“We need to decide,” Bethi said impatiently with a look at Winifred. “There are too many of them to keep running like this. We almost lost Gabby and Isabelle. The drive to find us is only going to increase as the end of the cycle approaches.”
Everyone else in the room seemed to be watching Winifred, who was giving Bethi a troubled look.
“The risks of trying to remain hidden are still better than if we expose our existence. Once we do that, we’ll have both the humans and the Urbat hunting for us,” Winifred said.
I glanced at Ethan while Bethi nodded. Was he as lost as I was?
“You’re right, we will,” Bethi said. “But that’s what will make it safer. The pressure won’t just be on us. It will be on them as well. Thanks to Gabby’s sonar, when we reveal ourselves, we can also reveal the Urbat and their location. They’ll have to scramble. During that chaos, we might just have a chance to find Olivia. With her, we can end this.”
The importance of what they were discussing hit me. They wanted to reveal themselves to the world.
“It could work,” Michelle said. “If we use Blake’s name.”
“What’s to stop him from revealing ours?” Winifred asked.
“Blake needs all six Judgements,” Bethi replied. “And he’ll know he won’t stand a chance at getting us back from humans if we are taken. He can’t risk revealing anything about us because of that.”
It surprised me that they were even considering revealing themselves. The panic it would cause...I shuddered. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that wreck when it went down.
“If we do this, we’ll need to go through a reputable source so it’s not brushed off as a hoax,” Michelle said. “A news station would be best. Preferably one with broad coverage.”
“I agree,” Bethi said. “We need to decide where and when, soon. We can’t just keep running around aimlessly. Gabby’s got to sleep sometime, and that’s all it’d take for them to get lucky again.”
“The where will help determine the when,” Michelle said.
“If we’re looking for broad news coverage,” Gabby said, speaking up for the first time, “New York would be the place to go. But, it puts us much closer to the danger because the Urbat are primarily in northern New York.”
“That’s actually perfect,” Bethi said. “Blake knows we need Olivia; I think once he sees we’re headed that way, he’ll call his troops back in. You know, fortify home base. He won’t expect us to stop at a news station.”
I liked how Bethi’s mind worked, but there were still some large holes in her logic.
“How are you going to get anyone to even listen to you, let alone put you on air?” I asked.
“Charlene will convince them,” Bethi said.
I glanced at Charlene. She looked uncomfortable, and I felt a wave of worry roll off her.
“Will you?” I asked her.
“I’m capable of manipulating wills. I’m not sure I should, though. Yet, I agree that Bethi’s plan has merit. It’s better than a life on the run.”
“Why aren’t you sure?” Winifred asked.
The worry grew stronger.
“Once we expose our existence, there’s no going back.”
I studied her for a moment longer. It wasn’t just worry but a hint of guilt. I spoke up.
“It’s not just the existence of the Urbat and werewolves we’re exposing. We’re risking exposing ourselves too, right?”
She held my gaze as a subtle thread of fear flavored her emotions. Then, she nodded. Something more was scaring her. What? Silence reigned for several minutes as the rest of the room thought over the situation.
Ethan shifted slightly beside me. He was probably bored. He had no real stake in this, and I just wanted to eat and then see if one of these guys would spar with me. Each second standing here meant that much longer I’d need to exercise.
“Seriously. If anyone has a better option, say it. Otherwise, we’re just postponing the inevitable,” Bethi said.
I applauded her impatience.
“You’re asking a lot of us,” Winifred said. “We need time to consider all the possibilities.”
“You’ve had over a week,” Bethi said, tossing her hands up in the air. Luke immediately reached for one of her runaway hands, and she calmed slightly.
Winifred looked at Grey, then Sam. Then, she sighed with a slight shake of her head.
“For better or worse, we agree with you. We can’t remain as we are.”
Thankfully, we were saved from more discussion by a knock on the door. Grey turned to answer it. A man with a cart waited outside and started passing in covered plates. Since I was third closest to the door, I had to pass twelve plates. Twelve delicious smelling platters warmed my palms. I wanted to raise the lid of each dish and lick whatever I found under it before passing it on, just because.
As soon as Ethan had his plate, he lifted the lid.