Chapter 719

We all turn towards the entrance, though - me going stock straight with fear - when the flap lifts and a silhouette appears. I shy away from it, remembering again Gibson's dark form against the door -

“It's just me,” Jesse says, seeing my fear and reaching out a hand for me as he steps into the tent. “It's all right, Ariel.”

Shaking a little, sniffing hard, I straighten up. "Is Tony okay?"noveldrama

Jesse's face falls a little as he steps into the tent and lets the flap fall, slipping his hands into his pockets. "It's not good, cousin."

I moan, my head falling. Jackson snarls again and I hear Jesse sigh at Jackson's implicit command to stop saying things that upset me. But I shake my head, declining to be coddled, because I need to know.

"They don't think he's going to survive?" I ask.

Jesse sighs, deep. "They don't know," he murmurs.

"Is mom coming?" I raise my eyes to my cousin, desperate for him to say yes.

But Jesse just pauses and looks at me, I think deciding what to say.

I flash my teeth, a growl building in my chest alongside my demand.

He just sighs and shrugs. “I don't know, Ari. They didn't tell me."

I clench my jaw, frustrated, and look away.

The flap opens again and two nearly identical dark heads appear. I sit up straighter, looking between my father and my brother. "Is he okay?"

Dad just sighs and snaps his fingers at Jackson and Luca, demanding a little space so he can sit and talk to me. Luca immediately gets to his feet but Jackson hesitates.

Dad huffs a laugh but then raises an eyebrow at Jackson, who swallows his growl and stands, taking two short steps to the side and leaving a space on the bed for my father to fill. Dad smiles just slightly, I think liking Jackson's protective instinct even if it is mildly inconvenient sometimes. Then dad sighs and sits on the bed with me, putting an arm around me and pulling it close.

"We don't have any updates on Anton, my dear," dad murmurs, pulling me close. "I'm sorry. The doctors say it's very critical, but they're doing their best to save him."

I fight hard against the moan that tightens my throat and nod my head, knowing that my grief won't help anything and that dad didn't come here just to tell me that.

"I'm sorry, love," dad murmurs, holding me close. "I never wanted this for you. I knew how deeply it would sink into your heart."

I nod, unable to deny it. Because, I mean, everyone else has seemed to hold it together very well while I am going to pieces.

But then again, nobody sacrificed themselves to save them today. So perhaps I have more reason to go to pieces.

The flap raises again and Roger comes inside, looking around the tent with a stern expression, the cheerful and funny man from this morning completely wiped away. My eyes fall to the set of battle gear tucked under his arm.

"The question is," Roger says with no preamble, "why that boy attacked now. If he's been some kind of sleeper spy for Atalaxia from the beginning, why would he have waited until today? And why attempt to take out Ariel, when he'd have had the chance to take out Rafe and Jesse for months when they seemed like the more powerful of the Sinclair Cadets?"

“It's true,” Jesse murmurs, crossing his arms and looking at his dad. “We've all been wary around Wright, but I never gave a thought to Gibson. He's just been a little...toad. Hopping around, completely innocuous."

"Which made him a great sleeper agent," Rafe murmurs. "Absolutely below suspicion."

I sniff hard, angry at myself for not asking these questions first. But my mind - it's so soaked in grief, so bogged down that I don't think I can think of...anything, let alone theories and motives.

Jackson's wolf turns in a tight,

protective circle around mine,

growling at me, angry that I'd

critique myself in a time like this. wolf howls and stumbles into him,

?My el

ducking her head beneath his,

wanting to be close and still and

warm. Jackson's wolf complies with her demands, standing strong, dipping his head lower brush his muzzle warm against hers, letting her know that she's safe.

Or, as safe as she can be.

"That boy must have known," dad murmurs, looking around at the rest of our group. "Must have known, somehow, that Ariel is growing more powerful, becoming central to our ré attack plans. Which means either that we've got a spy in our midst or that the boy was just good at his job and figured it out himself." Dad shrugs. "Either way..." he sighs, shaking his head. "We have to assume that Atalaxia now knows

the threat that Ariel poses to them.

And that they're trying to take her out."