But they do. Let it go.
“Why don’t we focus on the Pack right now, and fight the Hive when we meet them,” her Tristan said calmly.
“No one fights the Hive, Tristan,” Caleb said. “You just run.”
“Well, the Hive isn’t here. And we can still prepare for the Pack,” the other Tristan said. “They hunt at night just as well as they do during the day. We need to get ready.”
Lily stood by the fire, hands on her hips, while everyone else split up and prepared for a fight. Howls rode on the wind as the last bit of light heaved itself over the edge of the horizon.
“Lily?” her Tristan said. She turned and noticed that he was still with her. “Do you want me to stay and guard you while we fight, or do you want Breakfast?” he asked.
“You. No, him,” Lily replied, quickly changing her mind. She grinned. “Una would kill me if I sent Breakfast out there to fight something he’s never seen before.”
“He tends to lock up when he sees a new Woven,” he agreed sheepishly. “Only for a second, though. He’s getting much better.”
“He’s had to,” Lily said, frowning at the fire. “Do you think I’m wrong about the Woven?”
Tristan thought for a second before replying. “I think you’re asking the Outlanders to change what they believe about the Woven, and more importantly, what they believe about themselves. That’s a lot. Some of them will do it, some of them won’t.”
“I’m just trying to find a way to stop the Woven from killing the Outlanders. Trying to eradicate the Woven doesn’t work. Lillian taught me that,” Lily said, looking down and shaking her head at the irony of it. “But if the Woven and the Outlanders can coexist somehow, Alaric doesn’t have to destroy the cities. He told me that the only reason he was thinking of blowing up the cities was because he couldn’t fight both them and the Woven. If the Woven stop killing the Outlanders, then Alaric has no reason to attack the cities. The Outlanders wouldn’t be trapped.” She spread her arms wide to include the huge tracts of land that now lay in darkness. “They could come out here and they would have all this.” Lily gave him a wan smile. “Piece of cake, right?”
“If it was easy someone else would have already done it,” he said.
“And no one has,” Lily replied, her brow pinching with dread. “Not on any of the thousands of worlds I’ve seen. Thousands of other Lilys have tried to solve this same problem and none of them have done it.”
“All it takes is one.” Tristan touched Lily’s shoulder, and she turned to face him. He stood close to her, and his level gaze was full of faith. “It’ll be you,” he whispered and tilted his head, kissing her swiftly before leaving to find Breakfast.
Lily stared after him, stuck in the moment. Of course she knew how he felt about her. He was in love with her. The trouble was, she didn’t know how she felt about him anymore. There was a hole in her, and what amazed Lily was how big it had gotten. It had started where her heart used to be, and somewhere along the way the hole had eaten her through and through. And now, when she looked inside herself, she saw nothing. Not a good trade for Tristan—all his love and devotion for her big, giant nothing.
Lily shook her head to clear it and sat down next to the fire, reminding herself that she needed to focus. She reached out to her tribe, connecting their minds to one another as if they were spokes on a giant wheel. There were thirty-one braves out there beyond the sphere of firelight, and they needed her strength.