Chapter Thirty-Eight

A weary and discouraged sigh escaped Caribou’s lips as the imposing view of the Centre City Plaza came into view. She knew without having to be told that this is where the Chosen had been pushing them since dawn, making them march at speeds that not even a healthy human being could keep up with. Caribou wondered how on earth the Chosen had managed, but then again, they hardly seemed human anymore.

“Depressing, isn’t it?” Crow had fallen in step beside Caribou during the journey and even though the dark young Gaian had not said much at all, his company had kept Caribou’s mood from plummeting.

“The concrete jungle?” Caribou inquired softly so the guards would not overhear her question. It didn’t matter, however. The guards were far too busy lining the prisoners up for inspection by the lieutenant to be bothered by idle chatter exchanged quietly between two of the prisoners near the end of the line.

Crow nodded, his expression grim. “I joined the Gaians to escape all this. The city, the dirt, grime. The wars, all of it. And here I am again. Thrust back into it all over again. It’s nauseating.”

“It’s not that bad.” Caribou attempted to encourage him, offering him a forced bright smile. “If I remember right, the Phoenix Mall is where Eagle’s old tribe lived. Maybe there are still a few around who can help us bring the Guardian down.”

“We’d need an army, Cari. And then some.” Crow grumbled, shaking his head in dismay. “You know, after we came back with Great White I thought this would all be over in a matter of weeks. We had hundreds of recruits, but we underestimated the Guardian.”

Caribou grimaced but said nothing as a blue robbed young woman approached them, her expression stern and emotionless. She quickly instructed Chipmunk, who was standing on Caribou’s other side, to raise her arms so she could release the wrist shackles, then moved on to Caribou.

“Lift.” The guard said with no voice inflection. Caribou quickly did as she was asked and the female Chosen guard swiftly unlocked the manacles, taking them and putting them in a large basket that a younger boy carried directly behind her. As Caribou began to rub at her chaffed wrists, she moved on to Crow, undoing his chains in a like manner.

“Well, that was pretty anti-climatic.” Crow rolled his eyes as he ran his fingers through his dark locks of hair, trying to put the once carefully gelled style back into place. “Though I’m not complaining. Those things were starting to rub my wrists raw.”

Caribou looked down at her own wrists and saw that hers were also red from being rubbed against the metal for hours on end. “I thought they wouldn’t remove our chains until after we were moved to where we are supposed to be imprisoned.”

“Maybe this is it. Maybe they intend to keep us at the mall. From what I hear down the pipeline, there have quite a few prisoners here already. What’s a few more, right?” Crow chuckled without amusement. “Or maybe the lieutenant doesn’t like seeing the prisoners in chains.”

“Wouldn’t that be lovely?” Caribou sighed, though she dared not hope. As they were coming into the city they saw a Chosen transport taking several prisoners out. They were all manacled in a similar fashion that Caribou, Crow and the other rebels who had been apprehended in the Gaian village had been.

“No talking.” The woman who had removed their chains was suddenly in front of them, her expression as stern as ever. “The lieutenant will be here any moment.”

Caribou rolled her eyes the instant the guard had left them, causing Crow to chuckle a little, however they did not continue their conversation and Caribou found herself involuntarily straightening her back as a tall and mildly attractive young man with brilliant blue hair and light blue robes designating him a lieutenant in the Chosen army appeared at the front of the line.

The lieutenant, Caribou had heard his name was Luke, exchanged a few words with Simon, the man who had led the guards and prisoners from the village to the city, then slowly turn to walk down the line, surveying the prisoners, his expression grim just like everyone else’s.

Luke hesitated in front of Caribou, studying her with cold and unfeeling eyes. “You’re a Gaian, I see.” He commented absent-mindedly, wiping at her smudged red upside down “v” under her right eye.

“Yes.” Caribou replied stiffly, holding her head up high.

Luke nodded, satisfied that she had told him the truth, then continued to move down the line. As far as Caribou could tell he had not spoken to any of the other prisoners, and Caribou found herself wondering how Luke had known that a red upside down “v” was the mark of a Gaian.

“Simon.” Luke announced after he reached the end of the line. “You have done very well. Your request for an interview with the Guardian will be granted. For now, bring these prisoners inside and see about their chains. No one will wear chains inside the mall unless it is Zoot’s will.”

“Right away, sir.” Simon gave a crisp bow, then motioned for the guards who had been under his command to begin to lead the prisoners inside the mall. After walking for several hours in the manacles, the prisoners had become almost experts at moving the perfect amount of distance so they would not trip anyone else up, but still a few stumbled as they walked up the gentle incline that led into the mall.

Caribou found her heart beating wildly in her chest as they entered the mall. She knew this was the place that Eagle had loved and called home for so many months before she had become a Gaian. She also knew that the Mall Rats, the tribe that had once inhabited this mall, were one of the few city tribes Caribou respected. She crossed her fingers hoping that at least one or two of them remained.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the mall she found that they had already drawn quite a crowd of curious spectators, and not all of them Chosen guards. She recognized several of them with the amulet symbol on their hand, signifying them as Mall Rats and Caribou felt her heart give a little leap.

“Look, Crow.” She gasped as she pointed to the first one she noticed with the symbol on the back of their hand. “Mall Rats.”

“Oh gee, really?” Crow rolled his eyes. “I can barely contain my excitement.”

“Oh shut up.” Caribou gave Crow a playful smack on the shoulder. “I want to meet them. All of them if possible.”

“I have a feeling that is.” Crow was sarcastic once again. “We are going to be imprisoned here for quite some time, I assume. Or at least until the war is over, and if the Chosen win, well, who knows when we’ll get out of here.”

“Thanks for your optimism, Crow.” Caribou sighed heavily as she impatiently awaited her turn for her ankle shackles to be removed. The instant they were gone, Caribou found herself wandering away from the rest of the recently brought in prisoners and towards a young woman about her height with long platinum blonde hair that reached her waist.

“Hi there.” The girl greeted her with a smile. “My name’s Ellie.”

“Hi Ellie.” Caribou returned the friendly greeting as she self-consciously touched her dirty golden blonde locks. She knew she must look a horrific sight after surviving a rather violet battle and then over twelve hours of marching. “My name is Caribou.”

“You’re a Gaian, aren’t you?” Ellie asked a little abruptly. “I can tell by your name.”

“How do you know about the Gaians?” Caribou frowned, thinking that the tribe had kept a pretty low profile. The only people in the city who actually knew of their existence was Ebony, or at least that was what she had believed.

“Another of your tribe was brought in just yesterday.” Ellie informed her. “He wouldn’t say much, but he said his name was Pride. When I asked him why the funny name he explained that all of his tribe had ‘funny names’ and that red ‘v’.”

“Pride?” Caribou felt her heart give a sudden lurch at the mention of the tall young Gaian she had not seen for such a long time. “What is he doing here?”

“He’s a prisoner, obviously. Just like the rest of us.” Ellie shrugged her shoulders. “He really hasn’t socialized with anyone else. He seems a little moody. It’s good to see all of your tribe isn’t that way.”

Caribou gave Ellie a tight smile, her eyes already scanning the visible portion of the mall for Pride’s dreadlocked head. Finally, she spotted him on the upper level, leaning against the banister, staring down at the others. Their eyes locked and for one brief moment Caribou felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

“Excuse me, Ellie. I just saw someone I need to talk to.” She interrupted the Mall Rat mid-sentence. She quickly hurried up the tall staircase, ignoring the guards who told her the upper level was off limits.

She arrived at the exact location she had seen Pride only moments before, but he was already gone, and Caribou felt her heart sinking. “Pride?” She murmured softly, glancing around. “Where are you?”

“Right here.” Caribou recognized Pride’s rich masculine voice coming from one of the stores. He was leaning against the wall, allowing the shadows to hide him as he watched Caribou with his piercing blue eyes.

“Pride.” Caribou exclaimed, hurrying into the store and throwing her arms around Pride’s neck giving him an affectionate hug that she quickly ended the moment she realized Pride had not returned the greeting. “What’s wrong, Pride? Are you alright?”

Pride let out a heavy sigh and slowly shook his head. “No, I’m not Caribou.”

“What’s wrong? Is it the city? Because if it is, I know how you feel. I’ve only been in the mall for a short time and already I feel as if I’m going out of my min—“

“It’s not the city.” Pride stated, his voice sounding far too depressed to be the same young man Caribou had been friends with back a few months before. “It’s Eagle. Or Amber as she wants to be called now.”

“Amber?” Caribou’s eyes widened at the mention of her tribe leader. She had not seen Eagle since she had left with Great White, but when she had left Pride and Eagle had been getting along wonderfully, having just completed their pledging ceremony.

“Yeah.” Pride replied cryptically, straightening then turning to walk out of the room. “Look, it was great seeing you again, Caribou. You’re looking really good. But I really want to be alone right now. Don’t tell the others I’m here, okay?”

“But—“

“No buts.” Pride silenced her, pressing his fingers against his lips. “Just silence.”

~*~*~

Xenia’s legs throbbed and she felt like her entire body was ready to collapse. Lioness had been pushing them extremely hard the past several hours, completely uncaring that Xenia was badly wounded. When they had first started out Xenia had thought her wounds were minor, but with each step she took she realized that they were a lot more severe than she had first assessed.

“How are you doing?” Ravenscroft inquired softly, his soft eyes studying her with sympathy. “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine.” Xenia snapped, not wanting Ravenscroft to realize just how truly weak she was. “Or at least I will be. Just leave me alone.”

Ravenscroft nodded, though Xenia still felt his gaze as they pressed on, the afternoon sun quickly sinking into the western horizon. Xenia was certain that Lioness would have them stop for the night, no matter how close they were to wherever it was that she was taking them. She was human too after all. Or at least Xenia hoped she was.

“Keep moving.” Lioness shot an evil glare back at Xenia, noting that her blonde captive had slowed her pace. “We are not to where we need to be yet.”

“And just where is that?” Ravenscroft growled in a low tone that Xenia found extremely intimidating. “You’ve been keeping us on the move since before dawn, without only a short break this afternoon. We’re exhausted. You can’t keep pushing us like this or else we’ll pass out.”

“Then I’ll leave you.” Lioness smiled smugly at him. “Dead, of course.”

Xenia bit down on her tongue to keep herself from shouting out a nasty retort to Lioness’ threats. She had dealt with Lioness’ kind plenty of times. She preyed on those she felt were weaker than her, but this time Lioness was messing with the wrong woman. Xenia was not weak. She was strong, and she was going to prove that to the smug blonde. Then, as if in mockery against her own pronouncement, Xenia felt her legs buckle beneath her and she slowly sunk to the ground, blackness surrounding here.

Xenia awoke some time later to the touch of a damp cloth brushing against her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered open and she found herself staring into the beauty of Ravencroft’s soft gray eyes.

“Hey.” He smiled down at her. “How you doing?”

“Okay, I think.” Xenia swallowed hard. “What happened?”

“You passed out.” Ravenscroft grinned mischievously. “Lioness said we had to leave you, but I refused. She was about to kill us both, then suddenly it was like she changed her mind and she told me that she would be back. She left us here.”

“Alone?” Xenia’s eyes widened.

Ravenscroft nodded. “Yeah. Alone. I was pretty shocked myself.”

“You could have escaped.” The realization washed over Xenia. “You could have escaped and left me here, gone back to Danni.”

“I couldn’t leave you Xenia.” Ravenscroft furrowed his brow. “I just couldn’t.”

“Oh Ravenscroft.” Xenia whispered breathily, the strength surging back into her body as she sat up a little and pulled Ravenscroft’s lips against her own, kissing him with all her strength.

~*~*~

Danni nervously wiped her sweaty palms against the smooth fabric of her borrowed trousers. She had finally come to the decision that she had to speak to Amber, and she needed to speak to her soon. She didn’t want one of the other prisoners telling Amber that the man they had both been in love with was now dead.

She now stood outside the lodge where Hawk had told her Amber had last been seen. It was where those who were healthy were resting when they were not taking care of the wounded. Danni felt horrible about disturbing Amber’s rest, but she couldn’t put it off any longer. She had to talk to her before she lost her nerve.

Slowly Danni raised her hand and pushed open the lodge door, mentally steeling herself and telling herself that she could do this. No matter how hard it was, she could do it. Had to do it.

~*~*~

The lodge was completely dark when Lex awoke, and though he felt fully rested he didn’t want to get up yet. If he got up it would be going back into reality where he was suddenly faced with a decision that he really didn’t want to make. Lex grimaced and closed his eyes again, willing himself to fall back asleep.

“So,” A distinctively feminine voice interrupted Lex’s desperate attempt to ward off reality for at least a short time. “I’m dying to know, which one did you choose?”

“Excuse me?” Lex frowned, blinking several times trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness that surrounded him.

“Which bachelorette did you choose?” The woman repeated. “Bachelorette #1, Bachelorette #2, or Bachelorette #3?”

Lex felt a flush creep up his cheeks and he was instantly thankful for the darkness. Obviously he had been talking in his sleep while he was dreaming and someone had stopped to listen – someone whose voice Lex didn’t recognize.

“Who the hell are you?” Lex growled, feeling defensive. “And what are you doing in here?”

“Well,” The woman replied in a smart-alecky tone, “My name is Minxy and I’m supposed to be in here. It’s my shift to watch over the wounded in this lodge, though you don’t look too wounded to me.”

Lex winced, well remembering how he had fainted the instant he had realized the beautiful young woman on the bed was Zandra, his supposedly dead wife. He wanted to blame it on the close quarters, rancid air and the heat that emitted from all the bodies in the one lodge, but if he was honest with himself, it had been such a tremendous shock that he responded in the only way he could think of.

“Anyway, I’m sorry for listening to your dream. I heard you mumbling something and I got worried. Once I realized what you were saying, well, I was hooked and I wanted to find out who you picked.” Minxy explained, her voice more understanding now. “So, who did you pick?”

“I’m not sure.” Lex wrinkled his brow, trying to recall the details of his dream. He remembered being on The Love Connection and Sasha was the rather eccentric host, but he couldn’t remember much about the contestants, only that he felt even more torn after the dream than he did when he had passed out.

“You’re not sure?” Minxy seemed appalled at his answer. “That’s not very nice. I was very curious, you know. It’s not too often that people have interesting dreams that they’re willing to share with others.”

“I wasn’t willing to share that with anyone else.” Lex stated through gritted teeth, still feeling violated despite Minxy’s pleasant tone.

“You must have been, otherwise you wouldn’t have been talking in your sleep. That’s my theory anyway.” Minxy stated simply. “So tell me, Lex, this dream didn’t reflect any real life concerns did it, because I’d hate to think a handsome young guy like you is spoken for.”

“Yeah, I’m spoken for.” Lex tried not to scowl, just in case Minxy had better night vision than he did. “A couple times. I just found out my first wife is alive.”

“First wife? You mean you’ve been married more than once?”

“Twice, actually.” Lex replied, his dilemma hitting him afresh. “My first wife is unconscious in one of the lodges, recovering from some wounds that the Chosen inflicted, and my second wife is being held hostage by them.”

“Well, you know what they say, one in the hand is better than two in the bush.” Minxy chuckled. “So I really don’t see your problem.”

“That quote really isn’t applicable in my situation, Minxy.” Lex told her coldly. “I only have two wives.”

“And yet there was a third bachelorette in your dream.” Minxy pointed out. “So, if one of the women was your first wife and the other was your second, who was the third?”

Lex paled, knowing that she had him. He knew exactly who the third woman was, but he dared not say it aloud. He couldn’t speak a word of the strange feelings that had awakened in him that first night he had talked with Amber out on the balcony of the racetrack house. He especially couldn’t say anything now that he was a bigamist.

“C’mon, Lexy. Out with it. Who’s the third woman?” Minxy pressed. “You can trust me, I won’t tell anyone.”

“No.” Lex pursed his lips tightly together, determined he would not confess his feelings for Amber aloud. If he spoke them aloud it would be like admitting them and until he said the words he could still ignore them, right?

“Fine. Have it your way.” Minxy sighed heavily. “But if you ever need a listening ear, you can come to me. I’m still dying of curiosity to find out which girlie you’re going to pick.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.” Lex quoted.

“But satisfaction brought her back.” Minxy chuckled. “Anyway, you better get up. We’re pretty short handed and some of us are exhausted and we have an extremely long day ahead of us tomorrow if we’re going to go after the Chosen petrol dump to get one of their vehicles.”

“I’m getting up.” Lex told her. “Just give me a minute.”

“For the guy who kept me entertained for the past hour, I’ll give five.” Minxy giggled as she rose to her feet and left Lex alone to his tormented thoughts as he desperately tried to figure out which bachelorette he had chosen.

~*~*~

“So tell me more about these Chosen nurseries.” Patsy gave an almost shy smile over the handsome young man who only hours before had been her tormenter and captor. After he had changed out of the Chosen robe they had found a small stream nearby and Patsy had helped him wash the majority of the blue dye from his hair. It was still a bit blueish, but the natural hue of his sandy brown hair had begun to show through.

Chaise shrugged his shoulders, self-consciously tugging on the mesh nylon of the black shirt he had been wearing under his Chosen uniform. He had said he had found it laying about the mall and Patsy found she did not have the heart to tell him that Lex used to wear that shirt all the time before he had ever gotten married to Zandra.

“There’s really not a whole lot to tell, actually.” Chaise explained. “Or at least I don’t know a whole lot about them. Luke seemed really determined to keep their whereabouts from me, for obvious reasons. I’ve found out a little bit about them over the months I’ve been working with the Chosen. There are at least seven different nurseries and they have all the children four and under there. Except the Divine Child that is.”

“You mean Brady.” Patsy furrowed her brow, not liking what Chaise was telling her one bit. She had heard rumors of the Guardian doing some pretty crazy things when it came to the children who were born to those he had captured, but Patsy had never dreamed he would have been insane enough to separate the children from their parents.

“Yeah, Brady.” Chaise grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, old habits die hard. I’m so used to calling her The Divine Child. You know, I didn’t even know her name until after the Chosen took over the city. None of the Chosen called her by name except for the Supre—Trudy, and she was rarely around. It wasn’t until I heard the Mall Rats referring to her as Brady that I realized the poor little tyke actually had a name.”

“Of course she has a name.” Patsy giggled. “Why wouldn’t she?”

Chaise colored a deep crimson and he ducked his head to hide his embarrassment.

“Never mind, Chaise. That really doesn’t matter.” Patsy stifled her giggle, hoping that it would ease Chaise’s bashfulness. “What else do you know about these nurseries? Who watches over the children?”

“Those who have proven themselves to the Guardian over a long period of time. I don’t have any names, though I do know Luke had been grooming at least two people at the mall to start up a new one. I’m not positive, but I think you were one of them.”

“Me?” Patsy stared at him in surprise. “Why me?”

Chaise shrugged. “I guess you proved yourself when you betrayed your friend. Luke just wasn’t counting on you being ‘weak’ and telling him that you wouldn’t betray anyone else. From what I heard, Luke was hoping to squelch the entire resistance through you.”

“Well, I’m glad that I disappointed him.” Patsy beamed happily up at Chaise, for the first time noticing the beautiful hazel color of his eyes. They were a similar shade as hers, but to Patsy they were far lovelier and she had to fight the urge to compliment him on them.

“Me too.” Chaise smiled back at Patsy and she felt her heart give a sudden leap at the display of affection. “You know, your resistance poses more threat to the Guardian that you guys realize. That’s why he’s so worried. He’s already sent the majority of his forces to a safe house in the Southern Province. He thought that there would be no problems after he took over the city.”

“Really?” Patsy’s eyes widened with hope. “Then we really stand a chance to overthrow the Chosen?”

“I’d say so. Or at least if we move swiftly. I know there is a rebellion on the outskirts of the city that has caused Luke quite a bit of grief, but supposedly they’re going to be taking care of that problem shortly. But you know, even without the resistance and rebellion, it’s only a short time before the Chosen crumble from within. Like I was telling you, most of the kids don’t believe in all the Zoot stuff the Guardian and his lieutenants are feeding us. It’s only a matter of time before they wake up just like I did and realize it could be a beautiful world if we worked together.”

“I really hope so.” Patsy felt a joyous emotion surge through her at the thought of the Chosen being banished forever. “I can’t wait to see the Guardian’s face when he’s thrown out of the city, a prisoner in chains like he put us all in chains.”

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Chaise posed rhetorically. “Now, it’s nearly dusk and we need to find someplace to stay for the night. If I remember the maps I studied correctly, there is a small farm just around the bend. Think that will work?”

“Yeah, I do.” Patsy grinned. She slipped her hand into his and began to pull him down the road, her heart feeling light and free for the first time since Trudy had come back to the mall after her kidnapping.

~*~*~

Amber was supposed to be resting, but she found her mind was far too preoccupied to even think about lying down and closing her eyes. Instead, she sat on one of the beds, her back leaning against the wall, her mind busily working through the confusion of the past several days.

She honestly didn’t know how she was still able to function. She thought her body would give out on her days ago, but somehow she kept pushing forward, determined to see this through to the end. She had not gotten a decent night’s sleep since before the incident with Bray, and though it had only been two, nearly three days ago, they had been exhaustingly long days.

Thoughts of Bray brought Danni to mind, and Amber found herself agonizing yet again on how she would deal with that entire situation. She didn’t know if Danni was still in love with Bray, and if she was, she debated if she should tell Danni about what had nearly happened – what Bray had nearly done to her. Part of her told her not to say anything, to let Danni’s love of Bray to go on unspoiled, and then another part of her told her that she needed to warn Danni, open her eyes to the man she thought was so flawless.

She was still mulling this over when the star of her thoughts suddenly materialized before her, almost like a ghost. Amber had not heard the door to the lodge open, so Danni’s appearance startled her, and she found herself giggling like a silly schoolgirl when she realized who it was.

“I’m sorry.” Amber hiccupped, trying to hold her breath, talk, and stop the giggles and hiccups all at the same time. “You surprised me.”

“I can see that.” Danni smiled a strange almost sad smile as she took a seat on the bed opposite Amber. “You okay? You’ve been pushing yourself really hard.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Amber quickly assured her dark haired counterpart. “I really am. Yeah, I’m a bit tired, but there will be time to sleep and recoup once we arrive back at base.”

“Just make sure you do that.” Danni cautioned, clearly nervous about something. “We can’t have the leader of the rebellion taken away from us before it really even begins.”

“Leader?” Amber arched an eyebrow, sitting up straighter. “Who says I’m the leader?”

“Everyone.” Danni’s lips quirked up in a smile. “You’re the leader of the Gaians, and you were once leader of the Mall Rats. Everyone, even Ebony, respects you and—“

“You know, you’ve been wrong about her this entire time.” Amber interrupted, loyalty to her best friend stirring up an annoyance in Amber. “You, Bray and all the others have always judged Ebony far too harshly. Yeah, she’s made a few mistakes in the past but—“

“I know. I know.” Danni nodded, pushing a stray lock of dark brown hair away from her face. “I realize that now. I should have started to trust Ebony long ago. It’s just, well, I was jealous because of her relationship with Bray. He and I were so recently together that I was jealous of just about everyone.”

“Bray. Yeah.” Amber felt her heart lurch at the mention of Bray’s name. She found it extremely sardonic that as she was debating on whether or not to tell of Bray’s misdeeds to Danni that the young woman had appeared before her.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about him.” Danni said quietly, suddenly shy.

“Me too.” Amber echoed, feeling a strange kinship with this woman. “Look, I don’t love him anymore, so when we arrive back at base you don’t have to worry about me mucking anything up if you still want to be with him.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Danni’s eyes widened in shock. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I won’t stand in the way.” Amber smiled, hoping that she wasn’t wronging Danni by not telling her of what had happened. She mentally told herself that she would tell Danni later, after the two had been reunited. Allow them that moment’s bliss without ruin.

“B-but Bray’s dead, Amber.” Danni managed to gasp out, her face paling. “The Guardian executed him… Weeks ago…”

Amber blinked in surprise, realizing that was the reason Danni had been so uncomfortable when Bray’s name had been mentioned. She believed him dead… “Oh Danni.” Amber gasped, reaching out and embracing the young woman. “Bray’s not dead. He’s very much alive.”

“Alive?” Danni’s eyes widened, though her expression was unreadable. “But how is that possible? Alana told me he was dead, that the Guardian had executed him and…”

“He’s not dead, Danni. We heard about the execution and rescued him. No doubt the Guardian thought it would dishearten you and the other Mall Rats if you were led to believe that he really was dead. But he’s not. I can assure you of that. He’s sustained a few injuries, but he’s fine. He really is.”

“I-I can’t believe this.” Danni shook her head and Amber was beginning to wonder if Danni was overjoyed or if she was actually a little disappointed that Bray was really alive. “What am I going to tell Ravenscroft?’

“Ravenscroft? Who’s Ravenscroft?”

“He’s my boy—“

Suddenly the door of the lodge swung open, interrupting Danni mid sentence. Ebony burst through, her eyes as wide as saucers and an announcement ready on her lips. “Amber! Zandra’s awake! She’s finally awake! And she remembers everything.”