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“Which is why you’re going to ride ahead to see if they’ll talk,” he says. “That’s the plan, right? Head up to the gates, call out to them, and see if they’ll negotiate. If they won’t, then they won’t, and we’ll find some other way to deliver insulin to the settlement.”
“They might already know we’re coming,” I say. Despite myself, I’ve started whispering—like someone might be in the woods, listening. “If they’ve been watching, and there’s still a price on your head…”
“I don’t mean to be morbid, but you saw me take out those bounty hunters a few weeks ago,” he says. “I can shift fast enough to fight them if it comes down to it, but I doubt it will. We’re all just people, after all.”
That’s the problem, though.
They might not even think he’s a person.
“We can find another way to contact them,” I murmur. “Tap into the Host’s network? Get a hold of them via extranet…?”
“Tilda,” Reyes says, his voice measured. He pulls his horse closer and I pause as he puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
The horses are calm. Birds sing in the live oaks overhead, not a care in the world.
We’re okay.
So why do I feel like we need to run?
?
Homestead is just on the other side of the woods, and we get there by early afternoon. My dread only increases when we pass out of the sunshine and into the red gloom of the Celestial Curtain, the whole world painted in rose gold. I used to find some comfort in it—when I thought the Heavenly Host was here to protect us—but now, it just reminds me that I don’t belong here.
And Reyes hasn’t mentioned it, but I know his lycan powers are weaker here. If they catch him.
“Stay here,” I say, gesturing at the edge of the woods. I sling my leg over Annie’s back and dismount, then tie her off. “I’ll go ahead to bring a few people out—Enid and the town’s mayor, Patrick.”
Reyes nods, then dismounts and ties his horse to a tree. “I don’t want to look threatening,” he says, “but if this goes sideways, I won’t hesitate to shift. Just give me the signal.”
“What signal?”
He frowns. “Don’t know. Any ideas?”
I chew on my lip. “I’ll call you Father Garza,” I tell him. “That’s the signal that it’s time to get serious and get out of here. And Reyes…if it comes down to it, I want you to leave me behind.”
He takes a step toward me. “No way.”
“They won’t hurt me, but they won’thesitateto kill you,” I say, raising my hand. “If it looks like there’s no way to get us both out, you fucking run. You can always come back for me with other wolves.”
He crosses his arms, a scowl on his face. “You think things are going to go wrong.”
“I’m a pessimist,” I shrug. “Sorry.”
“Well,I’man optimist, and I think we’re going to be fine,” he says.
He pulls me in and kisses me deeply. I hang onto that moment, clinging to him as if that will keep us together.
I have to believe that we’re going to get out of this.
“Good luck,” he says. “It’s going to be okay.”
I nod. “I hope so.”
I go on foot to the gates of Homestead, wading through the field of tall grasses. I catch sight of the tall barbed wire fence a moment later, a grey line over the scarlet prairie. Someone is standing in the watchtower with a rifle in their hand, the red pinpoint of its sights suddenly landing on my chest.
I freeze and raise my hands.
“It’s me!” I call out, hoping they can hear me. “I’m back!”
