Tasha and Evarius are standing in a small living room opposite a black middle-aged woman. Evarius had introduced her as Barbara. She had asked them to settle down, but Evarius had told her that they were in a hurry and this business was urgent. Tasha does not know why this random witch would help them. Evarius had just said that she would and had given no reason to support it.“I need your help,” Evarius says, “as you can probably tell.”“I told you last time that it was the last time,” Barbara says.“And I accepted that, but I have a feeling that you might be interested in this one.”“Is that so? Why?”“It involves the Junta.”Tasha can clearly tell that the Junta’s names had piqued Barbara’s curiosity and interest.“Tell me more,” Barbara says.“They have a friend of ours -“Barbara raises her eyebrows at the word friend.“Well, her friend really,” Evarius jerks his head towards Tasha.They are still holding hands. Tasha had attempted to let go when they had entered the house, but E
Damion and the others have reached Arrowall. They park the cars on the roadside and step out to discuss where to go. They only know that Lilia and the Junta are somewhere here. But where exactly are they in this deserted town that borders a large expanse of thick, uninhibited-looking jungle, they have no idea.“So,” Damion asks as Brent and the others approach from their car. “Where can they be?”“To me, the jungle looks like the only logical place to hide the activities of a large group of witches, although how they manage to navigate such thick vegetation undergrowth is something to think about.”“I also think it must be the jungle,” says Tyrus, and the others nod in agreement.“Let’s call Ev,” Sabina says, “Maybe he would know something more. Although you can never tell with him...”“I am calling Tasha,” says Esther. “We can talk to both of them.”She dials Tasha’s number, who picks up on the first ring.“Put it on speaker,” says Esther.“Done,” Tasha says.“We have reached guys,”
“We are almost there,” Evarius says.“How did you know that Barbara would help you?” Tasha asks.“Because a few years ago she was in a tight spot with the Junta. I saved her. She has already helped me twice before, so her part is done. But I knew she would not give up a chance to go against the Junta if it presented itself.”“Oh, I see. Good for you to remember her.”“Of course, with the amount of time I have lived, it’s all about utilizing the right things and people at the right time. You should know what strings to pull and when.”“I’ll remember that, sir.”Tasha does a little bowing gesture, and Evarius laughs.“Here we are,” he says.They have stopped behind two cars. Tasha recognizes them as Brent’s and Damion’s.“We’ll park right here so that all of us come back to the same place.”“How will we know the directions they have gone in?”“We won’t,” Evarius says simply. “We will go the way we think is best.They walk to the edge of the jungle. Tasha can see a lot of undergrowth and
Lilia has been sitting in the same room for hours and watching the sky grow darker outside. Once around midday, Chiara had come in to give her some food and water. Since then, she has seen no one and nothing other than the inside of the small room and the little chink of the sky visible from the tiny window. Many a time she has thought of trying to find a way to escape through the door, but Chiara’s words have come back to haunt her, and every time she has stopped.“We are in the middle of the Jungle...”“Five hundred kilometers from your home...”What will she ever do? Will the others be able to find her, or will she have to spend the rest of her life locked up, trying to make the Junta believe that she and her friends are innocent?Once it's completely dark outside, the door to the room opens, and Chiara enters for the third time.“Come with me,” she says.“Where?” Lilia asks.Chiara does not say anything, and eventually, Lilia gets up and walks outside with her. She had imagined th
Adeline and Nadia have been traveling at a decent pace for so long now that Adeline is losing hope of finding anything at all.“What if,” she says, “we are just looking in the wrong place? What if they are not here at all? Maybe they are fancy witches and have a decent mansion in the town?”Nadia laughs, “Maybe. But I am glad that even if it seems like a pointless journey right now, I get to do it with you.”She holds Adeline’s hand who says, “Me too. Here in the middle of nowhere is better than anywhere else without you.”She squeezes Nadia’s hand, “I love you.”“I love you -,” Nadia begins, but stops as her hand jerks up to her forehead.“What is it?” Adeline asks anxiously.She takes a closer look at Nadia’s face and sees that it is screwed up in pain. Whatever it is, it’s causing her pain.“Nadia,” Adeline says, “What’s happening? Please, talk to me, babe?”Nadia falls to her knees. It seems like the pain is making it impossible for her to say anything. Her other hand now moves to
Evarius has finally reached the clearing where the Junta is gathered. He does a quick approximate headcount and fixes about a hundred people in total. The ones closer to the fire are having some sort of discussion while he can spot Lilia lying on the ground. After having seen Nadia's state, he had expected them to be in the thick of a ritual, but it doesn’t seem so.He is hidden in the shades of the trees surrounding the clearing and starts walking around it. His brain is working furiously, thinking of the best way to attack because it looks like he is the only one who has managed to reach here. The moment he has this thought, he sees shadows in the trees in front of him. It looks like three people, and as he moves forward, he realizes they are Brent, Damion, and Esther. They spot him too and hurry towards him.“What have they done to her?” Damion asks in a panic.“It’s okay D. We’ll get her,” Brent assures him. “What’s the plan?”“The three of us will try to stop the Junta while Dami
They have walked for about five minutes when they see someone walking towards them. Tasha can’t see who it is, but then she hears their voice.“Tasha...”It’s Evarius.Tasha rushes forward and hugs him tightly. He hugs her back and asks, “Are you okay? And Nadia?”“Okay,” Tasha whispers. “We are all okay. What happened? Where did you go?”Tasha moves back and looks at Evarius’ face. His expression piques her anxiety.“What is it?” She asks, already afraid of the answer.“We couldn’t stop the Junta. They disappeared and took Lilia with them.”Silence greets these words. Tasha does not know what to say. She just stares at Evarius.Then, Nadia asks, "Where are the others?""They are heading towards the cars, and we should too. It's not safe to remain here. Come. I know the way. I'll lead you out."*Evarius leads everyone out, and they hardly talk. The journey back is much quicker because now he knows the way. Evarius's mind is trying to make sense of everything that has happened in the
Damion had not said a word until now, but Evarius's last line hit him like a boulder to the head."What?!""How do you know?""Oh my god!"The room is full of exclamations and questions of all sorts and all eyes are now turned toward Damion."Did you know?" Brent asks him."No, I didn't," are the first words Damion says since he had screamed Lilia's name in the jungle."How much chance is there that it's true?" Esther says.Damion turns his mind back to the times Lilia and he had had spontaneous sex in the recent past without protection. "I don't know how or when," he says, "but it's certainly possible...""Wait a minute," Sabina says, turning to Evarius, "How do you know?""Yeah,' prompts Esther."I heard them," Evarius explains, "I did not register it at the time because I was too focused on saving everyone's life. But I was the first one to reach there, and while I was roaming around the edge of the clearing to find the best way to attack, I caught snippets of their conversations.