Page 19

Kit

“I t’s…bold,” Lemeraties said finally before shifting her attention to Frankie. “Can you do it?”

The Black woman lifted a shoulder. “Can? Yes. I’m still debating on the should I factor.”

“It will work,” Damon stated with flat, calm reserve.

Both Frankie and Lemeraties swung their gazes his way.

“I don’t particularly relish the idea of getting into an altercation with that one,” Frankie said in a brusque, hard voice. “Not if he’s who you say he is.”

“There won’t be an altercation.” Damon’s eyes were hard. “Because you’ll take me with you.”

Frankie, Lemeraties and I all gaped at him.

I was the one to break the stalemate, barreling right into it with a blunt, strident, “What the fuck ?”

“You heard me, Kit,” he said, sounding tired. Swinging his head my way, he caught my gaze and held it. “We need the young somewhere safe. Can you think of anybody safer than Chang?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, because the answer was obvious. My heart lurched through several repetitions before I managed to speak. “And you plan on going with her?”

“She teleports.” He shrugged, unconcerned. “I don’t. It’s a skill left to the higher powers and I don’t have it. If she can take passengers with her, it makes everything easier. She can bring me to Chang so I can lay everything out, then bring me back.”

“You both have to know that my ability to go from one place to another is not unlimited. It drains me,” Frankie said, voice cool. “If I do this, it’s going to drain my reserves.”

“But you have to feed, anyway.” Damon turned cool eyes on her. “Everybody here is in bad shape. So…top up, or whatever you have to before you head out.”

This was crazy. Looking from Damon to Frankie, I turned it all over in my head and came to the same conclusion. This was entirely, completely fucking crazy.

And I was 100% certain that it was our best chance at saving these kids.

There were likely other avenues to take down Madae’s form—Madae, or whoever she called herself these days. But if we wanted to take her down and save numerous, faceless children and their parents…?

This was it.

This was our line in the sand.

Fisting my hands at my temples, I drew a deep breath and blew it out.

“Fine,” I said. I let my hands fall and met their gazes, one by one.

Lemeraties moved to stand at my side, her gaze locking with Damon’s. “I will be with her every moment you are gone.”

Annoyance crept through me but I didn’t say anything.

Time was creeping by and every second was one we weren’t spending on the kids.

“Alright, then.” Damon met my gaze. “I guess you should tell them.”

I didn’t bother asking why it had to be me although I desperately wished it could be somebody else.

It took less than an hour to convince them, and another thirty minutes for Frankie to stabilize the sickest. Five girls and three boys, all under the age of ten, with the youngest being a frail, thin male of only two. I’d gathered him up into my arms at Kathra’s nod and taken him to Frankie. He looked at me wide-eyed and asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of your mother’s,” I told him. “And you’re going to meet a friend of mine. She’s going to make you feel better, then you’re going to stay with some friends while you work on getting better.”

He looked around for his mother and she joined us as I sat down on the bed next to Frankie.

Frankie’s eyes burned with that eerie backlit fire but it mellowed as she looked at the boy in my arms. I passed him to his mother, a quiet woman I vaguely remembered. She’d been a couple of years younger than me and I thought maybe her name was Riasa. She’d already lost one child to this disease and although she was terrified of letting her child out of her sight, after seeing Frankie stabilize Demetrio’s niece, she had agreed to let the ‘outsider’ try her magic.

Demetrio was out amongst the gathered parents, explaining why they couldn’t travel with their children—the outsider could only use her magic to travel back and forth so many times and if she used it to take the parents, then some of the children might die. Damon would only go to explain why the children needed help—he was my ally and his people would help because of our connection.

They understood the term allies and at the thought of any of the children dying, they’d fallen silent.

I couldn’t imagine how hard this was on them.

Finally, Frankie finished with the final boy I’d brought her. His name was Asam and he smiled bashfully at me, reaching up to touch my cheek.

“I’m hungry,” he whispered in a secretive voice.

“When you meet my friend, Chang, tell him. He’ll make sure you get plenty to eat. Tell him Kit told you to tell him that.”

As his mother clasped him to her in a tight hug, I rose and met Frankie’s eyes.

A faint glow shimmered under her skin and standing next to her felt like I’d reached out and grabbed hold of a live wire.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She bared her teeth. “I usually don’t do so much at once. But it’s cool because I’m about to drain myself—it’s going to suck.”

“I’m sorry. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” She blew out a breath and swung her gaze to Damon as he came to join us. All the kids were gathered around, the sickest closest at hand, the rest grouped together in small units of three to five, twenty-four children in all while the two adults, both of them elderly waited in the back. They had tried to refuse at first but Demetrio and Kathra had convinced them, Demetrio mainly, convincing them they could be useful and help the children feel more at home.

Three other adults weren’t going.

Kathra didn’t think they’d make the trip and neither did Frankie.

She’d done what she could to ease their suffering but they had slipped into a deep, deep sleep within the past few days. Damon said he sensed their organs were about to shut down and Frankie hadn’t wanted to risk not being able to help the kids by overextending herself with them.

They would slip away in the next few days, probably less.

“Don’t forget the boat,” I told Damon.

“I won’t. It won’t take him long. You have to convince these people to be ready.”

I nodded, then, not letting myself think about it, I kissed his cheek and backed away.

His eyes flashed gold and then he looked away, scooping up Asam in one arm, and a petite four-year-old girl in his other. Frankie took the hand of an older girl. She was pale and wan but able to stand, leaving Frankie’s other hand free.

“This will be a little scary, guys. I’m sorry. But it’s over quick.” With those words, she was gone.

A couple of the people around us cried out.

I sucked in a breath.

“You have a job to do,” Lemeraties reminded me in a quiet voice.

I nodded and turned to the people gathered behind me. “The protections around the island are faltering. My friends will be arranging for transportation away from here and once we get to Stapin, we can figure out how to reunite everybody with the children. But for now, pack up what you want to take—necessities only and whatever gold, silver or valuables you can use for currency. You likely won’t be coming back here.”