Things were just not turning out that way at all.
It was time. Now that I knew how to repair the connections in Emily, the moment she was strong enough, we’d have to go after Morgan. Every minute we waited was one more chance for him to use that power, one more life he could destroy. It was the risk that the rest of them would find out the truth, that the Seven Lines would lose the anonymity that kept things from getting out of control.
I mended another link, joined another disconnected fiber, and Emily said, “So, when you’re done, then I have to figure out how to use it.”
Behind closed eyes, I answered, “It won’t be as hard as you think. Once it’s there, you’ll know, it will be a part of you.”
“And I’ll just break someone’s sway, and then we’ll go find a human to test it out on.”
I shook my head, focusing hard on the smallest of the threads, the tiny fibers that coupled with her bond. “I don’t think that’s the best idea. We should probably keep this experiment in a controlled environment.”
“So, you’re thinking order a pizza, snatch up the delivery guy?”
I opened my eyes to look at her, face pinched and knee hopping with the rhythmic bounce of her foot. “I don’t know, Em. We’ll figure it out.” I wasn’t sure if she felt the urgency, felt it the way I felt it, or if it was just the idea of waiting when it was so close. I drew back, searching inside my own threads, suddenly convinced I’d been wrong about the bond with Aern. If its purpose was to protect him, then it didn’t make sense that I’d seen the fire in my visions. But I hesitated, because Emily had been gone in those visions, cut down before the flames tore through the city.
“Bri,” Emily asked, “are you okay?”
I shook my head absently. “Yeah, I just ... I think I need a break.”
Aern checked his watch. “We’ve got a meeting at eleven, some of the Division men.” He glanced at Emily, back at me. “If you feel up to it.”
I nodded, mentally binding one more piece in place before the process, the throbbing in my head, became too much.
Aern gathered the documents, sliding them into one neat folder before crossing to Emily and me. He put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll have Ava send up some food. If there’s anything else you need …”
“Thanks, and I’ll be fine.” The three of them tried to hide their concern, but I could feel it, suffocating. “Really,” I said. “Go do your thing.”
The corner of Aern’s mouth turned up, and he gave my shoulder a pat before he and Emily left the room. Logan moved to sit beside me, drawing me against him for the twenty minutes or so I had for a nap. When I woke, there were sandwiches and tea waiting on a small white platter that sat on the end table, and my head was resting in his lap.
“You’ve got about five minutes,” he said when he saw me squinting one eye open to check. I squeezed it back shut, not quite recovered but not wanting to miss the meeting if there was a chance it would spark a vision.
Logan ran a finger across my temple. “How’s your head?”
“Better,” I promised. I wondered about Emily, if I’d made enough connections for her to feel the change. “Five minutes?”
“They’ll wait on you.”
“It’s all right. I can do it.” I sat up, pulling my hair into a low ponytail, and reached for a section of the quartered sandwich. “Logan,” I vowed, “if this all works out, I’m going to lock myself in a room for a three day sleep-cation.”
He smiled, stretched a leg over the carpet. “I’m right there with you.”
The others had already assembled in one of the conference rooms, a dozen or so Division soldiers including Kara, Seth, and Eric. They stood randomly scattered about the room, talking, but when Logan and I entered, they began making their way to the leather chairs that circled the dark glass table.
Wesley surprised me by the door, his familiar face somehow changed, older in the few weeks I’d not seen him. I drew in a breath before greeting him.
“Brianna,” he replied warmly. His voice was more confident than I remembered, stronger despite the thin white scars that ran the length of his neck.
I resisted the urge to reach out to him in front of our audience, to run a finger over what was left of the damage. “Wesley,” I whispered. “Are you okay?”
He shrugged it off, his smile more of an assurance than any words could be, and I realized that he was here, at a meeting of Division and Council soldiers. My gaze flicked to Aern, scanned the room again, but I couldn’t determine exactly which team he was on, where he fit in. “Where’s Brendan?” I whispered.