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The raptor has taken him to the Hive’s territory, Breakfast added.
Grace will have him soon, Lily said. We have three, maybe four days until she has him, and we still have to join up with Lillian’s army.
Lily looked at Rowan. His expression was guarded, their disagreement on pause, but not forgotten. “We can go now if you want. Your pyre is ready whenever you are,” he said crisply.
Lily climbed the pyre and, with no claimed in Lillian’s army for her to use, she was forced to call out to Lillian herself.
I need to use you as my lighthouse.
Where are you? Back in your world?
No. I need you to put your hand on the ground and feel the earth under you.
I’m doing it.
Now I need you to let me possess you.
Why?
It’s how I’m going to get my army to yours. Hurry. The fire is rising.
Lily smelled the smoke billowing up from the bottom of the pyre and felt the heat that followed. The next moment she was out of her body and soaring across the overworld toward the beacon that was Lillian. She was easy to find, high up in the Appalachian Mountains.
She dove down and felt searing pain—Lillian’s pain. Her guts rolled with nausea, and her vision tracked a few seconds behind the movement of her eyes, setting the world into a dizzying spin around her. It took her a moment to push past Lillian’s sickness enough to feel the vibration of the earth under Lillian’s hand, summon the willstones of her claimed, and jump them all to Lillian’s position.
Lily’s army appeared amid Lillian’s. There was no boom or gust of wind or streak of lighting. The Outlanders, below folk, and ranch hands simply materialized among the open spaces between the Walltop guards on the rocks and cliffs.
Lily appeared next to Lillian, inside her tent. “Tell your soldiers not to panic,” Lily said.
Lillian’s cracked lips were parted in surprise, but she gathered herself and closed her eyes for a moment, sending out a message in mindspeak to all of her claimed. Lily could hear the shocked murmurs coming from outside the tent, but luckily, she didn’t hear the sounds of fighting.
“I probably should have given you more warning,” Lily apologized. “A bunch of Outlanders and criminals appearing alongside a bunch of soldiers could have been bad. I see that now.”
“I know why you didn’t warn me. You couldn’t give me any chance to figure out how to do this . . . feat . . . and go without you,” Lillian replied. She crinkled a wan cheek into a half smile. “What would you call this in your world?”
“Teleportation,” Lily answered. “But that sounds so corny I’ve mostly been calling it jumping.” Her face pinched in sympathy. “You look terrible, Lillian.”
“I told you. I’m dying,” she replied with a humorless laugh.
“I’m sorry.” The words didn’t seem big enough.
Lillian was paper white, skeletal, and the sickly sweet smell of decay clung to her. Her head was wrapped in a strip of linen, and from the bare pink sheen of the skin high on her temples, Lily could tell it was because her hair had fallen out. Even her eyes seemed drained of color. Lily reached out and took Lillian’s hand. She wanted to hug Lillian, but she knew that any contact would feel like knives sticking in her.
They heard voices outside the tent and turned in unison as Rowan, followed closely by Captain Leto, pushed into the tent. Rowan stopped abruptly and made a dismayed sound deep in his chest when he saw Lillian.
“I’m sorry, My Lady,” Leto was saying as he grabbed Rowan’s arm. Rowan didn’t resist. He’d gone boneless as he stared at Lillian.
“It’s all right, Leto,” Lillian said, raising a placating hand. “Rowan is here for her.”
Leto noticed Lily and dropped Rowan’s arm in shock, looking back and forth between the two Lillians.
A long sigh gusted out of Rowan. “Oh, Lillian. Why didn’t you let me help you?” he asked. He took a step toward her and Lillian lurched away from him, her eyes pleading.
“Don’t, Rowan. There’s nothing you can do to help me now,” she said. She turned to Leto. “Captain, would you please escort Lord Fall out of my tent and ask him what his people need? Lily and I will be out in a moment.”
Rowan allowed Leto to lead him away. Lily turned to Lillian.
“You’re still not going to tell him?” she asked. Lillian shook her head. “I think you’re wrong,” Lily persisted. “I understand why you hid the version of River you saw in the cinder world, but Rowan’s changed since you knew him. He accepted that I wasn’t you. He can accept that his father wasn’t that man in the barn.”
