Legacy of Fire (The Blaze Trilogy - Book #1)

Chapter 24

Hale keeps his promise, and we spend the next morning together. He makes us breakfast and we lounge on the couch, cozy beneath the furs and blankets. 

“Adrian said you’ve been doing well,” Hale tells me. “Which means you’ve been doing incredible.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, seriously. Adrian doesn’t praise,” Hale rolls his eyes. “He finds it beneath himself.” 

“You know why he’s helping me, right?” 

He nods. “Yeah, I know. But that might actually be a good thing, Ava. If my brother associates you with freeing Calie, then he’ll do anything for you.”

“How is it going?” I ask softy. “The search for her?” 

Hale rubs his temple. “Slowly. Far too slowly for comfort. Surveillance looked into your Department of Union lead, and we were able to access some of the Union files. But there’s no trace of her there.” He looks down. “It’s like she went inside and disappeared.” 

So much for that. I gently place my hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

He gives me a tight smile, but he looks troubled. “I’m hanging in there. Adrian on the other hand… he’s losing it. Just the other day he flat out threatened Greyson, saying that he’d march the Waterborne into Aeon by the end of the week if something didn’t happen soon.”

“Greyson’s reluctant to organise a mission?” 

“Yeah. The last time he sent a Drifter unit into the Consium, Cal never came back. He doesn’t want to take that risk again.”

“Even if it means getting her out?”

Hale looks away. “Yes.” Then he clears his throat, rolling off the bed. “I almost forgot. I’ve gotten clearance for you to come into camp.” 

“Really?” 

He gives me that wry smile. “Don’t get too excited. We’re only allowed to spend time in the library - I have something I need to show you.” 

I laugh. “It’s better than nothing.”

He walks me into town, through the forest. The day is cloudy, meaning it lacks it’s usual heat, but the trees feel much darker. We pass by them, and I notice the shadows that lurk within. A memory is jarred to the surface, one I can’t believe slipped my mind. That night-beast.

I tug Hale’s arm. “Are there any predators that live in the Everwood forest?” I don’t want to tell him I’ve encountered one - he might try and get more guards posted by my house for protection. 

He frowns. “Not that I know of - creatures of Evo are generally pretty non-violent towards Terran. It wouldn’t make sense if they acted otherwise.”

Is that why that creature almost attacked me? It knew I was Southern.

“Wait, why are you asking?”

Uh, oh. “Just curious.”

He peers over at me, then his eyes widen. “Something happened. What happened?”

I flounder. “It was nothing, just a little run in with something in the forest.”

“Ava. Explain.”

“Fine,” I sigh. “I was walking back to camp in the evening, and this creature jumped out of the bushes. Huge and black, standing on four legs, with a long tail and amber eyes. Eventually it just left me alone.”

Hale’s face goes white. “How big? Your size?”

“Erhm… more like four times my size.”