away, the sooner the rest of the guys can escape too,” Calder directed. Lucien’s hand dragged along Calder’s shoulders as he stepped away, and even Gio reached out to touch his arm as he walked by.
Baer cupped the side of Wiley’s face and stole a brief, blistering kiss. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Wiley’s smile was a little shaky. “Don’t worry. I leave the stupid to you.”
Samuel led the way to the back of the building and into what appeared to be a small storeroom with a single, heavy metal door with several sturdy locks. Unfortunately, there were no windows that allowed them to check to make sure John hadn’t already sent people to the rear of the building. Hale’s stomach twisted into a tight knot as Baer gently moved the man aside and stepped up to the door.
“We’ve got this,” Baer reassured him. He glanced at Harrison. “You need to stay in the middle of the Weavers. Let us do the fighting. If we say run, you fucking run.”
Harrison’s jaw tightened and he looked like he was going to argue, but in the end, he nodded stiffly. He’d rolled the sheaf of papers into a tube in his fist. The old papers crinkled softly but were otherwise secure in the Keeper’s grip.
Hale forced a reassuring smile when Harrison’s eyes drifted to him. “We got your back.”
“I’m more worried about your back,” he admitted softly.
Baer carefully cracked the door open just enough to sneak a peek outside. Hale tried to see around his broad shoulders, but Baer was a big guy, blocking everything except a thin breeze that slipped into the room. The air was dusty with only the faintest hint of pestilent rot. Maybe they hadn’t moved to block their escape yet.
“Coast seems clear to me.” Baer grunted and took a step outside.
They filed outside with Hale bringing up the rear, stepping into what appeared to be a wide alley that ran behind the library and several of the businesses that lined Main Street. Opposite the businesses were some small, paved parking lots and the backyards of small homes in the neighboring residential street. No one was in sight and Hale released a heavy sigh of relief. No pestilents. No brainwashed Guardians.
Baer silently waved for them to follow him through the alley, heading away from the library and toward the east. The man would likely lead them past a few buildings and then cut back to circle around to one of the cars. If the other team could create an opening for them to escape, this just might go off smoothly.
“Welcome to Oklahoma!” a deep voice boomed from in front of the library. A shiver of dread skittered down Hale’s spine, and he winced as if it had scraped along his brain. This had to be John.
“I’m surprised you beat us here,” Grey’s stern voice rose above the low howl of the wind.
John laughed. “Yes, it was a close thing when you disappeared last night, but here we are. I always suspected that the goddesses didn’t keep all their eggs in a single basket. We just didn’t know where all those other baskets were located. But after centuries of searching, we finally found this little dead spot in the world. It was just a matter of waiting for you to show up.”
