Stolen - Nhys Glover Page 0,84

home regardless.

We got the news the witches nest was blown up with no survivors the day we got the message Jenna and her pod were having trouble with navigation. It looked like they would have to crash-land on the southern continent of Varga.

Rhain and Raesus had kept silent about all of this, and Bronwyn was fit to burst. The rest of us Victims, who’d been prepping for a fight by taking lessons, were furious as well. Surely our Spirit-Walkers would have known what was coming and could have warned them? The witches might have cloaked their actions, but they no longer existed. The Darkness had no foothold in Third Density any longer.

“The Vargeez are mounting a full scale attack. All Danan vessels have been alerted and all warriors are making preparations for war,” Raesus told me, his expression suddenly troubled.

“What about Jenna and her pod?” I asked, my voice barely a squeak.

“They landed safely, which is great news. And they won their first battle with the Vargeez with no casualties. Which is why we’re so happy. But they’re on their own until we can get there. There’s no one else who can rescue them at this time.”

“Didn’t you see this happening? Couldn’t you have stopped it? Jenna has been through enough, surely!”

Rhain came to stand at Raesus’ shoulder, showing solidarity in every line of his body. These males hadn’t known each other a few months ago, but now they were as thick as thieves.

“Our sons needed to grow up fast, and if Rian had any chance of remaining part of the pod they had to have a common enemy to fight. It was the best path open to them,” Rhain explained.

“And will they survive? Down there in Vargeez territory?” I demanded, my protective urges rising.

Jenna was special to me. I’d set out to save her, and yet it had come to nothing. We’d been on a wild goose chase since we left Varga.

“There were risks whichever way we chose to go. They survived the asteroid belt. They survived the crash on Varga. I have seen them fight the Vargeez and win. As long as we get there in time, they should survive until we rescue them. But war is coming. There is far more at stake than our loved ones. The timelines are even more complex than normal, and we have been walking them tirelessly.” Rhain looked at Raesus who nodded.

I knew this. I knew Raesus had been walking every waking hour since we left Varga. I just hadn’t understood how much control they had over the events as they played out.

“Will we get there in time? Do you know where they’ll be?” Bronwyn demanded, coming to stand at my side.

She had been working off her frustration and fear by learning the fighting skills Savannah had developed for use against the Vargeez. All of us women had been learning, even though those of us with pods were having a hard time convincing them we would be using those skills. But the time for wrapping us in cotton wool was over.

“We know where they should be at the time we enter Vargan airspace. If they get there before we’re ordered to join the battle, we’ll rescue them,” Rhain said a little uncomfortably.

“Ordered to what? No! We aren’t going to leave them there so the few warriors on board can join the fight on time. Just no!” Bronwyn cried, her expression fiery.

Thaid entered the flight deck, looking as if he hadn’t slept for days. He’d caught Bronwyn’s last statement. Or maybe he’d picked it up via Mind-Speak. That might have been what brought him here in the first place.

“It will be mutiny if we don’t follow orders,” Thaid said, steel in his voice. “As soon as we get the order to join the fight we will have to do so.”

“Mutiny? We’re trying to save our young! Isn’t that what Danan are all about?” Bronwyn cried, her expression horrified.

“And there will be young and other vulnerable people who will lose their lives if we don’t join the fight when we’re given the order to do so. Our young are adults now. They may have to fend for themselves,” Thaid argued.

“If we get there before the order is given, and they get there in time, we will rescue them,” Rhain said slowly into the tense silence that followed.

“What are the chances of that happening?” Bronwyn croaked, her face having aged ten years in a matter of minutes.

I couldn’t imagine what it must be like