Page 41 of Veiled Fate
“I promise you, Jada, that I will live through tomorrow,” he said with a solemnness that belied what he was saying. “You will not be rid of me that easily, even if perhaps you should.”
He lowered his forehead to mine, pressing together as we stood there, embracing. But there was still a wall between us. One I hadn’t taken down yet. I wasn’t sure I could. Not wanting to lose him was very different than opening myself back up to deeper layers of connection.
“Promise me something else instead,” I whispered.
“What’s that?”
“That you aren’t planning some sort of wild sacrifice maneuver just to get a shot at killing Arcadus? Promise me you’ll make the smart choices.”
A jolt ran through him. “Isthatwhat you think I’m planning?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think so, but back there, when you were explaining it to Tave, you got this look in your eye. It was ugly. Almost fanatical.”
Kiel was silent for several beats. “I’ve waited a long time for this opportunity, Jada. Averylongtime.”
“I know,” I said. “Which is what scares me, I think, because you’ll do anything to achieve it, even if that means sacrificing yourself.”
He smiled. “I’m not going to do anything stupid,” he assured me.
“Good,” I said, clinging to him tightly. “Because I’m the one of us who can’t die.”
Chapter Twenty
“Are you sure this is going to work?”
“It’s a little late to be having doubts, don’t you think?” Kiel grunted softly from where he lay next to me, our bodies hidden under a hastily assembled rectangle of fabric stiffened at the edges with branches and then buried under leaves.
The effect was to leave us looking like little more than uneven bumps in the forest floor, completely hidden from roving eyes. Having witnessed some of the others disappear into their camouflage, I was confident that being spotted ahead of time wouldn’t be our issue.
“Probably,” I admitted. “But, Kiel, are you sure?”
He sighed. “Yes, there are fewer of us than I’d hoped for. I don’t know if it was a lack of conviction from Tave or Gare, the rushed timing, or just a general lack of belief. But either way, we should have enough to get the job done. It’s just going to be … harder.”
What he meant was that more people would die. I tried not to let that affect me. There would be time for that later. Once Arcadus was dead.
It’ll be worth it … It has to be.
We could have waited, called for reinforcements from the caves or some of the other cities, perhaps. But there were two dangers in that. First was that we would miss our shot. There were two chances to hit Arcadus outside of the protection of a city. Before and after the Fate Festival.
After would allow us more time to assemble people. It also exponentially increased our risks of getting caught, however, and if the Alphas had even a single hint at the audacity of what we were planning, they would ensure we never even sniffed success.
“We’ll have to make do,” Kiel said, echoing my thoughts.
I wished I could feel as confident as he sounded. Unless he was faking it, like I was, just putting on a show for everyone around us. Was Kiel’s stomach nauseous, his hands clammy and trembling ever so slightly, like mine?
The plan was about as good as we would get, however. Our scouts had shown that Arcadus was traveling without worry. He didn’t have any outriders or even scouts prowling around in wolf form. Doing so would risk showing the others who traveled with him that things weren’t as they seemed, and Arcadus couldn’t afford that. Instead, his soldiers marched in neat and tidy rows with weapons sheathed.
Perfectly set for an ambush.
However, all it would take would be one missed wolf prowling the forest or an overly alert set of eyes, and our plan would go to hell before we could even launch it.
“They’re getting close,” Kiel whispered, barely vocalizing.
“How can you tell?”
“The ground.”
I frowned. How could the ground tell him—I caught it. The slight vibrations, courtesy of dozens of feet marching in unison, each foot hitting at the same time. It was faint, so faint that I would never have noticed it without being told to look for it. But as I focused, it grew stronger. They were approaching the narrow part of the trail, which would squeeze Arcadus’ troops down to no more than six or eight abreast.
