Page 13 of The Tree of Spirits
“Definitely not.”
“He probably wouldn’t be too happy that you’re hanging out with me either,” I added glumly. “He thinks I’m a bad influence.”
Conner set a hand on my shoulder. “The General doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Red. You are anexcellentinfluence on everyone around you. You make them actually care about something other than themselves.”
For some reason, his words made me blush.
“But back to the matter at hand,” he said, his gaze shifting toward the compound. “The problem with your rescue plan is not my lack of invisibility mojo.” To emphasize his point, Conner blinked out of sight, then appeared again on the other side of me,a few seconds later. “The problem is the Scavengers you want to rescue aren’t inside the base right now.”
“Then where are they?”
“Out in the Bush.”
“Bush?” I asked. “What bush?”
“That’s what we call the wilderness around here.” Conner waved roughly in the direction of some wild-looking woods on the other side of the compound. “The Scavengers are salvaging things that their captors need. You see, our Brotherhood buddies strapped trackers and kill switches to their prisoners. Just to keep them cooperative.”
Anger boiled up in my gut. “That’s terrible.”
So much for the Brothers looking after people. Apparently, they only did that when it served their own interests.
“These aren’t good people, Red.” Conner looked at me, his eyes full of sympathy. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Do what? We don’t even have a plan to save these people.” I slouched over in frustration.
“I said we couldn’t saveallof the Scavengers right now.” He set his hand on my shoulder. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t saveoneof them. Your friend Marlow is still inside the compound.”
I perked up. “He is?”
Wolf whimpered.
I gave her head a comforting pat, then slid Conner a hopeful gaze. “How do you know Marlow is inside?”
“Because I’ve been watching the base while I decide how best to deal with these fiends.” A hint of rage seeped through his friendly face. “The Cursed Ones present a problem. If there weren’t so many of them…” He shook his head, like he was trying to shake free of his anger. “Right, so the commandos in the compound sent out all of the Scavengers this morning, except for one.”
“How do you know that one is Marlow?” I asked. “Do you know him?”
“No, but I am quite adept at eavesdropping,” he said silkily. “And besides, if your friend were out there—” He pointed in the direction of the Bush again. “—his dog wouldn’t have brought you here.”
“Good point,” I said as Wolf gave Conner’s hand a big, wet lick. “But why didn’t they put Marlow to work with the others?”
“Because he’s injured.” He scratched Wolf behind her ears. “I guess he put up a decent fight when they captured him.”
Wolf barked in approval.
“Ok, so we save Marlow now,” I decided. “And come back for the others later.”
Conner’s gaze swept across the compound. His brow furrowed. “There are too many guards right now. We need to wait until some of them leave.”
“And when will that be?”
He didn’t have an answer to that.
“This place is always going to be well-guarded,” I said. “But Marlow won’t always be alive. You said the Scavengers have kill switches. What if these people use one on Marlow? What if they decide he’s too injured to work and just…whooosh.” I cut my hand across my throat. “Kill him.”
“If he’s too injured to work, he’s probably too injured to survive any rescue attempt,” Conner pointed out.
“Well, aren’t you just a regular Mr. Sunshine.”
