Page 64 of Keeping Sarah

My mind ran wild with the possibilities. “Very well.”

“I need to check with a few of my contacts here, people who are not fans of conduits in general, so I’ll need to go alone to get what I need for this.”

“They don’t like conduits, but they likeyou?” Jac asked incredulously.

She lifted her chin. “I can be charming when I want to be.”

“Since when?” he asked, though humor laced his tone.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Charmed the pants off ofyou.”

I smiled at their banter and said, “I do not imagine that took much effort.”

Jac laughed in derision. “Hey! I’ll have you know, I am a happily united man. I have changed my ways, thank you both very much.”

“And I’ll make sure you stay that way,” Omen said, growing serious once more. “Give me a few days, and I should have what I need for this to work.”

“The sooner the better, Omen,” I pressed. “If you wantAllegiant’sonworlder for your travels, she’s yours.”

She nodded. “I’ll take you up on that. Should shorten things by a day or so. I’ll pack my things and leave within the hour.”

“Thank you again, Omen,” Jac said.

“Of course. Anything for Sarah.”

Once she was gone, I turned to Jac. “Do you think her plan will work?”

“As much as Omen can be a sneak, I think she wants Sarah safe almost as much as we do. So if she thinks it will work, I have no reason to doubt it.”

“She thought the same of the magician.” I grimaced at how badlythathad turned out for us.

“What happened with Tolkabern was not her fault,” Jac insisted.

“No, though an amulet to help us would have been nice,” I groused.

“Conduits don’t deal in amulets, Deacon. That’s magician shit and you know it.”

I sighed, conceding his point. “Perhaps if the conduits had not been so restrictive on what was acceptable and what was not, then we would not be in this mess in the first place.”

“You can’t think like that. It’s no more useful than blaming yourself for what happened with Rex.”

Even though I knew he was right, blame and regrets weighed heavily on me. “I do not seem to be able to help myself right now, Jac. I keep thinking of what could have been done differently in the past to change this present. It is hard to think of what I can donowinstead.”

Jac hugged me, bloody hands and all. “I know you are frustrated. I am too. But with me going to the fighting pit—"

“You cannot do that again,” I insisted. “You almost died.”

He released me, his violet eyes meeting mine. “I did not almost die. I was barely wounded.”

I amended it to, “Youcould havedied.”

He smirked. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I am not ridiculous!” I said, stiffening at his criticism. “I am scared and worried and I hate feeling like this. I am scared—"

“You said that already.”

“That’s because I am twice as scared as I have ever been!” I yelled at him, my frustration and fears getting the best of me.

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