From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in the Ash and Ember Series

Leverage

"Wyler, you're alive!" Coven says with both shock and excitement as he opens his door and sees us standing on the front stoop. He pulls Wyler in for a hug. Wyler seems shocked by his show of affection, but he doesn't realize what the last week has been like for Coven and I, losing Cerelia and Sidonie, and not knowing what would happen to Wyler.

"He's not the only one," I say, abruptly ending their bittersweet reunion.

Coven looks confused.

"Can we come in? We need to talk."

"Of course," he motions for us to enter.

"Do you want something to drink?" he offers as he walks towards the living room.

"Not here," I say. He stops and I lift my head in the direction of the bedroom.

Coven understands immediately. We head to his room. He closes the door behind us and turns on the music to muffle our discussion.

"There is a group of Mods being held underneath the lab," Wyler jumps straight to it.

"What? How?"

"They were brought here from Earth on the same ship as us," I say, still in disbelief that for six months I was tortured by saying goodbye to Kelly when he was with me all along.

"Why did they bring them here and why are they being held as prisoners?"

"We don't know. That's what we need to find out."

"Careful Ever," Wyler warns. "We have to tread lightly. There's a reason they've been keeping them hidden. They don't want us to know that they're here. Who knows what they might do if they find out we've discovered what's happening. We should wait, think this through."

"We can't wait, Wyler. Kelly said they were brought here for a reason, and we might not have time to find out what that reason is before Envornettix enacts whatever evil thing they are planning."

Wyler seems to ponder this idea.

"Then we need to go to someone that we can trust," he finally speaks.

"Who?" Coven inquires.

"Auerilius," he says, looking at me.

Coven looks doubtful.

"How do we know he can be trusted? Doesn't he work for Environettix?" Coven asks.

"With," I say, correcting him, a distinction that seems to mean less and less by the day.

They both look at me incredulously.

"Then we get someone else involved. We tell Vega too. You said yourself that she would help." I turn to Wyler.

He contemplates what I've said before responding.

"Okay, we'll go to both of them. But we need some insurance."

"Insurance?" Coven asks.

"Your research. They need it for survival. Coven will go to the lab and take what you've found. He can keep the information safe to ensure that they don't throw us in cells with the others just to keep us quiet."

"Good idea," Coven and I nod in agreement.

"Vega makes her weekly visit tomorrow. I'll get word to my brother that he needs to come as well, under the guise that we've discovered something important in our research, which isn't a total lie, so it should be believable. Coven, you'll take what we've found and remove it from the lab. Keep it here, someplace safe."

He nods.

"Let's hope this works."

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