Page 62 of Veiled Yearning

Larkin frowns. “I don’t know, Gavril. While I understand what you’re saying, I can’t help thinking that a new location would be better; one that’s outside the reach of the Veil.”

Frederick leans forward to rest his hands on the table. “I see both sides. And while my initial instinct is to leave, upon more thought, I believe it may be better to stay.”

“Stay?” Larkin’s tone pitches up in surprise. “I was certain… why, Frederick?”

“A few reasons.” Frederick slides his phone across the glossy wood to glance at the screen. “First, we already have more Sentinels headed here. Titus, David, Raine, Alex, and Jules are on their way with Sam. They should arrive within an hour or so.”

Frederick’s gaze jumps to mine in unspoken acknowledgement. Thanks to Chiara and my newly discovered ability, when Frederick searched for Sam, he was able to see enough of the surroundings to pinpoint Sam’s exact location. So instead of only knowing that Sam was being held in a nondescript basement somewhere, we had enough details to locate him in Granville, New York, a tiny, rural town near the Vermont border.

“It’s a huge relief that Sam is alright,” Larkin agrees. “And the others coming here will be helpful. But if the Custodians arrive here en masse? I’m not confident we can fight off triple our numbers.”

“True.” I lift my chin at him. “But what if we have more?”

The idea came up as Chiara lay in my arms this morning, after we woke with the sunrise and made love as the golden glow filled the room. Not the ideal early morning topic of conversation—I’d much rather talk to her about more pleasant things like books and movies and trivia—but an unfortunate necessity in these circumstances.

“Do you think,” she started pensively, “that we could defend ourselves here? Instead of running? If we had more people. And more weapons… I think… it might send a message to Nicolas.”

And after she explained more, I agreed with her.

“It was Chiara’s idea,” I tell Larkin, flashing a quick smile in her direction. “If we leave, it sends the message that we’re scared. Intimidated.”

“How will Nicolas know?” interjects Knight. “If we’re all shielded as we travel?”

“We know Nicolas has a Seer,” answers Frederick. “And no doubt, he has a Watcher or a Tracker as well. Any of them could get wind that we’re on the move.”

Nodding in agreement, I continue. “Right. They’ll know we’re moving. But. If we stay, and all our allies join us here instead… Nicolas will wonder what we’re up to. He’ll worry. And that will keep him off balance.”

Interest lights Larkin’s eyes. “And you think we can gather enough people here to discourage a possible attack?”

“Yes.” Frederick’s tone is confident. “I’ve been talking to some of the others. Not Sentinels, but our allies. Explaining what we have for protection. Helping them understand the stakes. I’m almost certain that Ethan, Ivy, Roman, and Grace will join us.”

“I know of some others,” I add. “Allies who have shown an interest in helping. Darian. Xavier. Paul. Circe. If they all come, I believe we will be a force Nicolas will think twice about approaching.”

Larkin nods slowly. “And that buys us some time to solidify a plan to confront Nicolas.”

Lucas huffs out a frustrated sigh. “If only we knew his timeline. His next move. Is he planning something in the next day or two? A week? A month? If we knew…”

As he trails off, Larkin and Frederick’s gazes swing toward me.

Damn. How am I only now thinking of this?

“I should have thought of it sooner,” I tell them, self-recrimination lacing my words. “I apologize.”

“No.” Frederick brushes my apology off. “You only just discovered this new shared ability yesterday. And we’ve had a lot to think about.”

Chiara clutches my hand. “Do you think it would work? Could we focus it on you? Enhance your sight? What would it do?”

“I’m not sure. It might not work at all. Or it might be like Frederick’s, and I just see further.”

“Or you could see a vision at will,” Larkin suggests. “Instead of waiting for them to come to you; you could control it. Force the vision to come.”

The idea of forcing myself to have a vision is repugnant, but if I can… it could make a tremendous difference. “I’ll try it, of course. Although there’s no guarantee it will work. Or that I’ll see a vision that’s of use to us.”

“If it works, though.” Larkin looks at me with rare hope in his eyes. “I know it may not, but if it does…”

Ten minutes later, we’ve relocated to the living room in hopes of doing this in a more comfortable environment. We tried it first in the dining room, but Chiara was nervous and with everyone looking, she got flustered and ended up near tears, her voice nearly breaking as she said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong. I just can’t—”

“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “We’ll try again.”

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