Page 64 of Veiled Fate
“Andi,” I added, breathing a deep sigh of relief.
The auburn-haired shifter with the amber eyes had been sent back to the caves to oversee everything while Kiel and I headed north after the sinking of the fishing boat. If she was with Kiel now, it meant he had gotten to the caves in time and warned everyone. Knowing Andi, there was no way she would have left anyone behind. If Lycaonus’ forces had reached the hideout first, she would have led the defense from the front. Simply by seeing her alive, I breathed easier.
“These spaces taken?” Kiel asked as I stood up to hug him.
“Clive?” Andi choked out in surprise. “You’re alive? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
She flung herself at the shifter, wrapping him up in a hug that Clive returned with gusto.
“I didn’t say anything,” Kiel said in answer to her glare when the two broke apart, “because I wasn’t sure how things had gone back in Lycaon. They might not have made it.”
“It’s good to see you,” Andi said, patting Clive on the shoulder.
“It’s good to be here,” Clive said as we all sat.
Kiel slid into the empty space on the bench next to me while Andi and Clive sat beside one another.
“How did it go?” Kiel asked without preamble.
“Mixed results,” I said. “Obviously, Clive is out. All told, eight prisoners were freed. We lost five in return. Including Tave.”
Kiel cursed. “How?”
I glanced at Clive.
“He gave his life so we could escape,” he said heavily. “We were trapped, and he came out of nowhere to free us, but it cost him everything.”
Kiel nodded slowly. “That’s how he would have wanted to go out.”
There was silence as we each lost ourselves in the thoughts of those who had died to get us that far.
So much blood …
“It’s worth it, right?” I asked, feeling young and unprepared for the first time in many weeks. “All those people who have sacrificed their lives? It isn’t nothing, is it?”
“Not as long as we keep pushing on,” Kiel assured me, resting one giant paw of a hand on top of mine. “We’ve killed one of the Alphas. Shattered his stone. That alone is huge. But we mustn’t give up now. We must move on, keep pushing to bring them all down.”
“What do we do now?” Andi asked, glancing at Clive. “What’s the next step?”
Kiel grabbed my mug and took a swig. “Tonight, we drink to those no longer on the journey with us,” he said solemnly.
“And tomorrow?” I wanted to know.
“Tomorrow, Andi will take Clive and begin to reorganize. Everyone was forced to scatter as we left the caves. She will begin to visit the safe houses and bring everyone back together at our secondary site, a place I marked for that usage many years ago. It will be dangerous, but I know the two of you will see it done.”
Andi nodded, taking the assigned mission in stride.
“What about you two?” Clive said. “Won’t you be helping us?”
“We’re going into the mountains,” I answered. “There’s something we must do.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kiel fell back to walk at my side as the game trail we followed momentarily widened.
“How did Gare take it?”
“Take what?” I asked, placing one foot in front of the other, focusing on not losing my footing on the steep mountainside.
