Isabelle and the boy followed us to the room, giving me time to try to settle the idea of her sharing a bed with him. However, no matter how I tried to look at it, I still wanted to beat the boy.
Grey unlocked the door, and I stepped aside to let them in. When Isabelle moved forward, Grey handed her a spare keycard. He and I both watched them set their bags on the far bed.
Will you try to kill him? Grey sent me. His usual humor was missing from the message.
She’s made her stance on harming him clear, I sent back, watching Isabelle take the side closest to the window. The side furthest from me.
I stepped further into the room. She was using him to avoid me, an unwise decision.
“I’ll be back,” Grey said, leaving as Isabelle shut herself into the bathroom.
I closed the door behind him and sat on the end of the open bed. The boy turned on the television then started digging through his bag for clean clothes.
Charlene’s worried about the strain this will put on you, Grey sent me. She’s going to ask Michelle to go speak with Isabelle about how a werewolf knows his Mate. The Elders agree that this conversation should happen.
His way of telling me that I had no say in the matter.
I don’t want to upset her, I sent back.
That’s why we want to send Michelle.
I probably should have been thankful they weren’t considering Bethi.
Isabelle emerged from the bathroom, her scent clouded with the chemicals in soap. She didn’t look at me, but at Ethan.
“‘Bout time,” she said, looking at the clothes in his arms.
“Didn’t know how bad you wanted me nekkid.”
I clenched my teeth and tried to ignore their banter. The Elders were right. Isabelle needed to know before I did something foolish, like try to kill her friend again.
He closed himself into the bathroom, and Isabelle finally looked at me.
“Aren’t we using the buddy system? You lost your buddy,” she said, sitting on the end of her bed. Every word out of her mouth, whether sarcastic or sincere, teased my senses. I wanted to sit there and keep listening, but I heard movement in the hall.
“He’ll find his way back. He always does,” I said.
A moment later, a knock sounded on the door. I stood and found Michelle nervously waiting in the hall.
“I’m here to talk to Isabelle,” Michelle said.
I moved aside, let her in, then stepped out of the room. Michelle didn’t speak until I closed the door. From the hallway, I heard Isabelle ask, “What’s up?” before I quickly walked away.
Grey was still lounging in Winifred’s room when I entered. Further down the hall, I could hear Bethi and Winifred, most likely already in Charlene’s room.
“I don’t think talking will help,” I said to Grey.
“Why not?”
“She’s suspicious of us and very attached to him.”
“Yep. She’s both of those things. This talk won’t bring her running into your arms. But it will open her eyes to who you might be to her and that might be enough to keep you from strangling her friend again.”
He grinned at me and stood.
“Now, let’s go see if we can help keep Winifred and Bethi calm. Bethi’s pushing again for us to reveal ourselves.”
The idea never went over well with the Elders. I understood the Elders’ fear, but after listening to the logic behind Bethi’s suggestion, I couldn’t help but find merit in it. Was it because I wanted what was best for our people and survival or because it would expose the ones who I believed had taken and continued to hold my sister? I still didn’t have an answer to that.
Grey and I walked down to Charlene’s room and joined the rest. Emmitt glanced at us, then behind us, before frowning and returning his attention to the conversation. I wondered how Michelle’s talk was progressing with Isabelle, too.
Grey closed the door as the discussion grew more heated.
Bethi wanted the Elders to expose our kind to humans to rally support against the Urbat. Winifred thought it safer to continue as we were, gathering the Judgements and quietly preparing to fight the Urbat.
“The final girl is with them,” Bethi said. “They out number us by a lot. How are we going to get her? We need an advantage.”
Grey and I both heard footsteps in the hallway, and he opened the door for Michelle. She quickly sat beside Emmitt on the bed and listened as Winifred ask Bethi how exposing ourselves would gain the final Judgement.
Before Bethi finished speaking, we heard two sets of steps in the hallway. My pulse jumped a little, and I moved further into the room. I wasn’t sure exactly what Michelle had said to Isabelle, but wanted to give her some time and space to consider me.
Grey opened the door and Isabelle and Ethan edged in. There wasn’t much room so they stayed near the entrance and leaned against the wall. Her gaze swept the room and hesitated on me.
I saw recognition in her eyes before Bethi made a sound that pulled Isabelle’s attention from me.
“We need to decide,” Bethi said impatiently with a look at Winifred. “There are too many Urbat to keep running like this. We almost lost Gabby and Isabelle. The drive to find us is only going to increase as the end of the cycle approaches.”
Winifred gave Bethi a troubled look.
“The risks of trying to remain hidden are still better than if we expose our existence. Once we do that, we’ll have both the humans and the Urbat hunting for us.”
“You’re right, we will,” Bethi said. “But that’s what will make it safer. The pressure won’t just be on us. It will be on them as well. Thanks to Gabby’s sonar, when we reveal ourselves, we can also reveal the Urbat and their location. They’ll have to scramble. During that chaos, we might just have a chance to find Olivia. With her, we can end this.”
Isabelle’s gaze swept the room and understanding lit her eyes.
“It could work,” Michelle said. “If we use Blake’s name.”
“What’s to stop him from revealing ours?” Winifred asked.
“Blake needs all six Judgements,” Bethi replied. “And he’ll know he won’t stand a chance at getting us back from humans if we are taken. He can’t risk revealing anything about us because of that.”
“If we do this, we’ll need to go through a reputable source so it’s not brushed off as a hoax,” Michelle said. “A news station would be best. Preferably one with broad coverage.”
“I agree,” Bethi said. “We need to decide where and when, soon. We can’t just keep running around aimlessly. Gabby’s got to sleep sometime, and that’s all it’d take for them to get lucky.”
“The where will help determine the when,” Michelle said.
“If we’re looking for broad news coverage,” Gabby said, speaking up for the first time, “New York would be the place to go. But, it puts us much closer to the danger because the Urbat are primarily in northern New York.”
A ripple of awareness shivered its way through me. Northern New York. As we headed for the Urbat, I’d know if we were getting closer to my sister.
“That’s actually perfect,” Bethi said. “Blake knows we need Olivia; I think once he sees we’re headed that way, he’ll call his troops back in. You know, fortify home base. He won’t expect us to stop at a news station.”
“How are you going to get anyone to even listen to you, let alone put you on air?” Isabelle asked.
“Charlene will convince them,” Bethi said.
Isabelle glanced at Charlene, who looked uncomfortable.
“Will you?” Isabelle asked her.
“I’m capable of manipulating wills. I’m not sure I should, though. Yet, I agree that Bethi’s plan has merit. It’s better than a life on the run.”
“Why aren’t you sure?” Winifred asked.
“Once we expose our existence, there’s no going back.”
“It’s not just the existence of the Urbat and werewolves we’re exposing. We’re risking exposing ourselves too, right?” Isabelle asked.
Charlene nodded. Silence reigned for several minutes. Humans wouldn’t only hunt werewolves if Charlene showed the world what she could do.
“Seriously. If anyone has a better option, say it. Otherwise, we’re just postponing the inevitable,” Bethi said.
“You’re asking a lot of us,” Winifred said. “We need time to consider all the possibilities.”
“You’ve had over a week,” Bethi said, tossing her hands up in the air. Luke immediately reached for one of her runaway hands, and she calmed slightly.
Winifred looked at Grey, then Sam, and I knew another silent conversation was taking place. She sighed with a slight shake of her head.
“For better or worse, we agree with you. We can’t remain as we are.”
A knock on the door ended further conversation.
“That’ll be the food,” Charlene said to Grey.
When Grey open the door, the mouth-watering smell of meat invaded the room. The man with the food cart looked at all of us then started passing in covered plates. Stomachs growled, but it was Isabelle’s I listened to. She stared at every covered plate she passed into the room. When she had hers, she grinned widely. The boy lifted the lid on his plate.
“Two burgers? Z, hit me. I’m in heaven.”
She lifted the cover of her plate and frowned.