“I think it’s ready now, if you are,” Hope said.
Fiona took the cape and the shredded slip from the hospital bag. She tossed the silk slip on the fire first. It hissed and flared up, then burned the silk like a bit of dried paper. When it was just black ashes, Fiona dropped the red cape on the pyre. It was slower to catch, just from its sheer mass. Ivy handed her the poker. She pushed at the garment until it began to smoke, then watched as flames broke through and began to eat the thing.
She wasn’t sure how long they stood there silently watching the fire, but she was so mesmerized by it that she didn’t hear anyone come up behind her. Warm, big arms circled around her, pulling her back against a rock-hard chest.
She set the poker aside and turned to wrap her arms around Kelan. He bent and kissed her temple. Fiona realized the other guys had come to stand with their women, too.
“Burning that cape?” Kelan asked.
Fiona nodded.
“Good.”
They watched the fire for a few minutes. Fiona looked up at him. “Were you able to find the girls?”
“Yes. We found quite a few people living in areas even deeper than where they had you. It’s a labyrinth there.”
Hope crossed her arms over her chest. “Any hint of Lion and the watchers?”
“No. Max stayed on site to talk to the people we found. He was going to do some more exploring to see if there were other hidey-holes they might be in.”
“Maybe he could use my Malinois. I’ve been training her to find lost people—dementia patients who’ve wandered off. Kids who’ve gotten lost in woods. I’ve started working with her to find humans under rubble.”
“That’s a great idea,” Kelan said. “Maybe you could go down tomorrow with Greer and Remi. They’re picking up Doc Beck, too.”
Eden looked over at Greer, who was standing with his arms around Remi. “We’ll be ready when you are in the morning.”
Fiona remembered the diamond and pearl earrings that were in the bottom of the bag from the hospital. She fished them out and handed them to Greer. “Give these to Lobo tomorrow. They made me wear them during the ceremony. Maybe they were stollen from someone.”
The group got quiet after that. Fiona stared into the fire for a long while. It wasn’t until Kelan poked the logs that she realized the others had all gone inside, giving the two of them privacy.
He took a blanket from the plush loveseat, then coaxed her over to sit with him. The altitude they were at made the temperatures of these late summer nights changeable—sometimes warm, sometimes cool like tonight. He covered her then pulled her close. “I’m glad to see you out of your room.”
“Hope came and talked to me.”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Fiona braced herself for whatever his news might be—a new revelation about King or some other negative news.
“I stopped in to see Stacey in Fort Collins.”
Fiona looked at him.
“She died of a heroin overdose.”
“Oh my God.”
“I don’t think she knew she was helping King. I think she truly thought she was helping us.”
“She didn’t do drugs, Kelan. She wasn’t a user.”
“I told Lobo about her.”
Fiona leaned forward and folded her knees in front of her. “I can’t go back to CSU. I’m the reason she was killed.”
“She was killed because King’s a sick sonofabitch.”
“But he was after me. He could try again.”
“He could.”
“And if he does, who knows who else will get in the way or be steamrolled by him.”
“Can you switch your classes to online ones?”
“Not this semester. I can drop my classes, though.”
“That might not be a bad idea.”
“Kelan.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I have to leave. I can’t stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because King has left me no choice.”
“He will kill you.”
Fiona nodded. “Maybe. But if he does, then at least he’ll leave you alone.”
“Fiona, sacrificing yourself will not end our troubles with him. While you were gone, Blade found some papers that his mother took from his stepdad. They describe in great detail this Omni World Order movement that King’s heading up at the moment. It’s much bigger than one man, or one small group of anarchists. It’s an international movement that began decades, if not centuries, ago. We haven’t gone through all of the papers, but some of them are very old.”
Fiona looked up at him as she tried to absorb all of that information. “I don’t know how I fit in to all of that, but I do know King is using his power to come after all of us because he wants me. He’s already taken Lion. I don’t want something bad to happen to everyone here. To you. If I let him take me, then the rest of you won’t hold any interest to him anymore.”
“Do you think that every one of us on the team didn’t already have targets on our backs simply because we’re coming after him? We’re safer together than separated. If you leave, King will kill you and still hunt us. And he isn’t only interested in you. It’s much bigger than you. If you stay, you can help us figure it out.”
“If anything happened to you because of me, I would not be able to live with that pain.”
“If you leave out of fear, I would not be able to live with that pain.” He pulled her closer. “We’re at war, Fiona. We’re getting very close to King. I can feel it. Will you wait this out a little longer before deciding?”
She looked at the fire, wishing she had that luxury.
After a while, when the fire burned to embers, Kelan put the screen over it. “Let’s quit for the night.” He held a hand out to her. They went inside by the living room. Fiona waited while he locked the doors. They went upstairs. He paused at her door.
Her heart started beating fast. Would he come in?
He lifted her chin, looking into her eyes for a long moment before he bent and kissed her cheek. “I’m just next door if you need me.”