Page 118 of Guiding Desire

Orrey cleared his throat. “Senlas, do you not like listening to the radio?”

“It’s fine.”

“We can turn it off if you prefer. Youaremission lead.”

Col cackled. Vin glanced at Orrey in the rearview mirror.

“We’re leaving it on, kitten. Something to ease your mind, yeah? Let’s not make this a big thing.”

The trip went on without a major interruption after that, the tunes on the air a comfort that reminded Orrey he wasn’t all that far away from civilization. From his window, he spotted movement in the forested areas, though he couldn’t say if it was his imagination or something living.

Up in the sky, when he craned his neck, he saw birds, large enough to make him think they might be red-lipped vultures or something similar, and once, he was sure he glimpsed a four-winged hask. He hoped it didn’t mistake their vehicle for a bot and tried attacking.

The foliage thinned eventually, showing a river bend in the distance and grassland between the road and the water.

“Does the road ever get flooded?” Orrey asked.

Col leaned over to look at the river as well. “I like that thinking ahead you’re doing, little brother. Yes, we very occasionally have the water come up to the road, but the vehicles can handle it. If they can’t, they’d just turn around and wait a few days until satellites tell us it’s clear. Raising this road isn’t the highest priority.”

Orrey nodded, then spotted brown fur with white dots in the grass, not sure what it was he was seeing. Before he could get a better look at the animal, they had moved past the area, and the wall of trees was back, at least on the left. On the right, the trees had been cut down, leaving trunks like polished bone sticking out of the ground. Seeing this and how far it was from the city, Orrey understood why tree harvesting was so dangerous and why the finest solid woods came at the unaffordable prices they did.

Not too far after the trunks, the convoy turned right, off the paved road and onto a dirt road.

“Twenty minutes to the drop site,” Senlas said.

Orrey bit his bottom lip, then asked, “Are there going to be people there?”

“Maybe,” Col said. “Whether they’ll want to be seen is a different matter.”

Orrey nodded, thought,There would be room for maybe ten people in the backs of our vehicles after we drop the meds.He knew it couldn’t happen, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it, taking people back with them, being able to tell them they’d not have to be afraid of any Wild Hunts attacking them ever again.Ten people. Maybe fifteen children.

The twenty minutes seemed too long, as if time were misbehaving. Around them, more trees had been harvested, and Orrey could see smaller animals dashing back and forth in the rotting foliage and fallen branches, a reveal of what life the greenery hid.

They slowed, and up ahead, Orrey saw the drop zone, an area easily big enough for two dozen of their vehicles to fit. In the center, a rudimentary structure stood, open on one side so no one could hide there for an ambush.

“Let me remind you two that the vehicle is armored and that you are staying in it,” Senlas said.

“But—” Orrey said.

“Oh no. No-ooh. I’m mission lead, and you’re staying in the vehicle.”

“I have a gun. What if there’s a Hound attack?”

“Then you’re still staying in the vehicle.”

Col sighed. “I’ll watch him. Get your head on straight so we can go home soon, Senny.”

Senlas sighed. “Fine. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” He narrowed his eyes at Orrey. “Inside the vehicle.”

“I heard,” Orrey said.

Senlas huffed, and Vin and he opened their doors simultaneously. The Guardians from the other vehicles exited as well, some looking out to the trees while others started moving the meds, chief of them Senlas, who did most of the moving with telekinesis, though he was also carrying boxes, arm muscles bulging.

The earth started shaking with no warning whatsoever, and as he grabbed on to the seat in front of him, Orrey saw one of the Ferrean Guardians go down, her blood spraying. He had no idea what had hit her, she simply dropped. A second later, the vehicle flipped, and everything went dark.

26

ORREY