Page 76 of The Stone Survival
I followed him outside. We walked a little way from the tower before he spoke.
“You and Serath will not be entering the faction’s trap alone.”
“If the tower is bugged, then the faction knows about you.” We’d interrogated him in the kitchen, after all.
“Yes, I suppose they do. There is nothing we can do about that. All we can do is be prepared. The decoy extraction team idea is a sound one. They will expect you to send help. How will you hide the true extraction team?”
“Orix checked the coordinates on the map. There’s an old waste plant close by. There are pipes that run adjacent to the building they’ve asked Serath and me to go to. A team of guardians will pass through there. Orix will head up the decoy team because they’ll expect him to be there.”
He slowed his pace, stopping on the intersection not too far from the tower. “And you trust these guardians to do their job?”
“I trust Orix’s and Serath’s judgment. Derek will be with the extraction team too. He should be able to sense me and find me if need be.”
He considered my words for several beats. “Are you afraid?”
He was the first person to ask me that, and the question threw me. “I…I guess I am. Yes. I’m afraid.”
“Good,” he said. “Fear will keep you alert.” He lifted his chin toward the tower. “You should go get some rest.”
“You’re not coming back to bed?”
“Not yet. I think I’ll go to the observatory for a little while. The sun is beautiful as it rises slowly from the horizon.”
“Would you…would you like some company?” I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t be willingly spending time with him, and I was about to take back my offer when the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile that wiped away my doubt.
“Yes, yes, I would like that very much.”
CHAPTER 37
The rendezvous building was in a rural part of the rims where the nearest settlement was abandoned and dilapidated. The gray had done its work here, leaving the ground barren and the buildings scarred and ruined.
Our destination looked like an old school, an academy of some kind.
I clung to Serath as he flew us closer. We’d be fine. Orix had eyes on us from the rise to our east at the edge of some woodland. The faction was undoubtedly watching us too, and they’d probably find Orix soon enough, hopefully diverting their forces and allowing our extraction team to get to us.
“It’ll be all right,” Serath said. “The plan will work.”
“This doesn’t look like a faction facility.”
“We won’t know till we get inside,” Serath said. “Even if it’s not one of their bases, we can still capture whoever comes to meet us.”
I hugged him tighter as my stomach dipped on descent.
We landed in a quad on a cracked path bordered by the twisted corpses of several trees.
Serath dropped back into his human form. “Are you ready?” He took my hand in his as we turned to face the main buildingwhich would have probably been majestic before the gray. But now most of its red slate tiles were dust on the ground, leaving gaping wounds in the roof, and the sweeping steps leading up to the dark entrance were missing huge chunks of stone.
We had to go inside.
I didn’t want to.
Serath squeezed my hand.
I took a deep breath and allowed him to lead me into the building. Into the gloom.
The only light spilled in from behind us, leaving the entranceway shrouded in darkness. Serath’s grip on my hand flexed, and a moment later I caught movement in my periphery.
I stepped closer to Serath, into the cage of his arms as a hooded figure emerged from the shadow.
