we jumped down from our bar stools without another word and followed amory into the living room. by now, the room was full of resistance members. they milled about, talking quietly, or sitting packed together on the overstuffed couches. the electricity in the room was palpable with anxiety running high and tension thick.

i followed lilly as she snaked her way to the back of the room, a place we would both be comfortable. she found jericho and went to stand next to him, probably thinking nothing of it. i swallowed my hesitation and found the courage to stand next to her, next to him. i leaned forward and offered a wave jericho's direction, but all i got in return was a curt smile and a nod of the head. "ok, let's begin," amory called everyone's attention forward. those standing in conversations moved into better listening positions and nobody failed to give their immediate attention to amory. "you've probably heard by now that although lucan hasn't made any outright threats against eden, he has recently requested that she go through with the eternal walk," there was a low murmuring of disapproval from the crowd gathered and the feeling that washed through the room was one of fear. i should have been more upset at the upcoming task, knowing so many immortals were worried about the outcome. but i couldn't help but feel a sense of camaraderie knowing so many people cared about what happened to me.

"she is set to leave december first and will be flying there on the prince's private jet. we don't have much time to plan, and i'm positive that was on purpose. i don't want to be naive about the purpose of lucan's request. whatever the real reason, we need to assume the worst."

amory paused for a moment. terrence, one of the older members of the group, although i couldn't tell how old, interjected, "and what do you believe the worst to be?"

"that this is a trap to get eden on her own and away from me, and to expose her vulnerability," amory said with finality. there were gasps in the crowd and another rumble of low murmuring. i rocked back on my heels, almost knocked over by amory's truthfulness. "now, before we panic, even if that happens, i have full confidence in my granddaughter to be able to handle herself." he smiled at me, and there was a light behind his eyes, a desire to fight, like i had not seen before.

"i won't be alone though, right?" i interjected frantically. a strong hand was on my shoulder, and i looked over, knowing it couldn't be lilly's. i was surprised to see it belong to jericho whose expression had changed from one of indifference to carefully masked concern.

"no, and that is my next point," amory smiled graciously at me. "we are going to be running teams the entire way from here to india. this will be one of the most difficult and tricky missions to date and i am going to need everyone's full support. unfortunately for eden, we cannot even leave her alone while she is in omaha. so along with avalon and jericho, lilly and roxie will also be moving into this house."

i looked down at lilly beaming with excitement. i was thrilled to have another girl in the house, even if that meant roxie would be here as well.

amory continued. "back to the eternal walk. the flight over will leave us pretty vulnerable. we will have to rely on faith and eden's ability, trusting she will land in bangalore unharmed. that being said, ryder's team, plus avalon and jericho, will take the same trip, at the exact same time, landing hopefully only minutes behind the prince's jet. terrence will be running point to ensure a smooth takeoff and landing from here. ryder's team, you will take conrad's aircraft, because i think it's the most inconspicuous. avalon will be running point, jericho, you will be second in command." amory paused for a second to look at ryder, "i'm sorry to put you in an awkward situation, son, but i need those who care about eden the most looking after her. do you understand?"

ryder nodded, a steely look in his crystal clear blue eyes. he looked like a leader, tall and thin, with every muscle etched to perfection from head to toe. his head was shaved and his skin tanned. everything about him screamed discipline and commitment. i realized amory had to make it very clear to him how to take a back seat because it would not be something he could do easily.

i noticed jericho's hand leave my shoulder and i glanced over at him, missing his touch. his cheeks were flamed red and there was a spot on the floor that suddenly needed his undivided attention.

i knew he had feelings for me, but i supposed he didn't want the rest of our community informed. a pang of guilt punched me in the stomach, as i realized how much i was hurting him. i decided we needed to have a talk. i liked him too much to let our friendship die because i was in love with somebody else, and he was embarrassed.

"titus kelly, xander and xavier langley and the australia team will join you once on the ground in bangalore from their positions in london," amory continued addressing the six members of ryder's team and avalon and jericho. "if all goes as planned, caden's team from morocco and alina's team from switzerland will already be in place in ooty and the surrounding jungle. avalon, jericho and ryder, you will follow eden's progress from the airport to the ooty palace at a distance, at a very long distance."

what's ooty? i sent a quick thought to avalon, feeling lost.

it's the name of the town nearest to the kendrick palace. it's a touristy area of india in the mountains. avalon answered my question quickly and robotically before tuning back in to amory.

"eden and avalon's twin connection should enable the teams to keep a safe, undetected distance while still maintaining contact. we have yet to test the boundaries of their connection, but in romania they seemed to have no trouble despite the distance of the citadel and sighisoara. they will not be that far apart in india," amory was answering a question when i jumped back in. "once she enters the cave of the winds, she will have to sever that connection, however, and eden," he turned his attention on me, "you will be the most alone inside there."

everyone in the room turned to look at me, and i felt as if they could all hear me swallow. i tried to put on a brave face, but i could internally feel the crazy look in my eyes.

"once the eternal walk begins, all we will be able to do is wait. lucan and his advisors will be in the watching place to observe, and i expect the full traveling titan guard will be there as well. there will be nothing we can do until her walk is completed and she exits the cave. during this period i will not have any teams nearby. avalon alone will run surveillance without magic." when the entire room began to protest he continued quickly, "with the quantity of titan guard available for lucan and the uselessness of standing in a humid jungle just waiting, i find it unnecessary to alert lucan of a magical presence outside of the caves and risk any of your lives when avalon can do the job by himself. i have faith in my grandchildren. eden will leave the cave and avalon will not be found, but what happens after eden has left the cave is more important than what happens while she is in it."

the crowd seemed pacified, or at least calmed for the moment. i glanced over at avalon bouncing energetically on his toes like usual. he gave me a confident smile. i smiled back, despite my growing anxiety. my brother was a bad ass. amory was right; nobody needed to worry. avalon was not going to let anything happen to me.

"what do you expect to happen after the walk?" fiona thompson asked.

"i am not sure what to expect. eden and avalon have been working on a few different techniques, but we are not sure what will happen once eden is alone in the cave. either eden will leave the cave by herself and be taken back to the palace, or she will leave with the titan guard in handcuffs. obviously, the latter scenario will not do, and at that point avalon will reconnect with jericho and the other teams to extract eden. if she is taken back to the palace, that still does not mean she will be safe. lucan might be biding his time, or deciding what to do. either way, reconnaissance will continue until she is back home in omaha, safe in her own house."

"what about the stewards?" conrad called out, his hand on his chin; he was clearly deep in thought.

"i have thought through our options with them," amory responded. "they, on one hand, have taken a vow of silence that cannot be broken; on the other hand, their allegiance lies with the general monarchy and not with the immortal population. my instinct tells me to leave them out of it all together. they are after all humans and i cannot in good conscience risk any of their lives for a fight that is not their own."

conrad, as well as several others nodded in agreement, satisfied with amory's wisdom.

"i think that is everything for now," amory continued. "there are smaller details that need to be ironed out, but the most important thing to remember is that until eden is physically harmed or threatened, we are simply running a surveillance mission. the last thing i want to do is send red flags lucan's direction. we have to proceed with the utmost caution and vigilance. for this mission we must assume at the very least lucan recognizes eden and has put the puzzle together. we must also assume that if any resistance member is caught, after our success at the trial in october, that there will no longer be trials held for traitors. we must assume that lucan will have anyone opposed to the monarchy murdered on the spot, that his end game is justice and delia, and that he will do whatever it takes to get them. in that respect, even though i say this is a surveillance mission, eden has never been in more danger."

amory's black eyes settled on me, his expression set in pure determination. in that moment i understood amory more than i ever had. lucan had taken his only daughter from him; because of lucan she was forced to leave and no one knew what had happened to her. avalon and i were the only family he had left and the future for his beloved people. he would not let lucan take the ones he loved from him again. i felt his resolve in my very soul and a soaring feeling of confidence came over me. india was uncertain, the eternal walk was uncertain, the future was uncertain. but i knew with all that i was, amory would die before anything happened to me or my brother. and so far, that had been proven to be impossible.

my grandfather, the last oracle, who was thousands of years old, who had walked this earth longer than any other living being, was my protector. and i found that was all the encouragement i needed to brave india. come what may, i had the most powerful man alive on my side and the hounds of hell would not be enough to stop him, let alone lucan.

chapter sixteen

"eden, i know you are going to feel a little crowded with everyone here, but i really think it's for the best," amory pulled me into a hug by the front door on his way out.

"i trust you," i smiled up at him. he was right. things would be overly full with everyone staying here and i couldn't say i was happy he picked roxie to join the rest of us, but i did trust him. that much i knew for sure.

"well, good," he stumbled through an easy response, no doubt expecting he was going to have to fight with me. he kissed the top of my head and walked out the front door to his black sedan.

i closed the door behind him and leaned back heavily against it. the india meeting had gone much longer than i expected it to. everyone seemed to want to hang around and offer words of encouragement to me.

i appreciated the warm words and pleasantries, especially since during my last visit to the farm i had felt sorely out of place. really, i felt out of place, not just on the farm, but in the entire immortal world. i didn't fit in at school. i didn't fit in on the farm. the majority of immortals would gladly give me up to lucan if they knew my true identity. the other part, the resistance, wasn't happy with who i really was either. they wanted me to be someone else entirely, someone i could never be.