Page 87 of The World Undone

She winked at me, then nodded to the others. “Let’s go.”

Dec got us over without an issue, and after a brief rest while the other teams started their jumps, I handled the final few, significantly shorter jumps.

Turned out, aiming was a lot more difficult when we weren’t trying to teleport towards Max. Visualizing was key, but it was almost impossible to visualize a place neither Dec nor I had been to before.

It had become surprisingly intuitive recognizing when Max or one of the others was pulling for power. Like a switch, or wave of energy that I could interpret once I knew to look for it.

That was good. Channeling her fire and teleportation power would be more of a breeze during this tandem attack than I’d initially thought it would be.

I bit down on the flare of excitement. This would be a success. I could feel it in my gut.

I sent through a quick confirmation to Max, then Dec and I focused on shutting down the mind link, closing that part of connection. It would make it easier for us to concentrate, and easier to focus on and pull her power when we needed to.

Once we were a mile out, according to Evelyn, who had a much better directional radar than she’d passed down to me, we stopped teleporting. It was time to wait for the others to get to their locations before we started the—hopefully relatively silent and quick—ambush.

Like Headquarters, this location was surrounded by a forest—trees and hills lined the path we carved.

As similar it was though, it smelled different here. Fresher, crisper.

How far were we from a town? From people?

Headquarters was relatively isolated, but this was next level. I could taste the brine of the sea on my tongue.

“You’re sure this is the spot?” I asked. It was hard to imagine evil doings unfolding in such a beautiful place. But maybe that’s what made it a smart choice.

“Positive,” Evelyn said, her steps sure and steady as she led us forward. “Just a little bit longer and we’re there.”

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Partially because we were aiming for stealth, but mostly because I was still reeling from her confession, as much as I’d tried to shove it away.

My relationship with Evelyn and Levi had always been a tense one—but there’d been a simplicity in that tension. I hated them and they knew it. Our interactions were uncomfortable and, in Levi’s case, a little heated, but they weren’t unpredictable.

This new information could change that dynamic if I let it, could complicate things I wasn’t sure I wanted to complicate.

Did I want her in my life again? Beyond just as a partner in this mission?

And Levi—did I really need another brother when I already had Wade and Atlas?

I didn’t need a family, but maybe forgiving them was worth it—would release something knotted and snarled inside of me. And maybe it could do the same for my dad.

“This is it,” Evelyn said, her voice hushed as she ducked behind a particularly brambly tree.

I shook my spiraling thoughts away and stepped next to her. Before I could overthink it, I grabbed her hand, giving it a soft squeeze when her eyes met mine.

She exhaled, lips quivering in a hesitant smile as she squeezed my hand back.

It wasn’t much, but it was all I could give her right now.

My heart hammered against my chest, calming just slightly when I felt Dec press up on my other side.

“Fucking hell,” she said, her accent thick, like being back on this continent unconsciously pulled it out of her. “Of course their low-key rendezvous point would be a fucking castle.”

Castle wasn’t an exaggeration either.

The grounds were wild and unpolished, grasses and wildflowers competing for space in every direction we could see. But the building was solid, sturdy.

It appeared to be made of stone, the lines not entirely perfect or symmetrical, but worn in over time, visible divots carved out that I could identify even from here.

And there were four towers attached to the behemoth structure. Or maybe turrets? I wasn’t sure what the official name for the cylindrical add-ons to a castle were, but they were there, protruding and castle-like.

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