Outcast

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Authors: C. J. Redwine
members of the triumvirate has a necklace set to a sonic frequency that repels the beasts, right?”
    Clarissa pulls a flat disk hanging on a thin silver chain from beneath her tunic.
    “Good. Attach it to the transmitter like this.” I show her how to splice the transmitter’s wire on to one inside the tech she wears. “Now it will amplify your ultrasonic emission—the sonic frequency that repels the tanniyn —by at least three hundred percent.”
    She tucks the necklace and the transmitter away, and says, “Do we need to remove the transmitters from every beacon to disable them?”
    I shake my head and show them how to disable the infrasonic component inside the tech.
    Clarissa taps three times on the door and then studies me while Cassidy hides the now-useless beacon inside her cloak again. “You upheld your end of our bargain. I’ll do the same. I will send an emissary to the Commander with the terms of your deal. And your people will be offered asylum within our city as long as they agree to be governed by our laws.”
    “Drake is leader in my place.” Something tight wraps itself around my chest as I realize I’m leaving the rest of the survivors behind, and I might not be coming back. I can’t guarantee that I’ll survive my encounter with the Commander, much less my attempts to rescue Rachel and bring down Rowansmark.
    One of the soldiers guarding the room’s entrance taps once before opening the door. “All clear, ma’am.”
    Clarissa nods but makes no move to leave the room. Instead, she continues to watch me. “What will you do?” she asks. “Once you give the device to the Commander—provided you survive that encounter—what will you do next?”
    I meet her gaze. “I’m going to Rowansmark.”
    The tiny creases around her eyes deepen. “If voluntarily giving yourself over to the Commander isn’t suicide, heading to Rowansmark certainly is. Why not just go to the other city-states and show them how to disable the beacons?”
    “Because Ian—the tracker who was disguised as one of us—took my . . .” The words to describe what Rachel is to me won’t come. “He took Rachel. And he’s going to kill her if I don’t show up at Rowansmark with the device to ransom her back.”
    “The device you’re supposed to give to the Commander?” Clarissa frowns. “I don’t want him to blame me for a double cross, Logan.”
    “He’ll be dead before he has a chance to blame anyone for anything,” Willow says as the soldier in the hall pokes his head in again.
    “Ma’am, the proceedings are ready to start. Hallway remains clear of trackers.”
    “Thank you, Paul.” Clarissa leans closer to me. “I hope your plan for ransoming Rachel is stronger than your plan for getting out of Lankenshire, because you’re going to need a miracle to survive Rowansmark.”
    “I understand that it’s a trap, but—”
    “Yes, a death trap ,” Cassidy says, holding her cloak close. “Clearly you haven’t heard the news that Schoensville and Thorenburg, formerly allies of the Commander, have committed their entire armies to the defense of Rowansmark in anticipation of the Commander and Carrington marching south. The word is that it was either protect Rowansmark or have their cities burned to the ground just like Baalboden and Carrington.”
    “Carrington is gone?” My mouth is dry, my heart racing. How can I possibly ransom Rachel and destroy the tech inside Rowansmark when I’ll have not one but three armies waiting for me there?
    “It is,” Clarissa says, her voice crisp, though her eyes are shadowed.
    “You can’t show up at Rowansmark with just the two of you and expect to win.” Cassidy moves toward the door.
    “I count for at least ten,” Willow says.
    Cassidy rolls her eyes. “Maybe you do, but still. Ten against three armies? You don’t have a chance.”
    She’s right. I close my eyes and play through the scenarios. Any way I look at it, there are no clear-cut paths. No easy

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