Riley spent the remainder of the night watching miserably as Alley slept off all the whiskey she’d consumed. By then, she’d seen several of her roommates’ post-drinking dreams, but none of them had been even half as drunk as Alley. And the difference was unmistakable. Alcohol muddled Alley’s waking thoughts, but her dreams became crystal clear. And to Riley’s intense discomfort, she’d seen far more about Alley than she would ever have chosen to see.
She still hadn’t seen a memory of Alley charming Jack, so she held out a shred hope that it hadn’t really happened. But only a shred, because during the night, Riley had seen Alley charm both Perry and Darren. Deliberately. How many other lies Alley had told about her power, Riley wasn’t sure. What she did now know was that, like a lot of other people, Alley sought attention whenever her self-esteem needed a boost. And like Gabe, she had a lot of insecurity inside her that required special care. But unlike Gabe, Alley had a power she could use to force people to give her attention when they weren’t inclined to do it. And that power had made her lazy. Instead of engaging with other people on their terms and building relationships, Alley just turned on the charm.
To her credit, if she wanted to socialize, she always turned to friends first. And she would try interacting with women. If they weren’t responsive enough to suit her, she then turned to men. And if that didn’t work, Alley would force a Veiled man to interact with her by charming him. She now used her power on Veiled men without hesitation, reasoning that there was no way for her to wreck their lives the way she had wrecked those of her roommates.
Except she had no way of proving that.
And sometimes, Veiled men weren’t Veiled at all.
Riley’s sadness throughout the evening upset Gabe. “I don’t know what you’re seeing, but I’m sorry,” he whispered after Riley had teared up witnessing Darren get charmed. Darren was one of Alley’s closest friends before that happened. He truly loved her, albeit platonically. Because of that, Alley thought charming him would be harmless.
It wasn’t.
“I’m not very good company tonight,” Riley replied, wiping her eyes. “I wish we could get out of here, Gabe. Get away, go... date like normal people or something.”
“Me too. And it looks like we might be stuck inside the shield all winter. But at least we’ll be together.” He kissed her hand.
Breakfast came and went. After she’d eaten, Riley got herself a mug of hot chocolate and stepped outside onto the dining hall porch for a few minutes of peace and quiet.
The sun was rising over the trees on the other side of the field. Misty white fog covered the lake, and the sun shone through it with a gentle radiance. Autumn was over. The nude trees that surrounded the olive-green field looked like fragile twigs. The few remaining leaves were a dry brownish-red... the same rusty shade that Riley would forever associate with Reed now.
Just as she was beginning to get a lump in her throat, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t need to look to know that it was Xander.
Riley put down her mug and embraced him.
Xander wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry I snapped at you last night!”
“You don’t have to explain. You know you don’t.”
He hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head. “I want to talk later,” he said into her hair, “but right now I need to go get Reed.”
Riley thought about Alley again. It’s still possible that some of what I saw about Jack wasn’t real. There’s only one way to know for sure. “Xander, I need to call Jack. Today, if possible.”
“I’ll make it happen.” He let go of Riley and looked down at her uncomfortably. “There’s an I.C. meeting in half an hour. You’ve been ordered to attend this time. Reed has been back to the Cut. The Colonel thinks you should hear what he says since most of it pertains to you.”
Riley nodded. “I’ll be there. Did you tell the Colonel what happened with Alley last night?”
“Xander, you’re back!” Gabe said, as he stepped outside. “You okay?”
“Yeah. And to answer your question, Riley: I did tell the Colonel what happened last night, but the people at the bar are the least of our worries. I’ll be back in twenty minutes with Reed,” Xander told them. “Meet us at the Lodge and we’ll get him settled in.”
After he left, Riley and Gabe sat down in two of the rocking chairs and drank their hot drinks together. Periodically Gabe smiled at her… to reassure her, she thought. Riley had the same urge to reassure him. She felt a tenderness toward Gabe that she’d never felt with anyone else in her life. In spite of the fact that he was older than she was, and far more experienced in Miyala life, Gabe had been sheltered in a thousand ways. He was extremely vulnerable to stress and pain. Riley wanted to do everything she could to protect him.
When they’d finished their drinks, they walked hand in hand toward the Lodge. Reed and Xander were coming past the pavilion as Riley and Gabe came down the hill. Reed had his violin case in one hand and Jack’s old suitcase in the other.
“It’s weird to see you holding hands,” he greeted her.
“Does it bother you?” Gabe asked.
“Not if she’s happy.”
“I am.” Riley squeezed Gabe’s hand. He squeezed back.
Reed gave her a long look. Riley returned his gaze steadily. She knew they were both thinking of Will.
“Then I’m fine with it,” Reed finally responded to Gabe. “So we’re clear, though: if you hurt her in any way, I will personally dissect you.”
“Reed!” Riley scolded.
“I would never,” Gabe assured him, pulling Riley closer.
“See that you don’t.” Reed didn’t sound convinced.
“Oh!” Gabe dropped Riley’s hand. “I forgot. I need to speak to Keith about moving our meeting night to Thursday now that he’s off the Tribal Welfare committee.” Keith Cougar was Gabe’s mentor. “That will give us another evening together,” he smiled at Riley. “I’ll be right back. It’s good to see you, Reed.”
“I doubt it,” Reed muttered as Gabe walked away.
Riley elbowed him. “Don’t be mean. He’s trying.”
“So am I. This is me trying.”
As they stepped into the Lodge, Violet stood and rolled her eyes at Reed. “Oh, great. You’re back.”
“Aw! You missed me?” Reed teased her with a smile. “You’re Violet, right? I mean, that’s not what Riley calls you, but I think that’s your actual name.”
Violet’s mouth dropped open.
Ivan snickered.
“What’s your warrior name?” Reed asked her.
“Wha-what?” she stuttered. “Why the hell do you care what my warrior name is?”
“I don’t,” he replied, still smiling. “I’m being polite. ‘Woman, where are my bedsheets?’ is usually considered an inappropriate greeting.”
Belman slapped his hands together and laughed.
Violet glared at him, then at Reed, and left the room.
“Reed!” Riley rebuked him again, unable to suppress a grin.
Perry smiled up at Reed from his spot on the couch. “Her warrior name is Ambrosia.”
Reed cackled. “How appropriate!”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Violet snapped as she came back in with a set of clean sheets.
“Look, I’m not here to fight,” Reed said through his laughter. “I only want to make my bed.”
She thrust the sheets at him and he disappeared into the men’s side, still chuckling.
Violet turned to Riley. “What is his problem?”
“Don’t you start in on my brother!” Riley warned her, storming outside before she said something far worse. Attacking her was one thing... Violet could at least be believed to have a motive there. Attacking Reed was completely uncalled for.
Fuming, Riley paced back and forth on the porch. As she took a deep breath to calm herself, she heard Violet exclaim, “Two Thorntons? I can’t take this.”
“Vi, you need to tone it down,” Xander said. “Reed is a guest of this clan.”
“A pest of this clan, you mean.”
“That’s very true!” Reed yelled from the men’s front bedroom. “I am a pest.”
Riley grinned. She heard more than one person chuckling.
Xander stepped outside, shaking his head and smiling. “Reed can handle her easily,” he whispered.
Riley heard Reed whistling a minute later as he walked back through the Lodge. When he opened the door to step back outside, Violet stopped him.
“You know, I’ve done nothing but fight with your sister since the day she showed up. You may not be here to fight with me, but we’re going to.” She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a realist.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a botanist.” Reed stared down at her, grinning from ear to ear. “And ‘Ambrosia’ is the proper name for ragweed.”
Riley turned away to hide her smile. There were peals of laughter coming from the lounge.
Violet narrowed her eyes at Reed, then closed the door in his face.
Chuckling, Riley and Reed followed Xander down to the chief’s house.
When the three of them arrived, the rest of the Intelligence committee was already seated and waiting. “Reed, please give your report,” Colonel Matthew instructed as they came in through the door.
Riley and Xander sat down.
Reed closed the door behind himself and remained standing. His expression now was grim. “The Poxinosa plan to confront Greenwood. They will come to this camp next Thursday night, one week from tonight. Somewhere between eighty and a hundred men are planning to come.”
Riley’s heart sped up and she sucked in a breath. Several other people gasped as well.
“One hundred?” Natalie exclaimed, squeezing her husband's hand.
“Yes. A few will scatter themselves around the edges of the shield, but the majority will approach you from the east.” Reed pointed to a spot on the large map of camp that was now hanging on the wall over the Colonel’s desk. “They plan to top the eastern ridge at eleven.”
“From that vantage point, they’ll be able to witness our entire response,” the Colonel said.
“That’s part of their plan,” Reed confirmed.
“What do they hope to accomplish by this?” Ned asked. “They can’t mean to invade.”
“Tsali is going to deliver an ultimatum: either you turn Riley over to them, or there will be an attack on Greenwood.” Reed paused as the I.C. members began exclaiming.
“Do they intend to attack us?” Peter demanded.
“Jack says no. They’re not bringing any Veiled men, and they know they’d need them to enter your shield. But they’re going to use Veiled weapons, fire them into your shield, and display their powers to see how you react. And they hope to lure some of you out. Any Greenwood men who leave the shield will be killed on the spot, 'as violently as possible.' Women will be captured and taken back to the Cut to be used as bargaining chips, tortured, or both.”
Riley squirmed in her seat as her stomach lurched. Xander took her hand and squeezed it. He, too, looked nauseated.
Reed glanced briefly at her before he continued. “They also intend to monitor Greenwood between now and the confrontation to make sure they can trust me. They want to know that I’m not telling you their plans. Tsali told me point blank that if Greenwood is prepared for this attack, I will be blamed. And killed.”
Riley closed her eyes.
They’re coming for me. Anyone who tries to protect me now will be a target: Jack, Will, Gabe, Xander, our roommates, the elders... any or all of them could die in this attack.
And if I run…
…they’ll kill REED.
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