Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(92)

“What do you see?” Aidan ducked by her side.

“Someone’s up ahead,” she whispered.

“What should we do?” Graham asked as he and Chloe joined them.

Sasha waited for Aidan to give instructions. But he looked to her for answers.

“What? I’ve been paying attention since you got back,” Aidan said. You’re way more qualified to lead us than I am. What should we do?”

“Smell that?” she asked. “They’re setting fires. We all know that’s the Coalition’s MO. This whole area is going to be ablaze soon. They’ll want to box them in with fire. We need to get through before it’s too late. Let’s circle back to the car and take the old horse trail up to the back of the barn.”

“Let’s go,” Aidan said.

“Stay close. We need to move fast,” Sasha added.

They crept quietly back down the narrow dirt road. When they were out of earshot, Sasha picked up the pace. She darted past the cluster of cars parked along the path. This route would take longer but it should give them the chance to slip past the enemy’s sentries. Allie didn’t know who the enemy was, nor what they wanted. She only knew it was happening and she’d figured it out just in time to get them the help they needed.

But none of it made any sense to Sasha. She had been so focused on her own issues for so long that the news of this attack showed her just how little she’d been paying attention. She’d had no idea that Allie was even capable of having a vision as powerful as the one she’d seen about their family.

I’m a terrible friend. But she vowed to be a better one once they got through this night.

Sasha breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the barn through a haze of smoke.

“Let’s get inside.” They ran up the path in a crouch, making as little noise as possible.

Sasha took a last glance behind them as the others stepped inside the barn. The fire was getting closer. She could hear the mortals in the distance—the Coalition. They were backing away, letting the fires do their job for them. Sasha shuddered at the thought that her parents’ funeral pyre might be burning at this very moment.

“This must be killing little bro, missing out on all the fun.” The voice drifted to the back of the barn. Darius was going to be furious with them.

“Who’s missing out?” Aidan asked as he stepped around the rusty old cider press.

Sasha wasn’t in the mood for their drama. She had preparations to make. As the rest of the family led their attackers to the orchard, Sasha would take her shots from the hayloft.

Graham was busy with his drones and Chloe paced, working on her own mental preparation. Sasha gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze as she made her way around the barn, checking each window and door, evaluating the best areas that would give her adequate protection and a clear shot to key points across the orchard.

She remembered playing in the orchard as a kid. It was always a happy place—a fun trip every fall to go pick apples and make cider. Tonight it was a battleground, a fight for her family’s lives. A fight she intended to win.

“All right, Allie. Let’s do this. Tell us how this is going to go down.” Darius called them all to the front of the barn.

“Chloe, I want you to stay away from the fight.…” Allie’s voice grew to a din in Sasha’s ears. The coming battle weighed heavily on her mind. Her training had prepared her for this. Sasha was confident in her ability to fight, but she knew she had to set her emotions aside. If she had to kill to protect her family, she would.

“Put this on,” Graham said, handing her a Bluetooth headset. “So we can all stay in touch.”

Sasha nodded, sliding it into her pocket. She didn’t want the distraction.

“Graham, when you see … Quinn, you cannot react,” Allie said. “Do not let him see you.”

Quinn’s here? Sasha’s knees almost gave out. This wasn’t just about saving her parents now. This was so much more than a random Coalition attack. If Quinn was with them, this was Soma. Just a month ago, at Amrita, Sasha and her friends had put the final pieces of the puzzle together. They always knew Livia was the head of the Fold, but that was just a front for Soma. A slave market. And now they were coming for her family. Sasha’s hands tightened into fists at her side.

“Sasha,” Allie said. “Quinn needs to see you. He has to see you.”

Sasha’s mind reeled and her pulse pounded in her ears as she caught bits and pieces of Allie’s instructions.

“…Go find Liam and tell him to take you up to the gates… Wait until you see Quinn on his own… Don’t get too close… Come back here… When you see Quinn with Emma… Snap out of it when he hears your voice.”

“Will we … get him back?” Sasha cleared her mind, putting on her assassin’s face.

“We’ll try.”

“There is no trying, Allie. This is the only chance we’re going to get.” Sasha would not let them fail. If Quinn was here, he was coming home tonight or she was going with him.

Leaving the others to their preparations, Sasha made her way across the orchard.

“Liam?” she called as she jogged along the path up to the gates.

“Sasha? What are you doing here?” His face turned so white he was almost translucent.