Page 59 of Cry of the Damned
I thought of Nirliq back with her father. They would both be so happy. The other children too, although most of them had lost their loved ones when Novus and Val attacked. My hatred for the magistrates flared up, and I would have killed them all over again if given the chance.
“But the older ones…” I let the words hang.
Rob ran a hand over his cropped hair. “What if they fight us?” he asked after a moment.
I shook my head, feeling at a loss.
“You know they won’t believe us,” he went on. “They will say we’re lying, that thewildlingsbrainwashed us.”
I’d already thought of all this and shared his same fears.
“What can we do?” he asked, sounding as worried as I felt.
“We need to remove everyone’s codas,” Bethel said, sitting up, rubbing the back of her neck, and rolling her shoulders.
“Bethel!” I exclaimed, reaching out to grab her hand.
She smiled. “I’m glad to see we had enough energy to save you.”
“Thank you for that.”
She batted a hand in the air. “It’s not like we had a choice or any hope of getting rid of your annoying pelt.”
I released her hand and punched her shoulder. Her dark eyes drifted to Novuk, still in his wolf shape, placidly sleeping.
“Everyone’s fine,” I said.
“What are we doing here?” she asked, glancing around the narrow space.
“Hiding from the students,” I said. “The commotion lured them down.”
Rob cleared his throat. “Um… you said something about removing everyone’s codas. How would you do that? And what does that do?”
I explained in detail the purpose of the codas, and how drinking a special tea could erase them, though that would only work on the initiates whose codas were incomplete.
He ran a finger over the tattoo around his wrist. “I wish I could get rid of mine,” he said, looking sad.
“I’m sorry, Rob.”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but his crestfallen demeanor said otherwise.
I turned to Bethel. “Removing the codas would certainly help with the initiates, but it would take too long, and I doubt they would drink anything we offer them.”
“A week isn’tthatlong,” Bethel said, “and they don’t have to agree to take it. We can slip the necessary ingredients into their food.”
I let that sink in, trying to imagine how we could accomplish what she suggested. “We could infiltrate the kitchen and slip the ingredients into the food,” I said, thinking out loud.
Suddenly, Kall shifted and said, “Sounds like a good plan to me.”
As he sat up, my arms flew around his neck before I even realized what I was doing. I hugged him tightly, letting his warmth and the relief I felt washed over me.
“I should fall unconscious more often.” He nuzzled my neck, inhaling deeply. “Sheela, my Sheela,” he murmured. “I thought I would lose you. I was terrified.”
“Ugh, you two get a room,” Rob complained.
Bethel found the common city phrase hilarious and started laughing so hard that she managed to wake up the others.
Ila ended up in Maki’s arms as he kissed her face over and over, starting at her brow, following down her temple, cheekbone, nose, and finally, to her mouth.
