“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“I’ll stay at the house, or with Mickey.”
“I meant about Shane. The Beneath.”
“I’ll figure out something.”
“But if Iris is right—”
“I’m not risking the welfare of my daughter on the claims of a girl who has previously placed the entire Kin in jeopardy. You’re not staying.”
I tried arguing further, but she wouldn’t hear it. She set a hand on my shoulder, then rose from her seat, telling me she had to make a few more phone calls. Leon arrived shortly after. He had Mom’s car out in the parking lot—Mom thought it better we drive instead of teleporting, since we’d need to take supplies—and when I tried to ask if he was happy about getting kicked out of the Cities, he didn’t answer me. He just told me to let him know when I was ready to leave.
Furious and frustrated though I was, I didn’t have much of an option unless I wanted to sneak out of the hospital and hide out somewhere, like Iris. Maybe I could crash her hotel room, I thought, clenching fists. But Leon would still know how to find me. And he was certain to do as Mom wished. I heaved a breath and finally just resigned myself to the fact that I had no choice in this.
Then there were good-byes: Elspeth’s quick hug, my grandfather’s wobbly smile. I called Tink but got no answer. Esther was still unconscious, but I sat beside her in her room for a minute, took her hand, and squeezed it gently.
“Thanks for looking out for me,” I whispered.
I found Mom waiting for me out in the hall. This time I didn’t argue. I told myself not to snap at her. Not to part angry. I scrutinized her, taking in details, trying to silence the little voice that told me I should remember exactly what she looked like, exactly what she said, in case I never saw her again. Her hair was pulled out of her face in a messy ponytail, and her eyes looked tired, somewhat watery. She was trying to smile at me, but not succeeding. She touched my arm.
“I guess Esther is getting what she wanted,” I said. “You leading the Kin.”
“I’ll be happy to hand the reins right back.”
“Remember to eat on occasion.”
“I’ll stick a note to the fridge.”
“And don’t get hurt.”
She pulled me in to a tight hug. “I’ll be fine. I love you. I’ll call you tonight.”
She walked with Leon and me to the elevator, then turned back at the end of the hall. I watched her there as the doors closed, walking down the hall beneath the hospital’s fluorescent lights, the area around her shrinking and shrinking until finally she was gone.
We left the Cities as afternoon slipped into evening. We’d stopped by my house for me to pack a bag, but since my luggage was at Esther’s, I just grabbed my old camping backpack and threw whatever was left in my drawers into it. I hesitated in the doorway of my bedroom. Mom had stapled a plastic covering over my broken window, and cleaned up most of the glass, but I saw a few shards still glittering within the fibers of the carpet. A smear of dried blood from Gideon’s knuckles marked the floor near the back wall. My eyes fixed there, seeing him huddled there in the dark, dripping rain.
“We should get going,” Leon said from behind me. I nodded, following him back down the steps. He had his own backpack tossed in the backseat of the car. It was the same backpack he’d brought with him from Two Harbors, somewhat worn now, one of the straps broken and hanging loose.
I turned back toward the skyline as we headed out onto the highway. Above, in the thickening dark, the stars were glowing red.
Tink finally returned my call an hour later to let me know she was still in the Cities.
“You’re not leaving?” I asked. “Mom said she told you to evacuate.” It would be safer, Mom had explained, since Tink wasn’t fully trained yet—though I suspected Mom just wanted her protected, too.
“She left it up to me to decide,” Tink said.
“You can crash with us at the cabin, if you want.”
“No. I—I’ve thought about it. And I’m staying. If we’re all about to die, might as well go down fighting, right? So if this is the last time I ever talk to you—”
“Do not say that. Whatever grim confession you’re about to impart can wait until I get back.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say. It wasn’t grim. I was just going to say thanks. You know, for helping me with the whole Guardian thing.”
“Oh. Well, you can save that, too.” I hesitated. “If you see Gideon…”
“I’ll kick his ass and knock some sense into him,” she said quickly. She didn’t believe it, I guessed. Neither did I. But there wasn’t much else to say.
“Good,” I whispered.
“I’ll check in later.”
“You’d better.”
It was close to midnight when Leon and I reached Nevis. The cabin had been closed up since last fall, and when we stepped inside, everything smelled like dust and mildew. The quilt I’d left on the bed had a collection of dead bugs in it, and a toad had taken up residence under the bathroom sink. Leon propped the door open to let in fresh air—and even more insects—while I moped about searching in crevices and under furniture for any other trespassers.
“How long are we supposed to stay here?” I asked. Mom hadn’t told me anything besides for now; I hoped she’d given Leon clearer instructions. I shook the quilt free of insects and settled myself on the bed with my bag. I’d been too agitated to pay attention to my packing, and now I discovered I had three pairs of underwear and maybe one bra, and the only shorts I’d brought were the ones I was wearing.
“I don’t know,” Leon said.
“So, indefinitely?”
“Until the danger passes. Look, I don’t like this any more than you do.”
“And what if the danger doesn’t pass? Are we just supposed to live here?”
His gaze slid from mine.
I sat up straight, letting my bag fall to the floor. “Mom told you something.”
“No. It’s a contingency plan the Kin have always had in place. If one Circle is compromised, the survivors take refuge at another.”
“Has that ever happened before?”
“Not that there are any records of. My grandfather told me he thought it might have come about because of the attacks that occurred before the Kin were organized. The first Harrowings.”
I nodded. Esther had mentioned that to me, briefly—how the Kin had been scattered once, roaming the earth instead of staying close to the Circles. Without Guardians watching to contain the Harrowers that had broken free from Beneath, the Kin had been easy prey.
But if our Circle was compromised, if the Beneath broke through, it wouldn’t stop there. I knew that much. It would target the next Circle, and the next. Until there was no refuge. Until Harrowers could slip through anywhere, everywhere, hunt down the Kin to the far edges of the earth.
Unless Mom and the other Guardians could stop it. And they didn’t even have a plan.
Iris’s voice whispered into me. You have to do it. You’re the only one who can.
And Daniel’s voice echoing. The Remnant was never the one who decides it. You are.
I slumped onto the bed. I couldn’t do anything this far from the Circle—kill Gideon or cut the connection or whatever other solution I still hadn’t found—even if I’d known what to do.
Leon was clearly still angry with me. He crawled up onto the bed and turned to his side, facing away from me. He was wearing his boxers and undershirt, resting on top of the quilt rather than under it, even though I’d rid the sheets of anything, living or dead, that might have occupied them. I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. I felt all knotted up inside. Like I wanted to kick something, or just run around outside and scream. I hated being up here, in the stillness of the warm July night, where I couldn’t do anything but wait and worry. I hated that Leon wouldn’t talk to me.