Page 66 of Rebel in the Deep
The house we take temporary shelter in has the appearance of being abandoned for years—decades, even. The door hangs half off its hinges, wood swollen by the sea air, and even Bowen has a difficult time wedging it open. Inside, it smells faintly of mildew, mold sprouting in the corners where walls meet ceiling.
“Great,” Lizzie mutters. “Now we have to worry about black mold.”
No one bothers to respond. Nox pulls the water from our clothes. I dig out some food from the bag the Yothians gave us and pass it around.
“Time to go over the plan,” Bastian says. He pulls a rotted wooden table to the center of the room and sets out a handful of rocks that are apparently supposed to represent Lyari. “The Council’s building is right here.” He points to a triangular rock. “If we time it correctly, we can slip through when they change shifts.”
Maeve nibbles on her bottom lip. “We’re just going to…walk in? Aren’t there guards inside?”
“Yes.” Bastian sets two smaller rocks next to the triangular one. I’m not sure what these are supposed to represent. Guards? “The Council keeps normal hours. By the time we make it to the city, it will be late—later yet when we reach the library. I’ll use my glamour to keep us hidden. Nox and Lizzie will incapacitate the guards as we come across them. Once we reach the library, Evelyn will neutralize the magic on the case around the horn and Bowen will break it. We blow the horn and then this is over.”
It does sound too simple to work. A thousand things could go wrong…
It’s still the best plan we have.
Lizzie looks like she wants to jump out of her skin at the state the house is in, but she’s not so distracted that she misses the chance to say, “Why are we doing this alone? Don’t you have a network of rebels that stretches the span of Threshold? They could get us up-to-date information and actually, you know, help?”
I’m already shaking my head. “Unfortunately, that’s not possible.”
She narrows her eyes. “What do you mean, that’s not possible?”
“We don’t have many people on Lyari.” Bastian glances up from his crouched position. “And the ones here are high-risk, so they are roughly three degrees removed from Siobhan and the rest of us. If we go to them for help, they won’t know or trust us. It will just waste time we can’t afford to lose—and amplifies the risk of being caught.”
Guilt and frustration are live things inside me. It wouldn’t matter if we had other people to help because I’m the only one who can do what needs to be done. I can’t saythatwithout explaining what Dia told me. Instead, I focus on Lizzie’s suggestion. “The only reason we’ve been able to work for so long is because the network is just that—a network. I only have direct contact with a handful of people. That wasn’t always the case, but it became necessary as the number of people in the rebellion grew. It protects everyone. If one person is caught, they can only draw a connection to one or two of the others.”
Lizzie makes a face. “It does make sense when you put it like that. It’s still inconvenient.”
“Yes.” We would have had to change things dramatically to draw people together to fight. I’m not even certain it would work.
Thankfully, that’s not something I have to worry about any longer. I just have to get to the horn.
“I won’t know if I can neutralize the magic until I see it,” Evelyn says quietly. “If you’re betting on me, it might be for nothing. This is a serious risk.”
Bastian looks at the increasingly chaotic layout of rocks, his brows pulled together. “The current Council is the one who brought the horn out to display instead of keeping it locked in a vault somewhere. Enough of the old members had died off that the younger ones decided to change the way they handle artifacts. The magic will be ritual, and even if the flavor is different than yours, you should be able to find a way around it.”
“ ‘Should’ is not a guarantee,” Evelyn counters.
“It’s not. But it’s an educated guess and you’re an excellent witch. I have faith in your abilities.”
Evelyn blushes a little, and though it seems like she still wants to argue, we really have reached the point of no return. I motion to Bastian. “Can you hold the glamour over that many people?” When he hid us on First Sister, they were all on my back, which essentially made us one figure—if a large one.
“As long as everyone is within my eyesight, yes.” His jaw is set, his eyes harder than I’ve ever seen them. He’s shown what he’s capable of, time and time again. I believe him when he says he can do it.
“Let’s go. We’re wasting time.” I head for the door, moving slowly enough that I’m sure they’re all following by the time I press the creaking wood open to the outside. It’s significantlycooler here than on Yoth, but we’re still well into the summer in this part of Threshold. I tilt my head back and study the stars.
When I’m among the Wild Hunt, will I be able to take moments like this to appreciate the beauty all around me? Or will it be an eternity of constant, churning motion? Of never-ending hunger? I shiver.
“Siobhan?”
I drag my eyes from the sky to Nox. The others have passed us by, following Bastian. I’m proud of him for his initiative here. He’s shown plenty of leadership qualities over the years, but he’s always been content to hold a second-in-command position. It’s a good sign that he’s evolving; I won’t be around to take a lead from in the future. Someone has to ensure Lyari doesn’t set up another Council to replace the first and perpetuate the harm done by past generations. Bastian will do right by the people and the mission. He’ll be a good leader.
I wish I could be there to see it.
“Siobhan.” Nox slips their hand into mine and pulls me to a stop. “This will work.”
Ironic that they’re trying to comfort me when I should be doing it for them. “I know.” I survey the sky one last time and then let Nox tug me into the trees after the others.
We stick to the trees where we can, and utilize a combination of Bastian’s glamour and the dark where we can’t. The trip is unremarkable, which is exactly as we’d hoped. The city is too perfectly placed to worry about a large attack from the land side. There’s cover for a small group like ours, but not for an army. And who has a standing army in Threshold, realm of the seas? Any attack would be from a navy, and Lyari is well protected againstthat. They have a stranglehold on the bay the citysquats in the center of, massive forts on either side of the mouth that ensure only those who are invited successfully enter their waters.
