Chapter 179

We arrived in Huntsville just as the sun was beginning to set.

Golden light illuminated the desolate street–weeds working up through the concrete, bordered up buildings sloping ever more sideways, and graffiti painted across almost every available surface.

Matt parked beside the others, in what was one a parking lot for a grocery store. The windows of the store itself were broken, and the shelves looted. The town had been abandoned for almost thirty years, yet cars still sat against the curbs and the church at the end of the road remained untouched, its stained-glass windows still in place.

“This is nice,” Fiona said as she climbed out of the car. We all got out and surveyed the town.

“Why did people abandon it?” Jack asked.

“Economy failed,” Nina answered, coming around the side of the car. The rest of the group followed. “People just started leaving in droves.”

“Also, the ghosts,” Ted pointed out.

“Oh, so now you’re a believer?” Fiona taunted. “Feeling the supernatural energy now that you’re here?”

Ted made a show of looking around. “Um, yeah.”

I couldn’t blame him. There was something decidedly creepy about this place. Sure, the fact that it was abandoned probably contributed a lot to that, but it felt like there were eyes on us from all sides. Abandoned, but not.

“I don’t like this place,” I murmured to Matt.

He bent his head closer to me, his hair falling into his eyes. He was still in desperate need of a haircut. “No one does.”

“Alright,” Nina said, clapping her hands together. “My father’s people should be here soon. They said they’ll arrive sometime after dark. In the meantime, we should set up a home base and some sleeping quarters. We might be here for a while.”

“Great,” Jack muttered. She ignored him.

“The church looks like it’s in the best shape,” Matt said, nodding up the street. “Our best bet is probably to set up camp there.”

“Good. We need to find somewhere for the food. Ideally, with a working fridge.”

We’d packed our food into grocery bags and coolers for the drive, not knowing how easy it would be to send people out for food. The prospect of finding a working fridge out here, though, didn’t seem great.

“Good luck with that,” Jack said, glancing around.

“That can be your job,” Nina answered, leveling him with a hard stare. “You’re pretty useless with your arm, anyway.”

“Nice,” Matt said.

She didn’t look at him. “Bring Fiona with you.”

“This place isn’t going to have electricity,” Ted jumped in. “Ergo no fridge.”

Nina sighed, rubbing her forehead. “We have a generator in the truck.” She pointed at Enzo’s black pickup. “I’m not a total idiot.”

No one answered that, which was probably the safest bet.

Nina nodded toward the church. “Come on, let’s go check it out. If it seems alright, we can move our stuff in and then hide the cars. It’s better if the place continues to look abandoned. We also need to survey the buildings along the street, look for good places to put snipers, traps, that kind of thing.”

“We’re on it,” Seth said.

Nina nodded. “Jenna, Kelly, Andrew, and Ted will help you. Split up and take different sides of the street. Look for anything left behind that might be of use to us. Good hiding places, maybe. I don’t know. Just anything we may need to know for an upcoming fight.”

I put my hand up, not knowing what else to do. Enzo smiled as Nina raised her eyebrows at me. “Yes, Celeste?”

“Do we even know how many wolves Ronan is sending? Couldn’t he just surround the town and trap us in here? Take us out one by one.”

“That’s a comforting thought,” Seth said, exchanging a look with Jenna. He still leaned on his stick.

Nina frowned. “With my father’s reinforcements, we should be fine.”

“Okay, that’s even less comforting,” Fiona chimed in, completely at ease with sharing her opinion. The thought of her being caught up in this fight made me a little queasy. She shouldn’t be here. Both she and Jack needed to go home.

“Not happening,” she said when she saw me looking. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You and Jack should–”

“Yeah, nice try,” Jack cut in, though he turned to frown at Fiona. “You should go, though. You have absolutely no training.”

Nina waved her hand. “We’ll put you on some rooftop together,” she said. “You can still operate a gun, can’t you?” She gave Jack’s shoulder a pointed look. He was still in a sling, and though he was trying to hide it, he was clearly in pain.

“Yes,” he snarled, his gaze darkening.

“Fine. Are there any more questions?” No one answered or raised their hands. “Then let’s go.”

Everyone took off to search the street, even my father wandered away, his gaze roving over the town. Jack trailed Fiona across the street as she headed for what looked like an abandoned ice cream shop. I didn’t doubt they’d find a fridge. Whether it would work was another story. They’d also have to find someone else to move it for them.

Nina led the rest of us up toward the church, walking at a quick clip. She was the shortest out of us other than me, but she still managed to make the guys half-jog to keep up with her. I was almost running.

Enzo stayed close at her heels, his eyes darting around and his hand on the gun at his belt. Matt held my hand, a cautious look on his face as he followed. We hadn’t been given a task, and neither of us seemed to know why.

The moment we stepped through the doors of the church, though, walking into a wall of dust and slanted sunlight, we found out.

“I need to know everything about Ronan,” Nina said, whirling to look at me. “And I need to know what you can do with your powers.”

I exchanged a glance with Matt. He clenched his jaw but didn’t step in for me. He was letting me handle this on my own. “I already told you everything I know about Ronan. I wasn’t privy to his strategies or his conversations with his brothers. We had lunch every day, but we hardly spoke.”

“And you didn’t see anything important in his office? Or in the compound?”

I shook my head. “All I know is that they hate the Peacekeepers for what happened during the war. They blame you for their father and brother’s deaths, Matt especially. They obviously also blame me for Jeremy. They want vengeance.”

“That’s all?”

I sighed and flicked my long braid over my shoulder. “Jeremy was trying to find a way to make more wolves by turning them. Instead of turning them into rogues, he wanted to be able to change them fully. I guess he was looking for a way to stop rogues from going mental after the bite.”

“And did he? Find a way?” Enzo asked, leaning against one of the pews.

I looked past him at the altar and the stained-glass window above it–Jesus with his head bent with a crown of thorns atop his head. Aside from a few layers of dust, the building looked untouched.

“I’m not sure.”

“Based on the number of rogues that have been popping up in town, I’d suggest no,” Matt said.

Nina nodded. “Alright. And your powers?”

“I haven’t felt them since the night I broke out.”

“But you might be able to access them? If we’re in the middle of battle? It would make a big difference if you could somehow use your powers.”

Matt frowned. “She doesn’t know how to control them. She could end up injuring herself and our own people just as much as the other side.”

“Still, it’s something to think about,” Nina said with a shrug. “I don’t know how many wolves they have or the size of the force they’re sending against us. It’s all guesswork at this point. Our intel on them has clearly been wrong.”

“Zoe didn’t know?” I asked.

Nina shook her head. “She knows how many were at the compound, but not how many were scattered about, still in hiding. If Ronan manages to pull his people back together in one place, who knows how many fighters they could end up having?”

“No wonder you didn’t want to say this in front of the others,” Matt muttered. “We could be screwed.”

She didn’t answer, just looked at me.

“I can try, but I can’t guarantee anything. And Matt’s right. I could end up hurting you guys, too.”

Nina nodded. “All I can ask is that you try.”