I licked my lips, the salty tang of sweat mixing with the coppery hint of blood on my tongue. "This is fucking insane," I hissed through clenched teeth to Lilly, her ash-streaked face inches from mine. "We don't need to do this."

"Fuck that," Lilly snarled, her eyes twin infernos of rage in the gathering dusk. "They owe him."

"Yeah, but they don't owe us."

I swept my gaze across our bedraggled band, huddled outside the ramshackle fortifications Alec called home. Myself, Amanda, Lilly, Molly, Ragger, Mathis and a handful of our... more human-passing comrades... had trekked here to beg the town's aid in rescuing Alec. "These people are just trying to survive, Lilly."

"And how long till that thing comes back and starts snatching them too?" She jabbed a finger at the walls.

I opened my mouth but the words died in my throat. Arguing was pointless. I just prayed her scheme wouldn't get us all slaughtered.

A head popped up above the gate—Sarah. "Back so..." The color drained from her face as she took in our cobalt-smeared, soot-stained faces. "Oh no." She ducked out of view and frantic shouts rang out. With a groan of rusted hinges, the gate creaked open.

The second the gap was wide enough, Sarah's wiry frame slipped through. She jogged to us, eyes raking over our bedraggled group. "Holy shit, you look terrible. Where...where's Alec?" Lines of worry etched her face as she stepped toward Lilly.

To my shock, Lilly flung herself into Sarah's arms, body wracked with sobs. Sarah grunted, barely keeping them both upright as she sank to one knee under Lilly's weight.

"They took him, Sarah," Lilly choked out between gasps.

I squinted, perplexed. Didn't Lilly despise this woman? She was just pissed, now she was crying? What game was she playing? Some ploy to...what exactly? It made no sense.

Amanda knelt behind Lilly, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Huh. Maybe not an act after all—Amanda could always read Lilly like a book. Unless...she was in on it too? I pinched the bridge of my nose, head throbbing.

Nolan came bounding over. "Kendall! Jesus Christ, you're only half as pretty as last time I saw ya, what happened to y'all?"

"We got jumped by a big nasty gobshite is what happened," Danny replied.

I jerked my chin in his direction. "What he said."

Nolan gaped at the rest of us, eyes like saucers. "Where've y'all come from? Oh, hold up—" He pointed at Draka. "You're the one who's come to see Nicois a few times, yeah?"

Draka dipped her head in a curt nod, but said nothing.

"Okay, well just wait a damn minute." An irate voice rang out from the gate. The fuming man Alec had gotten in the face of yesterday came storming out. Tom, I think his name was?

"What in the everloving fuck is this? Who are all you people?"

Nolan scurried back to hover at the man's shoulder. "It's Alec's family, and their...I dunno, crew or something. They mentioned 'em before."

Tom scoffed, striding forward. "Lemme guess, now you want us to take your whole lot in? We can barely feed our own, never mind this many more mouths. And judging by that blue shit, looks like you pissed off some Turned to boot. Probably led 'em right to our fucking doorstep. Oughta be ashamed of yourselves."

"The only one who should be ashamed here is you, Tom," a woman's voice cracked like a whip. A tall, grizzled woman emerged from the gate, fixing Tom with a withering glare. "Frankly, it's a goddamn mystery why we let you helm an outhouse, let alone security."

Tom whirled to face her, seeming to shrink. "Marlene, will you just let me do my damn job?"

"Your job," Marlene snarled, "is keeping people safe. Not just our people. People, period. This sorry bunch here? Still people, you absolute prick. In case you forgot, we found your sorry hide collapsed outside our gates too, once. Now get the fuck out of my face."

I flashed a savage grin. Marlene, I liked.

She hastened to Sarah's side, helping haul Lilly upright. Lilly sniffled, then shrugged free to stand unaided, eyes fixed on the dirt.

Marlene looked to Sarah, brow furrowed. "Still begs the question though. Who are they?" Her eyes widened. "Wait, are they..."

She scrutinized my face, recognition dawning. "You're Alec's brother. Heard folks talking, but I missed you last time you came through."

I inclined my head. "Yes ma'am."

"Which would make you his wife," she said, turning to Lilly, who nodded, chest still hitching.

Marlene's expression crumpled. "And judging by your tears, sweetheart...I'm guessing something godawful's happened to him."

Lilly gave another jerky nod before dissolving into renewed sobs, shoulders shaking with the force of her grief.

Not an act, I realized. I had just never seen Lilly this way. Something inside my heart broke. Lilly, as much as we often didn't get along, was the spine of our group. People looked to me, but honestly, I took whatever route she wanted ninety five percent of the time. I had long ago learned that when we fought, I would lose. 

I exhaled a long breath, temples throbbing as I watched Lilly crumple into Marlene's embrace. Lilly - indomitable, unshakable Lilly - reduced to this wretched shell by the enormity of her loss. By the unthinkable cruelty inflicted upon my brother.

No. Not just my brother. Her husband. It was hard to remember that sometimes, that their bond was just as deep as ours. It was often the source of our arguments, me forgetting that she meant as much - perhaps more, to him, than I even I did.

Bile scalded the back of my throat as I clenched my fists, nails carving crimson crescents into my palms. That monster would pay for what it had done. Pay in blood and screams and anguish.

But first, we needed allies. We needed Marlene and her people to understand the true depravity of the enemy we faced, the depths of malevolence lurking in the shadows beyond their walls, what we had found, and what we stood to lose.

I cleared my throat, voice rough as gravel. "They took him."

Marlene's head snapped up, eyes wide with dawning horror.

"He's Turned?" Nolan exclaimed. "That... No."

Sarah made a strangled sound, hand flying to her mouth. Even Tom looked a shade paler, jaw working silently.

"No. Not Turned. Taken."

"Why would they take him?" Tom asked.

I sat silent for a moment. "Will you call a meeting with the town? There's something everyone needs to know."

Marlene studied me for a long moment, curious, then nodded. "Yes... I will make the arrangements."