“The fact that we can even think of such things when in the presence of such beauty does not speak well of us. But yes, that could have been the case. We have maintained this place as best we could, but haven’t wanted to approach the nymphs because of our bad history.”
“And,” Paige said, “you thought that bringing it here and leaving it next to Chuna might charge it up enough for you to use it without anyone’s help.” Seeing the weary look on Sophie’s face, she let her off the hook by adding, “It’s something we might have done too. Are you willing to give this back to them, even if it means letting the Dryad so close to Chuna, Ira, and the setup you have here?”
“Yes. Keeping this has never been something I’ve been very proud of.”
“And you’ve got the pull to make that call?”
“The Amriany have many layers of leadership,” Sophie explained, “but I am high enough to make this decision. Nobody will be too surprised by it, and anyone who has a problem will be quiet when they see that we’re allowed to use the Dryad bridges just as the Skinners do. I trust you have the pull to make that happen?”
Chuckling at how strange it sounded for her to mimic slang that was obviously so unfamiliar, Paige told her, “Yes I do. Skinners don’t have any layers of leadership, but anyone who doesn’t like it can come to me so I can tell them personally to suck it.”
Now it was Sophie’s turn to laugh. “I think this will work out for all of us. Our peoples have been apart for too long. When do you think you can make the first arrangements?”
Paige dug into her pocket and checked her phone. Although she knew she wouldn’t be able to use it overseas, she looked up a number and committed it to memory. “How’s now sound?”
No phone could get much reception that close to Chuna and the ancient Dryad ruins, but Sophie loaned hers to Paige. As soon as she got some privacy, she dialed the number and was immediately connected to the Hub.
“Paige, is that you?” Tristan asked.
“Yeah, I’m using someone else’s phone. Is something wrong? You sound like you’ve been running.”
“Things are getting worse here. I know you said not to pay attention to what’s on the news, but they’re saying the entire East Coast may be overrun by Half Breeds within three days.”
“How did they come up with that figure?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know. The Army and Marines are fighting in Shreveport. It’s worse than ever. Are those the IRD soldiers you talked about?”
“Probably. How bad is it there?”
“People are getting evacuated,” Tristan said breathlessly. “So many are getting killed and even more are being turned that the reports don’t even mention numbers anymore. I’ve heard from someone named Frank. He says he’s a friend of Cole’s from Colorado.”
“Right. What did he say?”
“He just said that he can call for help in Louisiana but it might not be enough. Paige, the people on the news are saying there may be bombers flying down toward Shreveport. What does that mean?”
“It means the military is getting desperate.”
“How desperate?”
Lots of things sprang to mind when Paige thought about that question. Some of them involved too many soldiers dying for a lost cause, and others involved doomsday scenarios complete with mushroom clouds and large craters where cities used to be. She hoped she was just getting carried away, but she had been with Adderson for too long to write those things off completely. No matter what scenario was playing out, there was still only one thing to be done. “We need to get to Shreveport as quickly as possible. Remember what you did in Atoka? Can you send us directly into Shreveport without a temple on the other end?”
“I don’t have the energy to do it myself, but if you can get to the Hub, I should be able to get you into the city. After that you’ll have to get to a temple if you need to be taken out again.”
“Just get us there and we’ll do the rest.”
“Can you get to a temple right now?”
Paige looked in the direction of the forest where she and Sophie had their conversation. “Actually, I’ve got some pretty good news about that. What about the Memory Water?”
“I’ve collected more than enough to set one Full Blood back to how it was before the Breaking Moon, but I don’t know about the others.”
“Fine. Just have whatever you’ve got ready and we’ll pick it up when we see you.” After hanging up, Paige looked over to Sophie and asked, “Do you have any idea how the Full Bloods are changing so many humans into Half Breeds without biting them?”
“They must be tapping into the Torva’ox,” Sophie replied. “We’ve seen people forced into the Breaking who aren’t anywhere near a Full Blood.”
“How can that happen?”
Sophie let out a strained breath. “Chuna is the source of the Torva’ox, according to our legends, but any of the Mist Born may be able to bend it to their will. Are they still working with Ktseena?”
“If you mean, Kawosa, then yes,” Paige told her. “But we haven’t seen him for a while.”
“It could be possible that Ktseena charmed the Full Bloods. Gave them access to the Torva’ox. There are several legends where the Mist Born trickster gave someone great power in exchange for his soul. He nearly tore apart the Amriany by knowing exactly who to corrupt within our ranks several generations ago.”
“Skip the history lesson for now. We have a way to take the power away from Esteban, but it won’t do a lot of good unless we can take away power from some of those others.”
“What about poisoning the Torva’ox?” Cole asked as he approached the two women. Paige and Sophie both spun around to look at him, “The Full Bloods are all plugged into the Torva’ox,” he explained, “so if we can find a way to get what we need into there, it should be passed along to the others, right?”
“We get some of that crap too, you know,” Paige pointed out.
“But if it’s Memory Water, it’ll only help. Besides, we barely get a trickle compared to the shapeshifters.”
Paige couldn’t think of anything to say to that, so she looked over to Sophie. The Amriany nodded and said, “I have an idea.”
Minutes later they were back in the cabin. “Good,” Ira said as he held out a callused hand. “I need your weapons next.”
After he had Paige’s sickles and started hacking off the blades, Sophie explained the topic they’d been discussing.
“Sounds like you need a divining rod,” Ira said.
Paige said, “I need my weapons back before you— Hey!” she yelped as the curved blades of her sickles were snapped off and unceremoniously pitched aside.
“Building bridges, remember?” Cole said while grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her in place.
“Isn’t a divining rod used to find something?” Sophie asked.
“It is drawn to energy,” Ira said without paying attention to Paige’s seething glares. “Now that I have such a fine Jekhibar, which just so happens to be empty at the moment, I could build it into something that would draw Torva’ox in and maybe channel it.”
“Maybe?” Cole asked.
The smith ground his teeth together and flipped the handles to Paige’s weapons in the air. “You want to poison the Torva’ox just for Weshruuv, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Then poison one who is already dipping into Torva’ox . . .”
“Wait,” Paige snapped. “Dipping in?”
“Using it,” Ira said. “In it. Whatever. I know what I want to say, but there is no translation.”
“We know what you mean,” Cole said. “Go on.”
“Poison a Weshruuv who is dipping into Torva’ox, then draw the Torva’ox through him and into Jekhibar. Then, plug Jekhibar back into the Torva’ox.” Snapping his eyes back to Paige, he added, “However you want to say. You know what I mean?”