Page 118 of Land of Shadow

“Yeah, it’s that serious.” Wyatt rubs his eyes. “It’sthatfucking serious. We already lost—” He chokes up, then clears his throat. “We can’t lose anyone else, Georgia. We can’t.”

“I love you all.” The words just come out. The truth is like that, I guess. “And if I could go with you, I would. But I can’t. My sister is here. She’s in trouble, and I can’t leave her.”

“Then we can stay.” Wyatt shrugs. “We can help. I’ll tell all those little soldiers downstairs to unpack our shit, and?—”

“Wyatt.” I sink beside him on the couch. “You have to leave. All of you. I’ll be safe.”

“How?”

“I won’t be in this building when the mob shows up. Nothing to worry about.” I don’t know where I’ll be, but they don’t need to know that tidbit. “They can burn the place to the ground, but no one will be here to suffer it.”

“What did you see?” Gretchen asks, her voice quiet and even. “Tell us what you saw at the White House.”

“Gretchen, don’t,” Evie warns.

“We need to know.” Gretchen’s gaze pierces me, her eyes clear. “We need to know how bad it will get if we fail.”

I cross my arms, hugging myself instinctively.

“Hey.” Evie squeezes beside me and throws her arm around my shoulders. “Just breathe.”

“Trying.” I swallow hard, my gorge rising.

Wyatt stacks his arm on Evie’s, and Gretchen rolls around to my front, pushing the coffee table out of the way.

“We’ve got you.” Gretchen puts her palms on my knees. “We’re here.”

I glance up, still searching for whatever surveillance is buried in these walls. Then I realize it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s daytime. My friends will be long gone before anyone can report back to Gregor. Even so, I’m still careful. I don’t know how far Gregor’s reach goes.

“Juno isn’t well.” I can’t keep the tremor from my voice. I clear my throat. “She’s not… I don’t know if she’s going to be all right.”

“Shit.” Wyatt leans into me.

“It’s bad. Really bad. I can’t leave her.” My words tumble out. “She needs me, and she’s needed me for a while, but I stayed away. Shetoldme to stay away. I shouldn’t have listened. I should’ve realized she was all alone there. Without me. Without someone who could help her, pull her back from the edge. She-she—” I snap my mouth shut as a sob tries to escape.

Evie rests her head against mine.

I wrestle myself back under control. Sitting silent for a while, I feel how empty my life is going to be without them.

“And Aang—” I have to stop again.

“Breathe,” Gretchen says. “In through your nose. Out through your mouth.”

Wyatt follows the breathing exercise. I join in. Then all of us are doing it. Slow and steady. My panic fades enough for me to go on.

“He didn’t have a chance.” I shake my head, trying to rid it of the image of his wide eyes staring at me. “The moment he went in, it was over. One of them.” I meet Gretchen’s eyes. “One of them has been there this whole time, pulling the strings. Understand?”

“Yeah.”

“Like a spider on a web.” I squeeze my arms tighter around my ribs. “It’s worse than anything I can say.” Not just because they’re listening. Because I don’t think I can voice what I saw.

“That’s enough,” Evie coos. “Don’t tell any more.”

“Fuck.” Wyatt sighs and wraps his other arm around me. “I’m sorry, Georgia. I wish I could do something.”

“I just need you all to get out safely.”

Gretchen takes my hands. “We don’t want to leave you here.”

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