“More likely?” Carlos questioned, speaking for the first time.
I blinked at him. “I didn’t think you actually talked.” He didn’t answer, just continued to look at me. “Okay. Well, historically, the Urbat would find as many of the Judgements they can, and torture us to get our obedience. But one of us always dies too late in the cycle for rebirth and stops them from obtaining their goal. So I can’t promise this will work. It’s never been done before.”
“We agree we should find Peace before the Urbat do,” Sam said slowly. “But we will need to further discuss revealing our race before we make a decision. We need to do what’s best for the pack.”
“Exactly,” I stressed. “The pack will die as it is. It can’t stay hidden. The Urbat are crazy desperate. The things they’ve done...” Luke’s fingers threaded through mine.
“We have to stop them.”
“We agree,” Grey said. “We just need to think everything through.”
He was right. We had time to discuss the necessity of revealing the Urbat and Werewolf races to the humans. I held in a sigh and contented myself with his “maybe.”
“Fine. But we need to plan our next stop. I’m not sure if traveling together is a good thing or not, but in case we get separated, we should have a place picked ahead of time.”
Michelle used her phone to find another hotel a day’s drive east of where we were. We all agreed on it, and she made the reservations.
Charlene excused herself and promised to bring back something to eat. When she and Thomas returned, they had one of the turkeys and several containers of the meal they’d been working on before we left the Compound.
Everyone piled food on the plates she brought. I sought her out. “I’m really sorry you didn’t get to have your nice meal.”
“No, Bethi. What we’re doing now is much more important. For years, I’ve felt a...itch, I guess you’d say. Like I was supposed to be doing something, but I never could figure out what. The itch is gone now. I know what we’re doing is right.”
She lifted her arms and offered a hug. I went in willingly and fell into the abyss.
“Do you have Courage?” the Taupe Lady whispered from the black.
“No. They have her. But I hope to change that.”
“You must have Courage,” she answered. A cool hand caressed my face and, for the first time in months, I felt completely at ease and free of the terror and desperation.
“Unite,” she whispered. “Before it’s too late.”
Someone tapped my cheek, and I struggled to stay under, but the Taupe Lady had already faded taking the serenity with her.
I lay on the ground looking up at the bottoms of everyone’s plates. “Go. Away,” I mumbled. I couldn’t even sit up. It would kill my stomach.
“What happened?” Thomas asked. I turned my head and saw Charlene lying next to me.
“She really shouldn’t touch any of us too much,” I muttered. “We drain her.” He frowned at me, but Charlene opened her eyes forestalling whatever he’d been about to say.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “Just takes me a bit to pull it all back in.” She turned and looked at me. “What happens when we do that? Besides draining me.”
“Our abilities flare. Gabby’s lights ignite with no effort on her part.” Gabby’s fork hit her plate in shock. “Oh, sorry,” I apologized. “The dreams are chaotic and usually painful rather than helpful, but I have actually learned a bit about us. I didn’t mean to say something you’d rather I didn’t.”
“No,” she assured me. “It just keeps surprising me how much you know.”
“And yet there’s so much I don’t.”
“Do you need help up?” Luke sat on his heels beside me. He already knew the answer, but I liked that he asked first. I nodded, and he slid an arm behind my back.
Luke helped me stand then walked me to the table to a chair. I felt fine. Gabby followed and sat with me while Luke went to fix me a plate. Nana, Jim, and the two boys stormed the room looking for food. Emmitt caught one of the boys mid-run and lifted him into the air.
“They have a waffle maker,” the boy said with a smile, wrapping his arms around Emmitt’s neck.
“Really?” Emmitt looked very interested. “We’ll have to beat Jim down there, then. Will you come wake us up in the morning?”
The boy nodded and started the put-me-down wiggle.
