Page 31 (1/2)

Riley ignored her "Judd can’t help Sascha and keep an eye on security, too"

It was the first time either of Brenna’s brothers had even obliquely acknowledged his skill at keeping Brenna safe But Judd didn’t take it at face value Riley was a strategist, a ly like a Psy

"She’ll be fine - I’ve got the deer inside our perimeter, soldiers with theut says the Psy won’t attack the saun approach to divide your resources and weaken you in specific areas, with a focus on eliht support you It was a tactic used successfully by the Korean ar the Japan-Korea war"

Lucas narrowed his eyes "Any idea what they ht do next?"

"There have to have been e an escalation otherwise"

"If they’ve been taking out lone nonpredatory changelings," Hawke said, expression griht not hear about it The families of the victi resentht in her vocal cords had broken irreparably "There’s one thing I don’t get, though," she continued "I know I’m not a soldier, but we’ve all heard the Council’s dead bodies stay buried"

"So why the half-assed job this time?" Lucas completed "Two options One, Faith was a wild card they didn’t factor in"

"Or two," Judd said, "they’ve overstretched the into territory where they’re the neophytes"

"What’s your take?" Riley asked, still appearing calm in spite of what had taken place the last tiuards snapped up - Riley was the kind of hunter who’d stalk before striking "If I had to guess, I’d say they didn’t forget Faith and likely chose the exact target without "

"Why?" Dorian asked

"Because if they had planned it down to the naher chance of a foreseer picking it up"

Mercy scowled "This seeing-the-future stuff makes my head hurt"

"It’s et, they had the pararessive changeling group in a region not under direct watch by either SnowDancer or DarkRiver Then they set up sentries and waited"

"The deer were justher voice treht The deer were chess pieces"

Lucas shoved his free hand through his hair "They messed up on the location - if they’d waited until the deer were deeper, Dorian and Mercy ht not have made it in time"

Judd nodded "Before the recent series of events, Psy and changeling concerns rarely collided The Council’s unaware of the nuances of life in the forests - the ies leopard sentinels travel, a hundred ss that influence a successful raid"

"They’re not going to remain that way," Hawke pointed out "Each tiree data"

"This tih to simply track down and eliminate those personally responsible for the kills" Judd had seen how the changelings operated An eye for an eye Blood for blood It was a law that worked with their system of honor However, the Psy had no such honor "You need to send a bigger ht" Lucas looked at Hawke "They’ve already figured out how to fake our scents At least well enough to fool a casual observer If they hit ato wait to o for your young in retaliation"

It was an ugly but clear description of the consequences of escalation "You can’t afford to go to full-scale ith the Council" Judd knehat the leaders of his people were capable of, the lines they’d cross "It could be what they want - if you begin the aggression, then they’re justified in using lethal force"

For several h the trees, and for Judd, the steady sound of Brenna’s breathing She was so he’d never expected and certainly didn’t deserve He could give her nothing of what she needed, but the dark heart of hiht not be an option