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“Don’t let them take me,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
“The Corporation?”
She managed to nod. “They’ll only plant me in someone else.”
“Isn’t that what you want? To live?”
“I’m tired. I’d like to rest.” A smile broached her lips. “Maybe come back next time without help, like you. Burn my body. Leave no trace.”
A lump formed in my throat. “Aite, wait.”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Call me Tessa.” Her voice weakened. “I’d like to hear my name one last time.”
“Tessa,” I choked. “Don’t go.”
Her body went limp. Slowly, I lowered her head to the ground and let my tears flow as freely as the Falls.
“Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,” a voice said softly. “Deep peace of the shining stars to you.”
I searched the sea of faces until my gaze landed on Alan, trapped inside one of Brody’s prisons.
“Thank you, Alan,” I said.
He glanced warily in the direction Vortigern had gone. “I spotted the stag west of here, drinking from a stream.”
And yet he let Vortigern travel south and said nothing. Interesting.
“Swear an oath to help us stop him and we’ll free you,” Matilda said.
Alan hesitated.
“If Vortigern takes the stag’s power…” she began. “You know better than anyone what the risks are. Do you want to be responsible for that?”
Alan swore.
“Good lad.”
More voices joined Alan’s, promising their support. The prisons collapsed around the hunters.
I couldn’t seem to leave Aite’s side.
“We must go now,” Matilda urged.
“She isn’t a fallen log. We can’t leave her here like this.”
“The stag first. Then we’ll return for her. I promise.”
“I’ll take her,” Brody offered. “To the Castle?”
I nodded as Matilda helped me to my feet. A storm gathered inside me as I watched Brody lift her body off the ground.
“She deserved a better death.”
“She should be thankful for it,” Matilda said. “Unlike the way she lived, she died with honor.”
Reluctantly, I left the copse with Matilda in search of the white stag. I knew the location of the stream. I switched on my earpiece and directed the others to head there now.
“You didn’t use the code word,” Gun said. “How do we know this isn’t a trick?”
