Page 75 of Avelina

I found my jog bra and pulled it on as fast as I could, then threw my original clothes from home back on. Socks, shoes, and jacket went on, then I finished ramming things into my pack and strapped it on.

“Lee, don’t go,” Aaron said. “At least wait until morning. It’s way too late to storm off.”

I stared at him, confused, then checked my watch. It said 10:30 p.m. What the hell?

“Lina!” Spirit shouted. It startled me, and I glanced up to see that she stood over by the trapdoor as if she’d come through it. She looked panicked.

Ghosts don’t panic, I thought.

Aaron’s eyes darted around the room as if he’d heard Spirit. Had we mixed our reservoirs so much that he could hear her now?

“Spirit? What’s happening?” I asked.

“Seleca ordered Magister Axel to personally come to this house to either find you or wait for you. He’s leaving as we speak.”

“How long will it take him to get here?” I asked.

“Walking? A couple days,” said Aaron. “It’s a hundred kilometers by the Caravan Trail.”

“He’ll be here in one minute, maybe less,” Spirit said.

“What?!” Aaron and I both yelled.

“He’s a teleporter,” Spirit said.

I stared at Spirit, stunned. Then it hit me. “This could be an opportunity,” I said. “Maybe I can absorb his reservoir.”

“We could go to Earth,” Aaron said.

“We could start our revolution,” I countered stubbornly. And I could help Ward.

Spirit eyed me. I’ll tell you later, I thought.

She nodded, then looked at Aaron pensively. “You can hear me now,” she said. Aaron didn’t respond, but he glanced in her direction.

“No time for that,” I said. “What should we do? Should we try a sneak attack? Wait up here for him to get comfortable, then surprise him?”

“Maybe,” Spirit said, “but Axel doesn’t seem the type to wait around or do things he doesn’t want to do. He may just burn the house down, or he may send in one of his minions.”

“We’ll have to take our chances if we want to take his reservoir,” Aaron said. He still looked stunned, but he was shaking himself loose of it.

I, on the other hand, was panicking. “Do we know if he’s protected?” I asked. “I’ve never killed anyone before. I don’t think I could do it.”

“You won’t have to. I’ll do it if it comes to that,” Aaron said, marching over to his wooden chest. He wrenched the top all the way off.

“I didn’t hear anything about Protection,” Spirit said, “and I haven’t seen him using it, but maybe it just didn’t come up. I’m not sure.”

“You can see fragments?” I asked. “Like how I see them within the shield?”

Spirit nodded. “Yes, but only when they’re actively being used, and I can’t sense resonance.”

Aaron tore extra knives and bolts out of the chest, then pulled his small crossbow out of the utility vest that he still wore from his hike. He loaded it with five bolts and slipped the remaining weapons into various straps in his vest. I watched his process, mesmerized, then realized that I looked like an idiot standing there. I don’t have a process, so maybe I am one. That sentiment gathered more and more evidence as the day wore on.

“We could just run,” I said quietly. “We aren’t prepared for this. Spirit, can you check on Axel’s status, please? Where is he?”

Spirit blinked in and out. “He’s out in the yard,” Spirit said.

“Too late to run,” Aaron said.

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