Quelia, please.
A sharp wind whistled through the trees, and she tossed the cone. It careened through the branches of the tree next to hers and fell, rollinguntil it was nearly at the scout’s feet. He crouched to look at it, his shoulders already relaxing.
“Specialist Mattia, do we have a problem?” Vato’s voice made Sofia’s entire body go rigid.
“No,” the scout said, dropping the cone, “just a damned seedcone. I hate this forest with its dying trees and fucking monsters.”
“Get back to your post then and stop whining. You could be sleeping on the king-damned mountain slope without the trees for protection.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, and Sofia saw him settle back into his station, suddenly at perfect attention.
Vato looked around briefly, his own eyes sweeping over her tree, and she wondered if he saw it—the cloth flag waving there for him—but then he turned away.
“Here,” he said, handing the nearly empty bottle to the scout. “Don’t drink it until you’re off duty.”
He walked back into camp without looking back.
Sofia closed her eyes, resting her head on the trunk behind her, and breathed.
Mattia remainedupright and rigid for the next hour before the temptation of the bottle finally broke him, and he took a swig of the golden liquid. Sofia watched, body rigid, as he slowly drained the rest of the bottle over the next hour, his stance softening and his eyes losing focus at last. Only once the bottle was empty and the young soldier was slumped against the gate did Sofia climb down the tree and slip away into the night.
By the time she made it to the south of the camp, close enough to reach out to Chalia, she felt the hammer of her mind crash into hers.
“Where have you been? What happened? You promised. You didn’t say. He’s going after you.”
The words were a crush of anxiety, and Sofia had to stop, her steps faltering at the onslaught.
“I’m okay. I lost connection, but I didn’t notice until it was too late.Nothing went wrong, though, and I left the flag. I just need to finish the trail so Ian can find us.”
“Pale Scales left me!”she yelled again, and Sofia tasted metal on her tongue.
“He left you?”Fox left her? What did that mean? Did he betray them?
Chalia gave Sofia’s mind a shove.“He’s coming toward you. He thought you were dead.”
“Shit,”Sofia said. She started moving, steps less quiet than before, choosing speed over stealth, but the drunk soldiers were still singing, and she knew now they wouldn’t be able to pick out her steps. Fox was going to come barreling through the trees any minute and get them both caught.
“Can you reach him?”Sofia sent to Chalia.“Tell him to get back to camp. He’s going to run into a damned faery out here.”
“I don’t think reminding him you’re out with the faeries will make him turn back sooner.”
“Then tell him I’m going to kill him if he’s not back at camp when I get there.”
There was a long moment of silence, and then Chalia was back.
“He says he’s going to kill you once you’re back at camp for letting the connection drop.”
A flurry of relief rushed back through Sofia.“I’d like to see him try,”Sofia sniped back, as if Chalia had anything to do with it.
“I think he’s relieved you’re alive.”
Sofia didn’t reply, unsure of what to say to this, but she heard Chalia’s cheerful hum against her mind.
“Shush,”she said, trying to focus on not tripping. She was moving fast, wanting to get back before Fox made another stupid decision.
Her lungs were burning by the time she saw the rocky outcrop they’d claimed as their camp, the dark shadows black against the sky.
“Chalia? Is he with you?”