“We have destroyed all the infected,” I said as I stood at attention in the strategy room—I didn’t remember volunteering to speak.
Everything was blurred.
Shadows and shapes bared their teeth and swallowed me whole.
My back was ramrod straight.
Arms behind my back.
Legs wide.
Head bent in deference.
The champions and generals stood beside me, all of us in a neat, obedient line before Dick, who was projected onto the chalkboard. Lothaire and the mysterious cloaked man flanked him on either side.
Lothaire’s singular eye was focused on me, and he nodded as if he was giving me strength. “Are you okay?” he mouthed.
I nodded back discreetly, then focused on Dick.
It felt like someone else was speaking as I continued to give the report. “The battle spilled out into the perimeter, but the foot soldiers secured the valley—to our knowledge, no infected escaped. A map of the realm was retrieved from the battle. It does not contain coordinates, but shows there are three more compounds in the realm. The angels will use it as their guide.”
“Good,” Dick said casually like we were talking about the weather. “Was there anything else on the map?”
He gestured at the screen, and the projection warped around his wrist and revealed a gold cuff, but when he went still, the skin on his wrist was bare.
Great, now I was seeing things.
“The map? Was there anything else on it?” Dick repeated with a harsher tone, and I realized he was waiting for me to answer.
I squinted.
There was a spot on the map that had been suspicious, but why would the High Court know that? And if they did, why would they ask about it like they didn’t have knowledge?
A tension migraine throbbed behind my eyes.
“Yes.” I chose my words carefully. “There are strange words written across the settlement located farthest north. It appears to be some type of foreign language.”
Dick’s expression remained blank as he ordered, “Scan the map on the tablet. We’ll have our linguists look into it.”
I pointed out, “It might be nothing, but there are Xs over the mountains outside the valley.”
Dick looked annoyed. “An artistic choice most likely. Let’s focus on strategizing in helpful ways.”
Agitation skittered down my spine at his dismissive tone.
“Yes, sir,” I said through gritted teeth as I lowered my head and stared at the floor.
Annoyance melted into exhaustion.
“Overall, this is excellent work.” Dick’s patronizing tone grated on my nerves. “It looks like you’re a fourth of the way done with winning the war. Congrats. Focus on eradicating the next three settlements and we will be done with the ungodly. Keep us updated on your progress.”
“Yes, sir!” we chorused.
The tablet turned off.
Lothaire frowned just before he disappeared.
Knox, the person who had found the map, carried it over to the tablet and scanned it over to the High Court.
