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“For two years we waited. It seemed like forever. But the Working came through. The Working always comes through. It showed me our heart, broken and bleeding, barely throbbing in our midst. It showed all of us gathering around our heart, bending to provide shelter and healing. It showed us being gentle with our heart. Loving our heart. And through that loving, we all became aware of our own wounds, wounds we didn’t waste thought on before.
“That’s where we’re at now, gentlemen. We have our heart now. We love our heart.” There are murmurs of agreement around the amphitheater, and I feel fluttery butterflies in my stomach. Jud grunts, and I wonder if he feels love for me. I think he might, in his own way.
“And we’re starting to look within ourselves,” Rev goes on. A wave of uncomfortable shifting moves through the outdoor space. Doc is sitting on one of the logs, and he crosses his arms over his chest. On the other log, Shep nods his head. Brawn is staring at the ground. I can’t see the others from where Jud and I sit, but I wonder if they’re looking uncomfortable too. “We’re beginning to see what’s been hidden. We’re beginning to see our own bleeding cracks.”
Could Rev be right? Could my presence here be making my guys more aware of their wounds? I think he’s talking about mental and emotional wounds, like the raw gash to my soul Leon kept fresh for so long. I think of Shep’s wrist straps and how they hide scars from a suicide attempt. I think of Brawn’s fear of hurting me with his size and strength and how that fear might come from a terrible incident in his past. I think about Scrap curling into a ball on top of me and crying himself to sleep. I think of Rev lying on the floor of a jail cell while a demon ripped itself out of him. I think of how Jud won’t talk to me about his past, how Doc is adamant that his name is just Doc, that nothing from the past matters. I think about Grim needing touch so badly. I’m not the only one on Eagle Peak with scars. My guys have them too, and somehow, my being here makes those scars more obvious to the bearers.
I don’t like that. Maybe they were better off without me.
But then Rev says, “It’s a good thing, too. Because wounds can’t be treated if you don’t know they exist. We all have work to do on ourselves, and we should all be falling at Cora’s feet with gratitude that she’s helping us see where that work needs to take place.
“Take these words as encouragement, brothers. Don’t shy away from the work. I know we’d all rather ignore our innards and go about our lives, do our chores, enjoy our woman.” He winks at me. “But we got to look inside and do what needs doing in order to heal ourselves up. As uncomfortable as it can be, as inconvenient as it can be, we need to gut up and fuckin’ do it.
“Why? Because we’ll behappierin the end?” He makes a mockery of the word “happier,” putting on a fake voice when he says it. “Fuck no. Because it’ll improve us as human beings? Nah. There’s one reason and one reason only why we do anything from this point on. And it’s sitting right there.” He points at me.
I squirm in Jud’s secure hold.
“Our heart deserves our best. How the hell will we be what she needs if we let our pasts haunt us? How the hell will we be able to protect her if we’ve got cracks where weakness can get in?
“The time for complacency is past. We need to build ourselves up and be the men Cora needs us to be. Because, brothers, a war is comin’.”
Rev lets those words rest heavy in the air.
“It’s with a heavy heart, I bring you a word from the Working. Yes, my Gift made itself known, again. We suspected it, didn’t we? Every time a prophecy is fulfilled, I get another Knowing. Cora’s here. She is our promised heart. Now, the Working has more for us to know, more for us to prepare for. So, listen up, brothers. This is gonna be the most important word I’ve ever brought you.”
Rev leaves the pulpit and slowly paces the front of the stage. “Some of what I’m about to tell you came from our guest, the pelican. Some of it came from the Knowing as I meditated on what I gleaned from the bird. Some of it’s still comin’. There’s a lot to unpack, so buckle up.”
His eyes are as wild as ever, and he looks deadly serious as he goes on. “Some of you know about the heron Jud took down the other day. It sparked his Gift, and he knew, as sure as if that bird were a man, that it was bad fuckin’ news.”
Jud nods. I feel the hairs of his beard catch in my hair.
“Bad news or not,” Rev says, “killing the bird was a mistake.” He smirks at Jud, who growls. “Can’t get no information off a dead bird.”
I’m still not sure what kind of information Rev is talking about, but I wait for him to explain.
“So, Scrappy boy rigged up a fine snare gun, and next time a southern bird showed its beak ’round our territory, we caught the motherfucker.” He stops pacing and grins. “And what a catch it was.
“Did you know birds have names? I didn’t know. Not until I met our friend, Bernard.” He nods, looking equal parts insane and resigned. “Yep. Ber-nard. The pelican.” He shakes his head. “Ornery avian, that one. It was no easy feat getting information from him. Fortunately, my Gift doesn’t require enthusiastic participation.” He grins ruefully, and I imagine him staring at the pelican through the bars of a cage, willing his Gift to reveal anything of value.
“Turns out,” Rev says, stroking his beard.“Bernard is from the Big Easy.” He nods at Jud and then at Doc. “Some of you came from that area. Didn’t know ’til my little chat with Bernard that there’s a settlement there. Right in the city. A fortified, walled settlement, five city blocks square. Bernard got quite a nice view of the digs before turning north on the orders of a man with jet black hair. Name of Raptor. Bernard thinks of this man as leader, so we’ll go on the assumption he’s the one in charge of the settlement. Seems his Gift is having command of anything that can fly. Birds, insects, bats, who the fuck knows what else.
“Doesn’t seem that formidable a Gift, right? Yeah.” He chuckles. “Not until you realize he can communicate with these creatures across long distances. Even this minute, this Raptor has a connection with Bernard. You can guess what that means.”
“Spy in our midst,” Jud grumbles, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Rev nods at Jud. “Sure as shootin’. Bernardisa spy. Everything that bird has seen—and, we have to assume the same of the heron—Raptor has seen. That includes our settlement, our resources, us, and Cora.”
Jud’s muscles tense all around me.
“Unfortunately for us, Bernard is no slouch. He’s flown all over this territory. He’s passed along information on our numbers, our security, how many fucking head of animals we have, even that we use Boseman warehouses as a storage hold. And on Raptor’s orders, he took a special interest in—you guessed it—our heart.”
“Not gonna fuckin’ happen,” Jud growls. “No one gets to Cora.” His arms are a cage around me.
“Damn fucking straight,” Doc says. Murmurs of agreement come from all over.
“We’re in agreement on that,” Rev says. “But I’ve got bad news and worse news. The bad news is they’re comin’ for her.” He pauses, and my heart misses a beat. “The worse news is there’s thirty of them.”
Chapter 24
