Page 44 of Easy, Tiger

The hike back passes in charged suspense, punctuated only by thunder and the increasing drumbeat of rain against our jackets. When we make it my cabin, water streams from our hair and clothes.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow evening," he says, pausing at my door. "Seven o'clock."

I give a silent, weary gesture of understanding, suddenly too tired for more words. The adrenaline crash hits the moment he fades into the storm, leaving me alone with questions that multiply like shadows.

16

NOLAN

The rain stops right after six, leaving the forest damp with wet earth and pine needles. I've spent the entire day preparing for this moment, coordinating with the enclave, choosing the right location, and rehearsing words that feel inadequate for what I need to reveal.

My hands tremble as I knock on Halsey's door.

Clad in jeans and a dark green sweater, she opens the door as lamplight glints across her hair. Her hair falls loose around her shoulders instead of the usual braid, and she's traded her hiking boots for leather ankle boots that pass for almost formal by her standards.

"You dressed up," I observe.

"Seemed appropriate for whatever this is." She grabs her jacket from a hook by the door, and I catch the faint wince as she reaches, a bruise from yesterday's fall tender along her ribs. "Yesterday I fell eight feet and witnessed you walk away from it without a scratch. Tonight feels like the least strange thing that's happened to me all week."

"Fair point." Studying her face, I probe for any sign she's changed her mind about coming. "You look like you're about to face a firing squad."

"That's supposed to be my line."

"Close enough."

We drive deeper into the mountains than she's ever been, following logging roads that haven't seen maintenance in decades. Our surroundings feel charged, expectant, like the whole forest waits in breathless silence alongside us. Every few minutes, Halsey peers at my profile like she's memorizing details.

"Should I be worried about where you're taking me?"

"Probably."

"That's reassuring."

The truck coasts to a stop where the road ends, beside a stand of ancient pines towering like cathedral columns. Moonlight filters through their branches, creating patterns of silver and shadow across the forest floor.

"We walk from here."

Halsey follows me along a trail so faint it's barely visible, marked by subtle signs only enclave members recognize. Her artist's eye picks up details others miss—how select trees bear old claw marks and the strategic placement of seemingly random stone cairns.

"Someone maintains this path," she says after twenty minutes of climbing.

"Several someones."

The clearing opens before us like a natural amphitheater, ringed by large evergreens and carpeted with soft grass that stays green year-round thanks to an underground spring. Moonlight pours down unfiltered, bright enough to cast distinct shadows.

Others wait in the treeline—Sadie, Owen, and half a dozen enclave members who insisted on witnessing this moment. They remain far enough back to give us privacy while close enough to intervene if everything goes wrong.

Halsey stops in the center of the clearing, turning slowly to take in our surroundings. "This place feels sacred."

"It is to my people."

"Your people?"

Facing her across ten feet of moonlit grass, my fingers curl tightly into my palms. Twenty-four hours of preparation, and I still don't know how to begin.

"You asked me to tell you the truth."

"I did."