“Absolutely not.” Quinn’s tone discourages any argument.
“But they might need us.” Willow stands, arms crossed over her chest, staring her brother down across the fire at our final camping spot before reaching Baalboden.
I couldn’t care less about their argument. Whether they come with us or move on. I’m too busy running through tomorrow’s plan of action, looking for weaknesses.
“You don’t want to go into Baalboden with them because they might need you,” Quinn says. “You want to go because you want to see if they can take out their leader.”
“That’s definitely a side benefit.”
“Which is why I’m saying no.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re no fun anymore, you know that?”
He freezes and something dark flashes through his eyes. That’s the second time I’ve seen hints that what goes on beneath his surface doesn’t always match the calm he wears on the outside. Which won’t matter if he chooses to move on.
But if he stays in Baalboden once the Commander has been defeated, I’m going to have to keep an eye on him.
Willow slowly uncurls her arms and says, “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“I know.” He turns away and begins gathering what he’ll need to make a tree-cradle bed for her.
“Quinn.” She hurries to him, wraps an arm around his shoulders.
“You think I don’t know you’re paying the price for my actions?” he asks quietly, and the pain in his voice seems to hit Willow hard. “Every moment of every day I carry the burden for causing you to be an outcast with me.”
Definitely more going on beneath his surface than he wants us to know. I wonder what he did that caused the two of them to be punished like this.
Willow’s lips tremble, and she steps in front of him to make him look at her. “I chose you. Do you hear me, Quinn Runningbrook? You’re all the family I need.”
They walk to the edge of our campsite, talking in low tones. I give up speculating about what kind of crime would cause a Tree Village to cast out two of their own, and run through Worst Case Scenarios for tomorrow instead. In a few moments, Willow disappears up a tree, and Quinn returns, his face shadowed.
“We’ll go no further. Our debt to Jared has been paid.” His eyes seek out Rachel’s and linger. “Be safe.”
I slide my arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to me. “We will.”
“Where will you go?” Rachel asks.
He shrugs. “We’ll find another Tree Village to take us in. Somewhere far from our first home.”
“But the next closest Tree Village is a two-week journey east,” she says, and turns to me. “They could live in Baalboden, couldn’t they? Once the Commander is gone?”
I didn’t realize she’d come to care for Quinn and Willow, and I wish she could let them go. I could lie and say it’s because I can hardly guarantee any stability in Baalboden until after we succeed in restructuring the government, but the truth is I don’t like the interest in Quinn’s eyes when he looks at Rachel.
I can’t tell her that, but I look at Quinn and make sure my expression doesn’t match my words as I say, “Of course they can. But they might not feel comfortable living on the ground.”
Quinn smiles. “We’ll camp here for several days. See how it goes in Baalboden. We can decide what to do at the end of the week.” His eyes are still on Rachel.
She smiles back. “Good. Once the Commander is gone, we’ll see about finding you and Willow a place. There are plenty of trees in Baalboden.”
My smile feels stretched thin as I say, “Thank you for helping Rachel and for assisting me. I won’t forget it.” I stand and shake Quinn’s outstretched hand. His eyes flick toward me, and then he looks once more at Rachel, nods, and backs out of the clearing to take the first night watch.
I bank the fire and sit beside Rachel to talk though our plan one last time. I’ve barely started running scenarios when she interrupts.
“You’re not tall enough to pass as Melkin.”
It’s the same argument she’s been using for hours now.
“I’m tall enough. Plus, only Melkin knew the signal to give.”
“Only Melkin and his wife. Who was next to you in the dungeon. You don’t think the Commander might be expecting you to show up like this?”
She has a point, but since the only other recourse is to let her face the Commander herself, I keep arguing.
“It doesn’t matter what he expects. He wants this”—I point to the device lying on a cloth between us—“too much to stay away. By the time he realizes it’s me, he’ll see I have the device and he’ll start negotiating.”
Her laugh is bitter. “He doesn’t negotiate, Logan. He executes.”
“Which is why I’ll be the one taking the risk. Just in case.”
“I can handle it.”
Of course she can. But I can’t handle it if it all goes wrong, and I have to watch her die.
“I need you to call the Cursed One for me. I need you to stay out of sight and use Melkin’s staff to call the beast before the Commander takes the device from me.”
“Oh, that’s just perfect. We take revenge on the Commander, and all I get to do is shove a stick into the ground? No. I promised Oliver and Dad I would kill him. I’m not going back on that.”
“And I promised I would always protect you. So—”
“So use Melkin’s stick in time to call the Cursed One before—”
“No!”
“I have to kill him. I have to. It’s the only way I’ll have peace.”
She’s shaking. Maybe we both are. My emotions are running so high I can hardly think straight. I can’t allow Rachel to take the risk, but if I don’t, I’m not sure she’ll ever forgive me.
Best Case Scenario: She evades any treachery on the Commander’s part and remembers which combination of finger pads controls the Cursed One so she can turn the beast against him without dying herself.
Worst Case Scenario: Everything else.
Unless …
“I don’t think the Commander knows what the device looks like.”
“What makes you say that?” she asks.
“Did Melkin know exactly what he was looking for?”
She frowns and shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“I can guarantee if the Commander ever had the opportunity to see this thing in person, he’d already own it and the person who’d shown it to him would be dead.”
“Agreed.”
“So, at best, he only has a general idea of what it looks like.”
Her smile looks more like a snarl. “So make a duplicate.”
“And you can hold the real one while you hide. I’ll keep Melkin’s staff so my disguise looks more authentic.”
“And when the Cursed One comes, I’ll kill the Commander.”
“Yes.” I pull her to me so I won’t have to see the vicious fury on her face and hope that by giving her what she so desperately wants, I haven’t destroyed more of the girl I love.
We unstring Rachel’s bow and use the lightweight black wood to mimic the design of the device. I still have copper wires hidden in the seams of my cloak, and after dismantling her Switch to get to the gears inside, I make a passable imitation of the Rowansmark tech. The wires are obvious, and it has gears instead of finger pads, but it looks like a piece of workable tech, and that’s all we need.
We go over the plan, in detail, three more times until Rachel refuses to discuss it again. I don’t push the issue. Pulling her against me, I wrap myself around her and listen to her breathe as the darkness hides the device, the terrible fury in her eyes, and the evidence that this may be our last night together.
Her breathing slows, an even cadence that comforts me. I brush my lips against her ear and whisper promises I’ll die to keep.