“Please. You don’t understand what these bombs are capable of,” she said. “You saw what happened to the tunnel women—how every cell was destroyed. That was just because they carried the material that makes the bombs. Imagine what will happen if Alaric detonates them. They won’t just destroy the cities, they’ll destroy your woods, too. We call it nuclear winter, and it will poison this entire world. Please bring the fight to the Woven, not the cities. I’ll fight with you.”
Rowan looked down, shaking his head. Lily turned desperately to Caleb, Tristan, and Juliet. She was grasping at straws. “I’ll fuel the braves, but we need to get away from the cities. We need to go west. There’s a mystery behind the Woven, something that we don’t understand, and we can use it to stop them. The answer is west of the Missouri River—the Pekistanoui—I can feel it.”
“West?” Alaric exclaimed. Lily had never seen fear in his eyes before, not even on the night they went into battle, but she saw fear now. “You have no idea what lies west of that river. I do.” It was Alaric’s turn to look to the bystanders for support. And he got it from Rowan.
“The Misi-Ziibi is Pack territory, and past the Pekistanoui is the Hive,” Rowan said, his voice low. “With a witch, we could survive the Pack. But even with a witch’s army, the Hive would tear us apart. It’s impossible, Lily.”
“Has anyone tried?” she asked, refusing to give up. “Rowan, you told me yourself that no one knows that much about the Hive. Has a witch ever fueled an army of Outlander braves to fight them?”
Alaric shook his head. “You’re asking my people to fight to the last man, Lily. We are too few to risk that.”
“Please try,” Lily begged, tears in her eyes. “I’ll fight and die with you if I have to, but don’t attack the cities, Alaric. Please.”
“Lillian swore to find a way to get rid of Woven, and I waited, hoping that she would, because I don’t want to use those bombs. I’m not a madman,” he said tiredly, and Lily knew he was speaking the truth. Alaric was tormented by this decision, but it was a decision he had already made. “I just want my people to survive. We are on the brink of extinction, and the only way to avoid that now is to attack our other enemy. The cities.”
“I won’t let you,” Lily said, swallowing her tears. She faced him, hating that she had to pit herself against this man, but like him, her decision was already made. “I’ll stop you, Alaric Windrider, no matter what I have to do.”
“Lillian said the same thing to me once.” Alaric looked at Rowan, regret etching deep lines into his face. “I guess this is the day Lillian comes back to haunt both of us.”
Rowan took Lily by the shoulders and pulled her away from Alaric. He looked her in the eye, pleading with her. “Remember when I told you that Lillian was a master at controlling minds? That she had years of practice and she could do things that you never dreamed of? She’s using you. She’s twisting your mind so that you’ll take up her psychotic cause. But you’re just as strong as she is, Lily. You can fight her. You can stop this—”
Lily cut him off. “She’s not controlling me, Rowan. She showed me her memories. That’s it. I know what she knows, and that’s how she convinced me that what she’s doing is to protect this world—your world.”
“Then show me,” he said, his face lifting with hope. “Show me what she showed you and maybe it will convince me, too. We can find a solution. Lillian shut me out, but we can figure this out together. You and me, Lily. Please don’t shut me out like she did.”