Dawnbreaker: Legends of the Duskwalker - Book 3 (35 page)

While she sat alone, thinking about her next steps, Cass felt a tickle in her ear, as if a tiny bug had flown into it and was struggling weakly. It took a moment for her to realize it was a sound, not a feeling. A faint hiss and crackle. And judging from the reaction from the rest of the team, she wasn’t the only one hearing it. She got up and walked over towards the others. As she made her way over, she heard it again.

“What is that?” she asked.

Wick shook his head and looked to his brother. “Some kind of interference, maybe?”

Cass’s heart dropped. Had Asher found them already? Was he hacking into their secure communications?

“No,” Finn answered. “It’s internal. Noise in the channel. It’s weird though, I haven’t had trouble with it before.”

The sound rippled again, a white noise whisper. Cass had never heard it before, but it was strangely unsettling; too much like a sound a Weir might make.

“I don’t know,” Finn said. “It’s almost like...” His eyes narrowed. Searching for an answer. Any answer. And then his eyes went wide, and his head snapped up. “No way. No way!” He turned away from them all, took three or five quick steps.

“What?” Wick said. “What, Finn?” Finn didn’t respond, he was either too stunned or too terrified. “Finn!”

And then Cass realized Finn was neither stunned nor frightened; he was busy doing something to the channel. The white noise crackled, momentarily louder, then squelched. He was trying to clean up the signal, maybe, or boosting it.

Finn whirled, a bewildering expression on his face; equal parts shock, disbelief, and... joy?

“It’s Gamble!”

No one knew what he was saying.

“Gamble! It’s Gamble!” he repeated.

“Finn,” Mouse said, steady. “What do you mean it’s Gamble?”

Finn was smiling, but his eyes were so wild he actually looked more insane than happy.

“I mean it’s Gamble! She’s alive! She’s alive and coming this way!”

“She’s... she’s
alive
?” Sky asked, and Cass could hear the fear in his voice, knew exactly what he was asking. Was it really Gamble, really alive? Or was it just what remained of his wife, animated by another force?

Finn crossed to Sky, grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Brother, I don’t know how,” Finn said, eyes shining. “I don’t
care
how
.
Your girl is back.”

Sky’s legs started to buckle, but he grabbed on to Finn. Finn laughed aloud, wrapped his arms around Sky in a bear hug, lifted him off the ground. The crackle sounded again, but this time buried down deep in the static, Cass thought she could hear the shadow of a voice. Maybe she’d just imagined it, because of what Finn had said, and because she so badly wanted to believe.

Finn set Sky back on his feet again, and then held up a hand, gesturing for them all to wait a second. Something happened to the channel again; another series of jagged pops of static and audio artifacts.

And then.

“... copy, over...” Two words amidst the jumble. Two words. Gamble’s voice. Cass found herself in Mouse’s arms without knowing how she got there. Laughing, crying, cheering. Everyone was hugging everyone else. And then amidst the cacophony, Finn’s voice rose up calling for quiet. When he got it, he looked at Sky, pointed and nodded.

Sky blinked. And then, over the channel. “Ace?”

There was no immediate response. Cass held her breath.

“Ace, do you read?” Sky said again.

Still no answer. Then a crackle.

“Hey, babe,” said Gamble. “You still at the same place?” The channel still had static in it, but her words were breaking through more clearly now. Either Finn had boosted the range, or she was getting closer. Maybe both.

Sky sank to the ground, on to his knees, his face a collage of emotion: shock, relief, elation, confusion. His mouth worked, but he didn’t respond.

“Yeah, G,” Finn said, jumping in. “We’re all here. We’re all right here. What happened? Where are you?”

“Not a hundred percent sure. In range, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Finn said. “Well, you’re just outside normal... I had to boost you pretty good. So that’s probably... I don’t know maybe four or five klicks out?”

“You tell me, Finn. I’m just walking here.”

“What’s your status?” Mouse asked.

“Tired. Sore. Smell terrible.”

“Hang tight, we’ll come get you,” Mouse said.

“Negative, stay put,” Gamble said. Her voice had lost some of its snap, but there was no doubt it was her. “Not like you’re gonna carry me in, and I’m already walking as fast as I can. Just give me a waypoint so I can quit wandering around.”

“Let us meet you halfway at least,” Mouse said.

“No, Mouse, just stay there. No need to risk everybody looking for everybody else out here. Wick, you online?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Wick said.

“You feel like pinging me a route?”

“No, G, I don’t,” Wick answered. “I feel like running out there and carrying you home on my shoulders. But I’ll send you a route anyway. Gimme a couple.”

“Check,” Gamble replied. “You got my position?”

“I do now.”

“I’m coming out to meet you, Ace,” Sky said. He was back on his feet; he still looked a little bewildered, but his joy was radiant. “I’m on my way to you, babe.”

“Check,” Gamble said. “I’m all right with that.”

“Wick,” Sky said, but Wick was already on it.

“Yeah, buddy, go,” he said. “I’ll set you a rendezvous on the way.”

“I’m gone,” Sky said, and then through the channel, “Sky, moving to you.”

Sky started off at a jog, but Mouse called to him.

“Sky, hold up!” Mouse said, as he ran over to the wayhouse and disappeared down the hatch.

“What, man?” Sky answered. He stood actually bouncing up and down while he waited for a response. “Come on, I gotta go get my girl!”

A few moments later Mouse reappeared with Sky’s rifle in hand. He jogged over.

“
Now
go get her,” Mouse said, tossing the rifle across to Sky.

Sky caught it and took off.

After Sky left, the small band was positively giddy. Cass couldn’t remember ever having seen them so chatty. No one seemed to know quite what to do with themselves. Except for Cass. She quietly slipped away to the wayhouse to gather her belongings and her share of the supplies. When the time came, she would say her goodbyes on her way out. If she was already loaded up, there was less opportunity for the others to try to stop her. She flexed her left hand, made a fist, tested it. Mouse’s brace was still fastened securely around her forearm, but already the pain from the break was gone. She knew Mouse wouldn’t be happy about her testing things without his supervision, but she unstrapped the brace anyway and tried rotating her wrist. It felt smooth, no hitches, no pain. Good enough for her.

“You look like you’re headin’ somewhere,” came a voice behind her. She started at the sound, and glanced over her shoulder at its source. Swoop. Of course. Cass chuckled.

“Still not sure how you manage to do that all the time,” she said, turning back to make her final preparations.

“Do what?”

“Show up places you’re not supposed to be.”

“Oh, I tend to think I’m where I’m
supposed
to be, Cass. Just maybe not where other people expect, is all.”

Cass closed up her pack, tested its weight. Not bad. She turned back to face Swoop. Apart from the moonlight glow of his pupils, he looked exactly the same. Same posture, same mannerisms, same expression.

“Don’t reckon anyone’s gonna be happy about you tryin’ to walk off on your own,” he said.

“I have to leave, Swoop,” Cass said. She’d been hoping to talk to everyone at the same time; she really didn’t want to have to explain herself over and over again.

“I know,” he said, taking her by surprise. “I saw it.”

“Saw...
what
?” she asked cautiously.

“It,” he said. “Him. Asher. Whatever that was, comin’ up out of the deep.”

“So you understand, then?”

“Yes,” he said after a moment. “And no. I understand why you
think
you gotta leave.”

“Please, Swoop. I can’t keep having this conversation–”

He held up his hand, shook his head. Then said, “Let me come with you.”

Cass hadn’t expected that. But then, this was Swoop. She should have known he’d find some way to surprise her.

“Be easier to convince the others if you ain’t out there on your own,” he continued, making his case. “Like we say; two is one, one is none. And I don’t pose the same risk they do. I’m more like you than I am like them now.”

And though she’d resigned herself to going out on her own, Cass felt relief roll over her at the offer. She hadn’t considered it at all, but Swoop was right. He was Awakened now. Less likely to draw the attention of the Weir out there in the open. His risks were the same as hers, and no greater. He’d be an extra set of ears, and of eyes. And his skill set was immense; for as long as she’d known him, she felt like she still didn’t know all he was capable of. She wouldn’t have to face the dreadful, oppressive loneliness of the dead expanse.

And undoubtedly he would benefit from her company as well, as he came to terms with the changes that had been forced upon him. It only made sense for him to accompany her, to guide her, to guard her. It was the obvious choice, the most logical.

She nodded.

“Thank you, Swoop,” she said. “But no.”

Most logical, maybe, but not the best choice. Without fully understanding her own reasoning, she knew somewhere in her heart that this was
her
time. With all else stripped away, there was an opportunity before her she’d never before known.

“This is something I have to do on my own,” she continued. And then added, “Something I
want
to do on my own.”

For the first time in long years, maybe for the first time ever, she saw a moment of decision with utter clarity. Would she continue to allow circumstances and those around her to dictate her choices? Or did she have the courage to stop hiding behind others and to test herself against the world? To accept Swoop’s help was to reject her... what? She couldn’t bring herself to think of it as destiny. It wasn’t. There was no path laid out before her, no unseen hand guiding her to some purpose.
Potential,
maybe. The decision was clearly hers to make. And she decided to face her fear. More. To face herself.

And with that decision, she felt liberated. The same power that enabled her to free Swoop from his bondage had revealed to Cass just how little she actually knew herself. Her
own
potential, her
own
capability. Not as a mother, not as a lover. Not as an object of someone else’s affection or lust or worship. As her own being, complete, whole, powerful. The dread she’d been feeling about facing the others melted away, as if their arguments could no longer touch her.

Whether it was her words alone, or if Swoop could sense the change that had come over her, he didn’t try to argue. He nodded again. “You’ll wait till Gamble shows, though.” He made it a statement, though it was actually a question.

Cass nodded. “Of course.”

“All right then,” he said. He looked at her for a bit longer, then nodded to himself and headed back up the ladder, leaving her alone in the wayhouse.

Cass moved her pack over to the wall by the ladder, and then went and sat down on the bunk where Sky had spent the night. She thought about trying to sleep a little, knowing she’d wake up when she heard the welcome Gamble would surely receive on her return. Lying down was no use, though. The momentum was building; she was anxious to get underway.

It was almost an hour later that she heard the cries and cheers of the team outside. Gamble’s return. Cass bolted up, grabbed her pack, and climbed out into the open as fast as she could. By the time she reached the top, Gamble and Sky were in the middle of the courtyard, having already been intercepted by the rest of the team. Swoop caught Cass’s eye as she approached; he was hanging back slightly, allowing the others to have their moment. Worried, maybe, about how Gamble would react. He needn’t have been. As soon as the crowd parted enough for her to see him, she walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He hugged her back for a few seconds and then let go, but she held on anyway. After about thirty seconds he started squirming.

“All right,” he said. “All right now, G.” He said it gently, though, not forcing her away; consoling in his own way. When Gamble did finally back off, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffed once, and then punched Swoop right in the chest.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she said, and then she laughed and hugged him once more.

“Yes, ma’am,” Swoop answered.

Cass was next in line when Gamble separated from Swoop. Cass set her pack down and Gamble gave her a strong embrace. A heavy, sickly-sweet stench hung on her.

“Thank you,” Gamble said. “Thank you for getting my boys home.”

“Wish I could take credit,” Cass said.

“You did your part,” Gamble said. “And Swoop... I don’t know how. But thank you.”

Cass guessed Sky must have filled Gamble in on the way back. Either that, or Gamble was taking everything in her stride surprisingly well. They withdrew from one another.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were still in there?” Cass asked. “Let us know you were still alive?”

“I thought I was dead,” Gamble said with a shrug. “Didn’t want you hanging around and getting caught for nothing. And, by the way, you were right about that vent.”

“How’s that?” Cass said.

“Straight down,” Gamble said, with a chuckle. She gave them all a brief recount of her narrowly death-defying escape; between the sunlight in the room, the anti-personnel mines, and Sky’s covering fire, she’d managed to make it to the vent in the corner of the room. “Connected to the floor below, I guess. That’s where I fell through the ceiling, anyway. Most of the Weir must’ve been upstairs. Just made a run for the front door then.”

“Wow,” Wick said. “You were
not
kidding about smelling terrible. Ugh, what
is
that?”

“Well,” Gamble said, looking at him. “I just spent twelve hours buried in a pile of corpses, Wick. Think I’m doing all right, all things considered.”