I shovelled a spoon of porridge into my mouth. Porridge and desert—not the best of combinations, but when faced with the alternative of trekking on an empty stomach, it was an easy choice. I washed down the warmth with a swig of water Nyla had given to me before leaving me to babysit the scientists. Her largest concern had been their safety as they handled the magic material. Couldn’t have them getting sick when they were our best bet and all.

  “Good, right?” the mechanic asked through a mouthful of bread. She smiled with pride. “Made it myself.”

  I couldn’t find it in myself to speak with my mouth full, so I just nodded and chewed.

  “I’m Gabriella, by the way, the others just call me Gabi.”

  I forced myself to swallow a scalding spoonful of porridge and chased it with cooling water. “Nice to meet you. I’m Cal.”

  “Duh, obviously. You’ve been the talk of the squad since Nyla contracted you.” She rolled her eyes and studied a piece of toast before taking another bite. “You’re not very popular, but you probably already knew that.”

  I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

  She sniggered. “I wasn’t going to ask, but good for you, taking it all in stride. Very stoic.” She stretched and placed her empty bowl on the table. “The guys would have understood that they couldn’t bring a body even without you telling them. You know that, right?”

  I shrugged. “Didn’t seem like it to me.”

  “Please,” she snorted. “They aren’t children.”

  “People make irrational choices when faced with unfamiliar variables.”

  I didn’t have to look at her to know that she was staring at me like I was some sort of alien. Call it a sixth sense.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” She burst out laughing. “You’re barely a teenager. You’ve been to what, one war zone? These guys have seen some shit. Even if most haven’t actively fought, they’ve seen their fair share of war. Most people who get recruited to COBA are war orphans, or people who have actively suffered at the hands of other blessed. They’re familiar with suffering, but unfamiliar with doling it out.”

  Gerrard and Stewie giggled like little children. They huddled together over the threads and discussed different kinds of solutions with almost religious fervour.

  I tore my eyes from them and glanced at Gabi. She leaned back in her chair, arms stretched to both sides and lazily resting over the backrest. She looked me up and down, waiting for me to answer.

  I sighed. “Right. My bad. I already suspected I was in the wrong. Getting peppered with deathly stares all day tends to get the message across.”

  “God, stop.” She groaned and helped up a hand. “I’m not looking for an apology or anything. Daryl had it out for you from day one anyway. Just saying you’d be better off thinking before you speak. Especially since we’ll be hanging out together going forward.”

  I cocked up an eyebrow in question.

  “Nyla didn’t tell you? We’re pairing up to run errands for the group.” She flashed a lazy salute. “I’ll be your chauffeur in the coming days.”

  Nyla sure didn’t waste any time. While I was put on babysitting duty she and Quinn were planning how to get us all out in one piece. I didn’t particularly like not being in the know, but Nyla knew what she was doing. People didn’t survive the Forgotten lands with luck alone. Even James had shown remarkable skill compared to his rank. I liked the guy before he tried to skewer me with an arrow. It was a real shame he shared a bed with the cultists. But even more so that he chose to make an enemy out of me.

  I should have probably given his bow’s description a read before destroying it. Having an accolade named after you probably held some meaning. There had to be a reason for your acclaim to be intertwined with an accolade’s.

  “I see,” I mumbled and finished my food. Gabi would likely prove better company than most of the other options. But I couldn’t help but question Nyla’s judgement in sending me out with a mechanic who didn’t even have a blessing. I didn’t know the woman very well, but I knew her well enough to know that I didn’t want her to die.

  My eyes lingered on hers and she scratched her neck, cheeks flushing.

  “What?” she asked and glanced away.

  “Nothing… I look forward to working together,” I lied and reached my hand forward for a shake.

  She reciprocated the gesture with a wide grin and brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. They caught the light and sparkled, warm and sharp. Chestnut. I swallowed, looking for something to say but struggled to come up with something worthwhile to keep the conversation going.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  My saving grace came in the form of Nyla and Quinn entering the tent. Everyone went quiet from just her presence as she scanned the room. Her eyes landed on Gabi.

  “Gabriella. I missed you in the morning briefing.”

  Gabi shrugged. “I figured getting acquainted with my new squad-mate was more important.”

  Nyla raised her eyebrows at the lazy excuse. She glanced at our plates, now resting on the table, then back to us with a sigh and a shake of her head. “I will let it go, but just this once.”

  She waved at the table. “Sit. Gerrard, Steward, tell me you have good news.”

  “We do!” Stewie said, the excitement in his voice shone through what little he did to hide it.

  Gerrard cleared his throat. “But it’s not all good news. If we construct an empowered emitter we will be able to cut through the shell of the veil to where it has yet to spread.”

  “But?” Nyla asked with a groan.

  His eyes knitted in thought. “But to do so presents us with a variety of problems. The first one being we need materials. We can salvage what we need from equipment in the compound, but it will take time. Second, no matter how strong the signal, if it travels by air it will get incrementally diluted by the veil until the signal disappears entirely. The only plausible solution I can fathom is to protect the signal with a sort of wiring.” He nodded at the pile of blue threads littering on the table. “We need something like these threads, but larger. Something that can transmit sound, light, or electricity without suffering the veil’s interference. If we can construct a handful of signal enhancers and connect them to the main transmitter, we should be able to establish communication with the outside.”

  A strong wind ruffled the tent roof. Outside, both soldiers and civilians were fortifying the compound. They shouted at each other to keep organized.

  “How many enhancers?” Nyla asked.

  “Depends on the spread of the veil. If nothing’s changed, we should be able to make do with six.”

  She rubbed her eyes. “How long will it take?”

  Gerrard cupped his chin in thought. “A bit more than three days if we work without rest.”

  The room fell silent. There was no telling what might happen to us in three days time. I doubted whatever silenced the gunfire from a few days ago would stop just like that. As long as there were things to corrupt, the scourge would continue to expand its reach.

  And as long as we were inside the veil’s territory, we were most definitely within reach.

  “And someone will have to make sure they’re installed correctly. That someone being either of us,” Gerrard said and gestured at himself and his assistant.

  And someone had to protect the helpless scientist. I had a good guess at who that someone might be.

  “You hear that, Cal? He’s planning on working you to the bone.” Nyla smirked and confirmed my suspicion.

  “Don’t know any other way.” I shrugged and chuckled.

  “Good. You’ll be working with Gabriella. If the cars break down without her, we’re all toast. So make damn sure you take good care of her, no pressure.”

  I shifted in my seat. “I only have so many hands. Can’t protect both the driver and the one setting up the enhancer.”

  “Which is why you’ll have Quinn by your side as well. With her help you should be able to avoid more encounters than you stumble into. Sound good?”

  I nodded. “Peachy.”

  “Great. Gerrard, how long will it take you to construct the first one?”

  “A day in all.”

  She turned to the rest of us. “Any questions?”

  Gabi raised her hand up high and waited for Nyla to give her the go-ahead. “What do we do until it’s go-time?”

  “Make yourself helpful, and for God’s sake fix the other car.” She turned to me. “Cal, you rest up. I’ll make sure you don’t need to go on watch. Make whatever preparations you see fit.” Nyla’s chair scraped against the plastic floor as she stood to leave. “Quinn,” she called and the scout followed her without complaint.

  Gabi moaned about it, but wasn’t slow to follow. The cars wouldn’t fix themselves, especially not when on a timer. She left the tent with a wave and a wink. “Later!”

  The two scientists exchanged glances, Gerrard’s smile was deep and telling. “Youth,” he mused aloud.

  “Shut it, I barely know her.”

  “Such is today’s fashion,” Stewie added with a knowing nod.

  I rolled my eyes and ran my hand into my pockets. “I’ve been meaning to ask, Gerrard. I’ve got this ammunition,” I said and held up a bullet to the light. “I’m burning through my stockpile faster than I’d hoped. Do you think you could have someone make cartridges like this?”

  Gerrard leaned forward and grabbed the bullet from my hand. He fished out a pair of glasses from his breast pocket and held them up to the bullet like a magnifying glass. “Interesting,” he muttered and shook the bullet. “What is this liquid?”

  “Refined magic.”

  His eyes went wide with excitement. “Do you know how it was made? Oh the things we could do with something like that!”

  I scratched my cheek. I trusted Gerrard, but I couldn’t tell him about the method of refinement. What little goodwill I’d built up would easily crumble if he thought I planned on refining people into ammunition. “I don’t, but I think I might be able to use the threads as a surrogate.”

  “I see… Yes, that should be able to work if you enhance their innate power…”

  I nodded along to his ramblings. It sounded in line with what I had in mind. Minus the plans I’d made for the red threads. There were just so many possible ways of making weapons if I could harness their destructive power for my own gain. Stuffing them into a magic suppressing cartridge could be one way of making it work. As long as firing them didn’t make them blow my weapon up from the inside.

  “Can you make something like it with the same dimensions?”

  “Yes, we should.”

  “Great!” I exclaimed, surprising even myself with the volume of my voice. Having someone make prototypes for me would most expedite the process of making new ammo. And more importantly it would give me more time to work on other things, like modern versions of Jackpot.

  A handgun would be nice. Anything semi automatic, really.

  I let Gerrard hang on to the bullet as he went about having clones made. It wasn’t a priority of his, but I was more than happy to know that the ball had been set in motion.

  Gabi didn’t notice me as I walked past the cars. Her legs stuck out from below one, they looked tiny in comparison to the armored vehicle. I didn’t let her know that I was leaving or anything. I had a full day of leisure ahead of me, and I was planning on using every bit of it for my own gain.