Mine to Fear (Mine #3)(57)

She steps closer to him. “You already have it.”

I can't help but smile as I watch the two reunite.





Chapter Forty-Four





Jack should be rounding everyone up for a meeting any minute now. Jack, Katherine's brother. I wouldn’t have guessed it, though I don't think either of them would have either. At least some hopeful things are coming out of all this mess.

I flash a mirror spell out, a reflective silver that smooths out before me, shinier than a real mirror but just as effective. I run a second spell, which turns out a bright red, to brush through my hair. The long locks are stubborn but probably only because I so badly want them to behave.

Once my hair's done, I bite my lips, reddening them, and then add the faintest bit of a spell to my eyelids. A faint white one that shimmers in the light. Not that there's much light here in the cave. There's the echo of footsteps approaching.

I zip my mirror away and stand. Nerves flutter through me like firework spells. I've never been so affected by a warlock before. Who knew it would be a Chardonian warlock that would be the one to do it?

The echoes are closer now. I take a deep breath, hold it, and slightly part my lips. The steps turn the corner.

“Expecting someone else?” Cynthia says.

I let out the breath in a huff and zip the glitter off my eyelids. That was going a bit far anyway, especially for someone like Jack. “Of course not.”

She laughs. “I'm sure you weren't. Jack sent me to get you.”

“Oh.”

“Don't sound so deflated. He got trapped into a conversation with Theodore. I'm certain he would much rather have come for you himself.”

Heat tickles my cheeks. “It's just a meeting.”

“Where you two will pretend it's all about business, while the rest of us wonder when you'll finally just kiss. I swear, the tension between you two almost needs to be dealt with as much as this war.”

I can't help but giggle, not mentioning we have kissed. Oh lands, have we kissed. “My, you've sure grown up since meeting Lukas.”

“And you're about to grow up just as much.”

I laugh harder before sobering. “It's hard to think about a relationship with everything else going on.”

“Trust me, I know. But I think we all need extra love while the world is so bleak.”

The thought turns me silent. Maybe, just maybe, she could be right.

“We should go. A certain someone will turn grumpy if we don't show up soon, and we both know when he turns grumpy, you turn grumpy.”

I chuckle. “You have a point.”

We head out of the room and into the large cavern to meet with all the people. Its large space isn't covered even a quarter of the way with people. The people here are eager and willing to help, but it's just not enough.

We hurry from the room to a smaller cavern where we leaders meet. Jack is there. I can't help but blush remembering everything Cynthia said about him.

“We need more people. This group isn't enough. Not if we're going to save people from the power plants.” Frustration bubbles in me. “There has to be something we can do.”

Cynthia stands. “There is. I will go around the country and find more people loyal to our cause.”

“You can't,” Serena says, jumping to her feet as well. “It's too dangerous.”

“What do you think I've been doing for the last several months?”

Serena looks to me. I shrug. “I agree that it is dangerous, but we're running out of options. We either give up now or give it everything we have now because that's what it's going to take.”

The silence that encompasses us is heavy, wrought with the unknown of what's to come. We're barely surviving this rebellion. I don't want anything bad to come of anyone, but without more help, it will be a lost cause.

“You're correct,” Serena says. “And I'm coming with you.”

“You needn't risk you're life too,” Cynthia counters.

“We’ve seen how the people react to both of us. It will be more effective if I come with you than if you go alone.”

“I can't argue with that,” Cynthia says. “And it will be good to have a sister with me.”

“It's settled then,” I say, trying not to think on how Zade would react to this all. Maybe he'd surprise me and be in support. If anything, he'd insist on going with them, but I can't afford that luxury, not to mention all the people I'd scare off. “But you two had both better stay safe. Don't you dare take any more risks than you absolutely have to.”

Cynthia shrugs. Of course she won't be able to guarantee that.

“We won't,” Serena says, solidifying the fact that Cynthia needs her as much as she needs to go with Cynthia.

“I think we need more than just who you two can gather,” I say. “I think we need someone to go gather those we've sent back into society. Someone they'll trust to know it's time to come back and fight.”

“I'll go,” Chadwick says.

“Or I can,” Theodore says. “I should not only be a familiar face, but a familiar countryman.”

As much as I want to send Chadwick, Theodore has a point. Besides, I can't decide why, exactly, it is that I want to send Chadwick, and I need to be sure it's for the good of the people. “Theodore, I think you'd be the best fit for the job.”