“Not if they’re going to drive.” Michael had obviously guessed the rest of my plan. “It’s not like they can shove Lance in a suitcase and check him at the airport with their other baggage.”
“Not that we aren’t tempted…” Jace smiled at me from the edge of the tub.
“Okay, so you’re going to need to move quickly. I assume you’re not expecting Lance to simply volunteer his services.”
I forced a laugh. “We’re anticipating a bit more trouble than that.”
“And you’re prepared to use aggressive persuasion?”
I exhaled slowly and phrased my response carefully, hoping to hide my discomfort with handing a fellow werecat over for execution, even though it was my own proposed operation. “With your permission, we’ll use the least amount of force necessary to get the job done.”
My father’s hesitation that time was brief. “Since I see no other option, you have permission. But, Faythe, have you thought this through? You’re talking about taking a Pride cat from his own home, against his will. There’s no way to pull that off without anyone noticing, and even if you get away clean, as soon as they figure out what happened, every tom in the Appalachian territory will be after the three of you. And there’s no way I can get backup there in time.”
“I know.” I leaned my head against the back of the tub and stared at the dingy foam ceiling tiles. “We don’t have it all figured out yet.”
“And then there’s the political fallout,” Michael said. Over the line, a door closed, cutting off background noise I’d barely noticed before. The office was now off limits to eavesdroppers, and my father and brother were presumably the only ones in the room. “We’re talking about Parker’s brother. Jerold Pierce’s son. Since Black-well’s remaining neutral…” Thank goodness he was there when Brett gave us the full scoop on his father.…“Pierce is now the swing vote. If we turn his son over to the Flight, we can pretty much forget about him siding with Dad over Malone for council chair.”
“But does that even matter?” My bathwater was cooling, and I desperately wanted to warm it, but we all needed to be able to hear one another clearly. On the bright side, my chill bumps were helping distract me from the agony that was my left arm. “We’re talking about civil war, Michael. The vote is moot at this point. Whoever wins the fight will be council chair. If there’s even a council left to lead afterward.” Assuming there was anything recognizable left from our culture, once the blood had soaked into the ground.
Michael groaned with impatience. “But who do you think is going to win the war, if one side has more allies than the other?”
Shit. My eyes closed as his point sank in. “Okay, so if we turn Lance in, Pierce might throw his manpower behind Malone, which means he’ll have a larger contingent than we will.”
“There’s no ‘might’ to it,” Michael insisted.
“Of course there is.” I rolled my eyes. Michael was ever the voice of doom, but he was only seeing half the facts. “Why would Pierce turn against us for turning Lance in, when Lance effectively sentenced our entire Pride—including both a defenseless tabby cat and his own brother—to death by letting Malone blame this whole thing on us? Why would he side with Lance and Malone over Parker and us? Especially considering how many fewer people will die if the thunderbirds know who really killed Finn?”
Michael started to answer, but Jace spoke up softly. “Do you really think Calvin’s going to tell Pierce the truth about why we gave Lance to the Flight?”
Shit! My head was spinning with details—or maybe with blood loss—and it was getting hard to hold all the facts in my mind.
“Of course not. Malone will accuse us of trying to save ourselves by turning the thunderbirds against him. Which is exactly what he did to us.” I let my head fall against the edge of the tub again, and my teeth ground together so hard my jaws ached. “But that doesn’t change anything. If we turn Lance in, Pierce will fight with Malone against us. But if we don’t, there won’t be enough of us left to fight Malone at all. And we’ll lose Kaci.”
I sat up and opened my eyes, pleased to find Jace’s gaze still steadily trained on mine.
“And, Daddy, I’m not willing to lose Kaci.”
“That’s what I was waiting to hear,” my father said, and his statement carried the bold weight of finality. He sounded almost as relieved as worried. “This is a tough call, Faythe, but it’s your call—yours and Marc’s and Jace’s—and I need you all to be sure. I think you’re doing the right thing, but I’m not going to ask you to kidnap a Pride cat and deliver him to his death if you don’t agree.”
I hesitated, and Jace’s hand wrapped around the fingers of my left hand. He squeezed gently and smiled. He had my back, no matter what. “All right. We’re going to do it. Assuming Marc’s with us.”
“He will be,” my father said. “He’ll always stand with you, Faythe.”
“I know.” I dropped my gaze from Jace’s. I couldn’t help it, though his hand was still warm in mine.
“Okay, I’ll cash out your plane tickets and see if there’s anything I can do to help you get out of the territory once you have Lance.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Be careful and keep me updated.”
“Not that we aren’t tempted…” Jace smiled at me from the edge of the tub.
“Okay, so you’re going to need to move quickly. I assume you’re not expecting Lance to simply volunteer his services.”
I forced a laugh. “We’re anticipating a bit more trouble than that.”
“And you’re prepared to use aggressive persuasion?”
I exhaled slowly and phrased my response carefully, hoping to hide my discomfort with handing a fellow werecat over for execution, even though it was my own proposed operation. “With your permission, we’ll use the least amount of force necessary to get the job done.”
My father’s hesitation that time was brief. “Since I see no other option, you have permission. But, Faythe, have you thought this through? You’re talking about taking a Pride cat from his own home, against his will. There’s no way to pull that off without anyone noticing, and even if you get away clean, as soon as they figure out what happened, every tom in the Appalachian territory will be after the three of you. And there’s no way I can get backup there in time.”
“I know.” I leaned my head against the back of the tub and stared at the dingy foam ceiling tiles. “We don’t have it all figured out yet.”
“And then there’s the political fallout,” Michael said. Over the line, a door closed, cutting off background noise I’d barely noticed before. The office was now off limits to eavesdroppers, and my father and brother were presumably the only ones in the room. “We’re talking about Parker’s brother. Jerold Pierce’s son. Since Black-well’s remaining neutral…” Thank goodness he was there when Brett gave us the full scoop on his father.…“Pierce is now the swing vote. If we turn his son over to the Flight, we can pretty much forget about him siding with Dad over Malone for council chair.”
“But does that even matter?” My bathwater was cooling, and I desperately wanted to warm it, but we all needed to be able to hear one another clearly. On the bright side, my chill bumps were helping distract me from the agony that was my left arm. “We’re talking about civil war, Michael. The vote is moot at this point. Whoever wins the fight will be council chair. If there’s even a council left to lead afterward.” Assuming there was anything recognizable left from our culture, once the blood had soaked into the ground.
Michael groaned with impatience. “But who do you think is going to win the war, if one side has more allies than the other?”
Shit. My eyes closed as his point sank in. “Okay, so if we turn Lance in, Pierce might throw his manpower behind Malone, which means he’ll have a larger contingent than we will.”
“There’s no ‘might’ to it,” Michael insisted.
“Of course there is.” I rolled my eyes. Michael was ever the voice of doom, but he was only seeing half the facts. “Why would Pierce turn against us for turning Lance in, when Lance effectively sentenced our entire Pride—including both a defenseless tabby cat and his own brother—to death by letting Malone blame this whole thing on us? Why would he side with Lance and Malone over Parker and us? Especially considering how many fewer people will die if the thunderbirds know who really killed Finn?”
Michael started to answer, but Jace spoke up softly. “Do you really think Calvin’s going to tell Pierce the truth about why we gave Lance to the Flight?”
Shit! My head was spinning with details—or maybe with blood loss—and it was getting hard to hold all the facts in my mind.
“Of course not. Malone will accuse us of trying to save ourselves by turning the thunderbirds against him. Which is exactly what he did to us.” I let my head fall against the edge of the tub again, and my teeth ground together so hard my jaws ached. “But that doesn’t change anything. If we turn Lance in, Pierce will fight with Malone against us. But if we don’t, there won’t be enough of us left to fight Malone at all. And we’ll lose Kaci.”
I sat up and opened my eyes, pleased to find Jace’s gaze still steadily trained on mine.
“And, Daddy, I’m not willing to lose Kaci.”
“That’s what I was waiting to hear,” my father said, and his statement carried the bold weight of finality. He sounded almost as relieved as worried. “This is a tough call, Faythe, but it’s your call—yours and Marc’s and Jace’s—and I need you all to be sure. I think you’re doing the right thing, but I’m not going to ask you to kidnap a Pride cat and deliver him to his death if you don’t agree.”
I hesitated, and Jace’s hand wrapped around the fingers of my left hand. He squeezed gently and smiled. He had my back, no matter what. “All right. We’re going to do it. Assuming Marc’s with us.”
“He will be,” my father said. “He’ll always stand with you, Faythe.”
“I know.” I dropped my gaze from Jace’s. I couldn’t help it, though his hand was still warm in mine.
“Okay, I’ll cash out your plane tickets and see if there’s anything I can do to help you get out of the territory once you have Lance.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Be careful and keep me updated.”
