I didn’t know why we were out on the beach alone.

  As far as I could think, there was nothing left that the two of us needed to talk about. Fyga was recovering and would be sluggish in the morning, but at least able to get on her feet. I was going to help with felling trees, so there wasn’t much to talk about there. My mind raced for other topics.

  “Is this about Theo?” I latched on to the loose end. “You think he’s with Hugh and Carl?”

  The older woman shook her head. “It wouldn’t matter if he was. There’s no way off this island.” She looked up at the moon. “The Touched haven’t come for him yet, so I doubt they’ll come for him now.” She looked back at me. “A snake will always bite the hand that holds it.”

  I nodded. “So what’s this about?”

  “Master James.” Val turned away from me. “We have two weeks left to get to Port Town…”

  I waited for her to finish, but after a few minutes, it felt like she had lost the thought.

  “And?”

  She turned around. “What happens if we’re not there?” I could see the worry in her eyes. “What if that was a Bokor ship and they go tell the Council that we’re here? What if real Bokor show up while you’re gone?”

  The thought had crossed my mind, but only for a moment. “There are so few female Bokor that the Council would keep you alive. You’d probably be in a cell while they decided how much freedom to give you and who would need to watch you and everything, but I doubt they’d kill you.”

  Val nodded and looked past me down the beach. “And Eve?”

  I swallowed. “I don’t know.”

  Her eyes locked onto me and I flinched as the anger behind them hit me. “What?”

  Her tone made me nervous to answer, but it also demanded that I say something.

  “Eveth is an anomaly.” I looked down the beach where the other two Touched were. “I’ve never heard of a Touched with eyes any color but purple, but Master James had. So they might kill her for being a Touched, or they might send her to the front lines to kill Zombies because of her power.” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

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  Val ground her teeth as she looked away again.

  I waited for a few more minutes, then walked around so I could look at her. A lone tear was running down her cheek.

  “You have to get to Port Town to talk to Master James.” The older woman took a deep breath. “I can’t lose someone else, not again. Not so soon.”

  I had no idea how to comfort her, but I did share her conclusion. “Don’t worry. It’s three maybe four days to finish the raft. Five days to Carthage, two days back by ship. Then three days by ship to Port Town. Two weeks, easy.”

  Her glare told me everything I needed to know about my math.

  “One interruption and you miss him.” She closed her eyes. “I can’t do this.”

  “It’s going to be fine. There won’t be anything that slows us down.”

  Her eyes opened to glare at me again. “There has been nothing but interruptions this whole trip!”

  She wasn’t wrong there. I had imagined that this was going to be like the trips Master Bran and I went on where we stopped at the town to get directions about the nest from the Wranglers, head out and clear it, then be on our way. My entire mission was just to compile information about those sightings for a master to come deal with them. We’d seen plenty of Zombies, and all of them had been in the city so far.

  “What do you want me to do?” I opened my mouth.

  “Go by yourself.” Her response came faster than my question. “Fig can go with the Captain to get help. Eve and I will stay here and protect the people until they get back. You can come back for us by ship. If you’re not here in a month, then we’ll have the Council’s answer.”

  It would take me seven, maybe six days to get to Port Town on foot. With a three day trip back by sea, they would only be a few days behind me. But it was a lot easier for one person to run away from trouble than a whole group.

  “What about Fyga?” I looked towards the unconscious woman. “You think she’ll stay on mission and not run off as soon as we part ways?”

  Val gave me a look that I had seen on a tutor’s face too many times when a new apprentice had asked a question that had already been answered. “Yes.”

  I didn’t want to push that topic any further and irritate her more. That was how inquisitive apprentices got barn stall cleaning duty.

  “How is she going to get the harbormaster to give her a ship? Eveth and I are the only ones with papers.”

  Before I had Ascended, I had needed papers to prove that I was on Council business. It was a ‘get whatever I asked for’ paper, but I knew better than to make outrageous demands. The Council got wind of how potentials used their paper and I’d seen more than one potential executed as a cautionary tale of indulgence. I’d given my dead partner’s paper to Eveth so she’d have some authority. Though we really didn’t need them since Val was with us.

  “I’ll give her Eve’s.” Val held up her hand. “You need yours to get to Port Town.” She grabbed my hand. “Please.”

  Now I understood why she’d wanted to talk to me alone. I had a feeling that there were going to be a few protests when we split after the raft got to shore.

  But she had a point. I wasn’t needed here, but I did need to meet with Master James. It felt almost like I was abandoning them, but what happened in Port Town would decide their fate.

  “Okay.” I ignored the pit in my stomach. “I’ll do it.”

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