Creators(13)

Henry and Robert joined our line. “So, what’s his brilliant plan?” Eric asked.

“You’re not going to like it,” Henry said.

“Charlie wants you and Lockwood to walk ahead of us and call out to the men on watch,” Robert said.

Eric laughed bitterly. “You mean he wants to put the most expendable people in front in case they shoot first and ask questions later?”

“He feels that if the guards first see people they know, people they trust, they will be more likely to listen to what they have to say.”

“Will they hurt you?”

Her voice was so small my ears barely registered it. I turned my head to find Louisa staring up at Lockwood. If there was any fear on Lockwood’s face at hearing my father’s plan, it disappeared before her words were fully out. A slow grin spread across his face. “Shoot me? I’m too important. Your sister must not have told you. I was in charge of the livestock.”

“He milked cows,” Eric added drily.

“Yes, I did. And I was damn good at it. Now, how about we go broker peace, shall we?” he said as he began to walk toward the camp. He held his head up and walked without an ounce of fear.

“If your father gets me killed, I’m going to haunt you,” Eric said before joining Lockwood on his trek.

I gave my sister’s hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry. Lockwood can talk anyone into anything.”

“More like talk you to death so you just give him what he wants,” Henry joked. “Your sister’s right, though. He’ll be fine.”

I could feel the weight of my father’s presence behind me without seeing him. It was like a sixth sense that I couldn’t shake ever since we started heading toward the community. His eyes were burning holes in the back of my head; I wondered if it was like this for all fathers and daughters. I turned around, offering him a small smile. He merely nodded in response. He was back in commander mode. It had been years since he had to be a father, and it was clear it was difficult for him to negotiate between the two roles. He wanted his family safe, and he was going to get me in contact with James. If that wasn’t reason enough to follow him, I didn’t know what was.

James. I was going to talk to James somehow. My father had promised. He told me that he had men on the inside of the council’s headquarters. Once his man decided if James was trustworthy, which I assured my father he was, he would help us pass letters across the lines.

I don’t know how he knew about James. Maybe his spies. Maybe Robert. But he knew what James meant to me, and he had promised to do anything in his power to get my words to him. I had to trust my father. I simply had to.

I untangled myself from Louisa, trusting she would be safe with Henry for the time being. I walked to where my dad, our leader, stood, nestled amongst his people. “You sure about this?” I asked, glancing back toward the hazy lights of the community.

“I’m not worried if that’s what you’re wondering,” he replied casually. Too casually for my taste.

“Al’s not the most reasonable of men,” I said.

“You think I don’t know that? You think I’m not fully aware that he threw you in a jail cell and put you on trial?” I could have sworn that his hand tightened around his rifle as he spoke. I remembered the way he had killed the chosen one without flinching, and I hoped for Al’s sake that he would hear my father out. “I know exactly how unreasonable Al is, but I also know that if I need to, I’ll take this place by force.”

I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek. History was written, compiled from stories of men trying to take something that didn’t belong to them in the first place.

“You don’t approve of my methods?” my father asked.

“Does it matter?” I countered, raising an eyebrow.

“Trust me,” he implored, his voice taking the gentler tone that I’d rarely heard since his mysterious return into my life—a tone that had filled my childhood with comfort and hope. Staring at him, a mixture of desperation and determination etched across his face, I reminded myself this was the man who promised to try and keep me in contact with James. The man who saved my life.

I reminded myself this man was my father.

I opened my mouth to reply when the sound of the safeties clicking off ten guns stopped me. The woods that separated us from the community rustled and warned us of the men who approached. I scrambled over to where Henry and Louisa stood. Working together, we pulled Louisa behind the line of my father’s army. Her limbs froze and locked, protesting both fight and flight. She was simply ready to give up.