Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 19 - Wolves at the Gates - III

  Rachel was growing increasingly uneasy by the way the shadows deepened over time. It seemed to be getting darker much faster than usual. Was it natural? Or was Rachel just increasingly paranoid in a world where she had no idea what was actually possible anymore? Case in point, she was watching a little girl in a black dress and a pink unicorn rain jacket currently whispering to a wolf easily three or four times her size and ordering it around. Rachel didn't really have grounds to question anything anymore.

  Natalie had called them to a halt once again as the wolf looked up and sniffed the air. After a few moments, it turned to face Rachel, as did the rest of the group.

  "What?"

  "Don't you hear that?" Natalie asked. Rachel strained her ears, and finally she caught a faint humming sound coming from her bag.

  "How did you hear that?" Ryan asked her incredulously.

  "My ears are better than yours, and I don't smell so bad."

  "Kid, when you get older, you'll fuckin' love somethi—"

  Josh clapped a hand over Ryan's mouth before he said anything further, and Lily shot him a dark look. Rachel dug into her pocket and withdrew her phone, which was indeed buzzing away with the third or fourth attempted phone call. "Will, I'm so sorry, I was out of signal range."

  "I know," Will's voice crackled through the speaker. It wasn't great quality, but it was enough, and Rachel felt warmth spreading from the speaker through her brain. Just hearing his voice was enough to bring a measure of comfort. "Are you okay?"

  "Yes. I'm with Natalie, Kendra, Josh and Ryan. You sent them?"

  "Kendra, Josh and Ryan, yeah. I also called Jackie, Boris and Cinza, but I think they're both a bit busy with what's going on here."

  "What's going on?"

  Will sounded like he was running, which was already unusual. In an emergency he was usually at his computer, where he felt he was most useful. "There's a lot of shouting and people are looking for a fight. I heard more than a few people yelling 'justice for Jenny' and some brutal stuff about Cinza's people. Rachel, I don't think they're gonna back down this time."

  "Did you get anything back from Jackie?" Rachel asked, as a sense of impending doom settled in the pit of her stomach.

  "Nothing. Listen, Rachel, there's something else too. I just felt a massive spike of magical energy in town at Boris' shop. Bigger than anything I've ever felt. It's gotta be him. I think something serious is going down there right now."

  Rachel's thoughts were split in half. She was thinking at a mile a minute, but every single time she leaned toward one approach, she began arguing herself back toward the other path.

  Did she go to Cinza and help her? The greycloak leader had become a friend, and one she trusted more than almost anyone in the world these days. Rachel wanted to help her and protect her. She was brave and kind and she deserved better than to face a lynch mob alone and unsupported.

  On the other hand, what Will had just told her was the first real lead they'd had on Omega ever. He was in town, in a location she knew and could reach. It might be her only chance to stop him before real permanent damage was done, may Smith and Jenny rest in peace. The riot and the mob were borne of problems Omega had created. If she could bring him low and lay him before the town, give them the malevolent they'd been hunting, couldn't that be enough to stop the bloodshed?