Nana dabbed at her forehead with her floral scarf. “I’m getting tired. Is there a hotel someplace in the village?”
“Not sure. We haven’t seen any.” I turned to Demos. “Could you show Nana to my tent?”
“I’d be delighted,” he said and held his elbow out to her. “Shall we?”
Nana grasped his arm. “I bet you’re a real charmer with the ladies.”
He led her down the hill. “It’s been mentioned a time or two.”
My cold eyes met Bastien’s worried ones. Guessing I was still angry with him, he excused himself and plodded after Nana and Demos.
I faced Afton. “You were on the news staff at school. Do you think you could help write something for me?”
Her eyes studied me. “I’m not sure I like the expression on your face. Every time you look at me that way, you want to do something that could get us in trouble.”
“Okay, so it could be a little illegal,” I said. “And if we’re caught, it may be punishable by death here in the Mystik world.”
“Well,” Afton said, “it’d better be worth it, then.”
“It is. We’re going to assassinate the council’s truths.”
Her eyebrows crinkled together. “Assassinate their truths? What does that even mean?”
“Expose their lies.”
Afton crossed her arms. “I’m in. What do you need me to do?”
“Write an article. I’ll tell you what to say, and you make it sound legit.”
“It’s fabricated?” She gave me that look that said she drew a line at false news.
“No, I just need you to make it sound eloquent.”
“Oh,” she said. “Well, I can do that.”
“Splendid. Then we should find The Red and see what he knows about the Observer.” I glanced back, not wanting to leave Carrig but knowing I had to. There was much to do, and we still needed to get Royston away from Asile.
…
The rain streamed down the window of the small village library. It had television and, apparently, spotty wifi and the oldest computer I’d ever seen. I sat on a short file cabinet and tapped my boot against the leg of the desk, watching Afton’s fingers fly over the keyboard.
“How do you have human world technology here?” I asked, hoping to make the time pass faster.
The Red leaned against a wall, inspecting the sharpness of his long, claw-like nails. I imagined he’d use them as a weapon while fighting. “The capability is there, but the Wizard Council forbids it. They argue that we should cherish a simpler life and that technology has ruined the human world. You can’t miss something you’ve never had. So the people of the Mystik world are in the dark as far as human technology is concerned.”
“I see.” I glanced over Afton’s shoulder.
“You know that makes me nervous,” she snapped. “Stop watching me type.”
I returned to my seat on the file cabinet and continued tapping my boot.
Demos had joined us after leaving Nana in my tent. He stood guard at the window to make sure no one interrupted us.
Afton glared at my foot. “Do you mind? You’re shaking the desk, and I can’t concentrate with that noise.”
I shrugged a shoulder at Demos and mouthed, Whoops.
He quirked a smile. “She’s just anxious. We all are.”
“Well, good thing I’m done, then.” She reclined against the back of the chair. “Now what?”
“Do they have an email address where we can send it?” I asked The Red.
“They do have an illegal computer like this one here,” he said. “But it isn’t a good idea to send an email. There’s no telling who can intercept it. We can print it out, and I’ll have it delivered it to the Mystik Observer in Greyhill.”
“Shyna could take it,” Demos said. “Since she’s a Greyhillian, she wouldn’t raise suspicion.”
“That’s a great idea.” I hopped down from the cabinet. “Let’s go ask her.”
The Red pushed himself off the wall. “If we send her, we put her in jeopardy. No telling what they would do to her if she’s caught with that article.”
“I will deliver it,” a Talpar woman said from behind the other desk. I’d forgotten she was there. She was the librarian, and she was the woman who’d given us the map to the Talpar tunnels.
I shook my head. “No. You can’t. What about your pups?”
“My mother will take care of them,” she said, her small, mousy voice shaking a little at the beginning of each word. “I want to be part of the Resistance. Because of the council, my husband died of that disease. There was a cure, and they refused to distribute it to us.”
“But the council’s guards discovered an entry into your tunnels,” I said. “They’ve been searching them for me. You could run into one of their groups.”
The feelers on the side of her nose wiggled. “I can sense movement in the tunnels for miles. Besides, since we knew our tunnels were discovered, we’ve dug new ones and filled the old with water. A few guards were lost in the flood.”
And Bastien, Edgar, and I were almost lost, too.
“I will send two of my men with her,” The Red said. “It’s best we prepare for the library distraction. Jaran and Lei depend on us. If they’re caught trying to get Royston out of Asile, they’ll welcome death to avoid what the scryers will do to them.”
…
The wind outside kissed my tent and flapped the doors. Nana reclined against the large pillows on the mat covering the ground. A note had arrived from the underground for me from Buach. Briony, a few faeries, and Couve guards had sneaked into Tearmann and rescued Galach and his guards from their captors.
Bastien. He knew how worried I was for Galach and the others, and I was pretty certain this rescue was his doing.
“You look as if you belong in Sherwood Forest in that get-up,” Nana said.
I glanced down at the leather breastplate, tunic, and army green pants before giving her a questioning look. “I guess so. All I need now is a bow and arrow, and I’d be Robin Hood.” The leather strap creaked as I tightened the belt of the holster around my thigh.
Nana rolled over to her hands and knees and pushed herself up into a standing position. “Getting old is such an annoyance,” she said, her breaths heavy.
I slid the dagger into the sheath. “I never think of you as old.”
“Thank you, dear,” she said with a smile. “Never stop lying to me.”
Afton came in the tent carrying straps of leather. “This is all I could find to tie your hair up. Maybe I can braid it?”
“I was thinking a high, tight bun. Nothing loose where my hair can get pulled.” The first time I met The Red, he’d yanked me up by my ponytail, and it was painful.
Afton dug her fingers into my hair and started weaving it. “Okay. Something warrior chic. Got it.”
“Gia, are you ready?” Bastien called from outside the tent.
“Just about,” I called.
“What’s wrong with you two?” Afton asked, tugging my hair as she worked to braid it.
“Nothing.”
Everything. I wanted to say. When he prevented me from using my globe, it had caused us to lose Sinead. But I couldn’t tell them that. I cared about Bastien, and I didn’t want them having negative opinions about him.
Nana’s soft green eyes glistened. “Your pop would be terrified if he knew what you were about to do.”