Forget looking for Zosia. We can barely stitch together an army.
Frustrated, I finish writing down the woman’s details.
“Have they found the princess yet?” she asks.
“Not yet.”
“Are you sure she’s coming back?”
No.
“Yes. We will find her. We think she and King Rohan are inside the castle, but until we find a way to clear the Sentinels…” I thrust the ledger where we’re recording details of our refugees at Orisa. “Finish this, please. I need to make a call.”
Saskaya picks up on the first ring, which tells me everything I need to know. Lorcan isn’t awake, and she hasn’t found a way to disable the machines she assembled to protect us. Given that the only place she can get reception is on top of the Temple Plateau, she must be out pacing. Again.
“Any progress?” I ask without hope.
“I said I’d call you if there was anything to report,” she snaps.
I’ve gotten used to having my head bit off whenever I call, but this time, I’m in a similar mood.
“Have you found a way around the Sentinels yet?”
Her groan is akin to a lion’s roar. I interpret that as a no.
“People are asking where she is, Sas. They’re looking for leadership, and they don’t want it from me.”
“I know that, Raina. I’ve tried everything. Whoever got into my lab managed to override the main control function completely. There’s nothing I can do.”
“What about the power source?”
She sighs heavily. “It doesn’t run out. That blue liquid doesn’t give out.”
“Ever?”
“I have vials of that shit still powering machines I made before you were born. Never needs a recharge. Completely safe to handle.”
Miraculous stuff. Too bad it’s working against us. Too bad the only place that blue energy liquid exists is in the Sun Temple where Lorcan’s unresponsive body lies floating in a vat of it. It would be a hell of an export product for our impoverished nation.
“Any improvement from Lorcan?”
I shouldn’t bother asking.
I swallow past the lump in my throat, tasting ash.Come on, man. You have to survive so I can fix my mistakes. Get up. Fight for her.
“I said I’d call if there was any news. Believe me, I want to get home to my son and my husband. The only reason I’m going out of my mind in this stupid bunker is because I can’t leave that kid alone. If Lorcan doesn’t wake his ass up soon, we’re not going to have a country to save.”
Saskaya is habitually grumpy and curt by nature.
My patience, however, also hangs by a thread.
“Sas. What if he doesn’t wake up?”
“Then we’ll find Zosia ourselves. But don’t even think it, Raina. Lorcan is the only person who’s ever managed to disable one of those stupid Sentinels. He’s going to wake up, find Zosia, and they’re going to give this fractured nation something to fight for. Believe it. He’s relentless when he wants something, and the only thing he’s ever wanted is Zosia.”
Ouch. The truth stings.
“That boy won’t let a little thing like death stop him from finding her.” Saskaya draws a ragged breath. “I should go check on him.”
