What now? The questioned had also pressed on his mind. And he had only thought of one possible solution.
Marcus exhaled slowly. “We take her to Silverlight Valley. She would be safer there.
“The Rescue camp?” Kieran questioned, and Marcus nodded.
“And what happens to the kid?” Kieran pressed
“He comes with us.”
Kieran raised both hands. “Hey, The Council—
“We’re not telling them,” Marcus growled.
Kieran blinked. “Then what are we telling them? If we are going to hide this, then it means we still need to find the real dark witch. You need to complete the mission.”
“With whatever it takes. Even if it means seducing her—we need to find her as quickly as possible. You know what’s at stake, Vale. We are wasting time.” Kieran added.
“We also can’t stay here forever, “Kieran included without looking up.
Marcus folded his arms.
True.
“Any safer route to the witch rescue camp?” He had had enough demon combat for the week.
Kieran unrolled a hand-drawn map and passed it to Marcus.
They both rose from their seats and stood in the aisle of the church to openly assess their plan.
“There’s one,” Kieran responded. “It’s longer, but safer. We go through the main civilian trails.”
“It’s farther than I like,” Marcus muttered.
“How about here?” he asked, pointing to the winding forest paths.
“We can’t take that route because it leads to a river trail,” Kieran explained.
“On the road, it would be harder to track our scent or even act on it, thanks to civilians. It will slow us down, yes, but it is safer.”
Marcus stared at the map again and let out a long sigh before nodding in approval.
***
When Marcus was done with Kieran and they had planned their movements, it was nighttime, and the Silverlight Valley had begun to rise fully through the sky.
Marcus headed back toward the living quarters to check on Athena and Riley.
Kieran’s words echoed in his ears.
‘With whatever it takes. Even if it means seducing her—We need to find her as quickly as possible.’
‘Seduce her.’
Marcus huffed. Like it was that easy anymore.
He opened the door to Riley’s room slowly, expecting to find him asleep, but the room was empty.
He walked toward the room where he had laid Athena.