Fallon was down there. Fallon was down there. Fallon was down there.
Shea didn’t realize she was repeating the words over and over until Eamon stepped in front of her and grabbed her face.
“I know, lass. I’m sorry.”
Shea made a choked sound. She couldn’t cry, her eyes were dry. This couldn’t be happening.
“Was the Warlord down there?” a voice shouted.
There were running footsteps as several people spilled into what remained of the courtyard.
“I told you to keep them back,” Caden snapped, his voice coming from a distance. All Shea could do was stare at the hole where Fallon had been.
“They used one of the buildings to slip past us,” another voice answered.
Fallon was gone.
“You didn’t answer me. Was the Hawkvale down there when it collapsed?”
“I don’t answer to you, Rain,” Caden snarled.
“I’d be careful, outcast, in how you speak to the clan leaders. I don’t care if he did make you Anateri. With the Hawkvale dead, one of us stand to take his place,” Van said.
Dead.
There was a scuffle as Caden lunged at the other man. Only the quick reaction of his men kept him from landing a blow. Eamon and Buck surrounded Shea, their eyes on the others even as they protected her.
“Do you see a body?” Shea’s voice sounded like that of a stranger.
The other men paused, all eyes coming to her. She didn’t notice, staring at the dark abyss of space.
No one answered her.
She finally looked up, her eyes calm and her face composed. “Well? Do you see a body?”
“Will somebody shut her up? We don’t have time for histrionics.”
Shea bared her teeth. A fight. Good. She needed one.
“How ‘bouts I show you histrionics?” Buck threatened, stepping forward.
Van looked at him and curled his lip. “I can see the first order of business will be ensuring discipline in the ranks.”
“There will be no first, second, third, or any other order of business,” Shea said, her eyes flinty. She lifted her chin when the other men glanced at her. “Because the Hawkvale is not dead and you will not be taking his place.”
Van gave a derisive laugh as he looked around the rest of the group. Zeph had joined Van and Gawain. His face was guarded and remote. None of the other men laughed, just looked at Shea with varying levels of intensity.
Van looked at Shea with scorn. “What are you going on about?”
Shea spread her hands to encompass the area. “Do you see a body?”
They all looked at the collapsed square. No body presented itself.
“What does that matter? No man could have survived that collapse.”
Shea lifted an eyebrow, “No one said Fallon was down there at the time of collapse.”
Van made a sound that was half-huff, half-laugh, like he thought Shea was jesting. Her face remained serious, her eyes winter cold. “You’re serious.”
“She is,” Caden said before she could answer. “There is no proof that the Hawkvale was down there.”
“We all heard her screaming,” Gawain said.
“You don’t really expect us to believe this fabrication,” Van inserted.
“No body, no death,” Shea told him. She allowed a humorless smirk to grace her lips.
“This won’t stand,” he hissed. “You will not rule in his stead. Our people will not allow a throwaway to lead us.”
Shea didn’t allow emotion to touch her. “We’ll see.”
Van gave her a look of derision before whirling and stalking back the way he’d come. Gawain looked at the rest of them. “He’s right. Eventually the men will demand answers.”
Zeph was the last to go. He looked at the rest of them before departing without a word.
When they were gone, Caden looked at Shea. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
She leaned forward and rested her palms on her thighs. The confrontation had left her shaky. “So do I.”
“Is there reason to hope he lives?” Caden asked.
She took a deep breath and straightened. “There was another way out. I wanted to take it, but he thought it was too dangerous—that we’d get lost. If he was in the passage when the courtyard collapsed, he could still be alive.”
“But you’re not sure?” Eamon asked.
Shea didn’t answer.
“Horse gods, protect us,” Caden muttered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“YOU TWO know Fallon best. Where would he go? What would he do if he survived?” Shea asked Caden and Braden, keeping her voice low so they weren’t overheard.
Besides Darius, the two men had the most experience with Fallon. They knew his habits. They could probably guess the thoughts in his mind right now. While Shea had grown closer to Fallon in the past few months, she didn’t have the same level of history with him.
She’d drawn them aside, into a small area away from the main group. She wanted their thoughts before the rest of the Trateri caught wind of what had happened in that square.
The two men stared thoughtfully at her. Caden’s forehead had several frown lines in it, while Braden firmed his lips and narrowed his eyes.
“He would try to make his way back to the main element.”
“Would he expect us to remain here?” Shea asked.
Braden shook his head. “No, he would want us to keep moving, especially in light of the collapses. He’d try to meet us at the rendezvous point. Otherwise he would trail us until he could catch up.”
That answered the question of stay or go.
“What kind of opposition can I expect from the clan leaders?” Shea asked. She had a sense of what was coming but wanted their feedback as well to see how much it differed from hers.
“You already know Van of Lion will be a problem,” Caden said, his arms crossed over his chest. “Gawain of Rain shouldn’t be trusted either. Fallon and he have a troubled relationship.”
“I would have said Zeph from Ember would be a good ally, but he has been rather close with those two of late. He could be a trusted supporter, or he could stab you in the back,” Braden said.
Great.
“What can you tell me about the buildings that collapsed?” Shea asked, moving on.
“Probably sabotage again.”
If she hadn’t stopped for that jacket, they would have ridden right into the kill zone. Then they might all be dead instead of just possibly Fallon.
She rubbed at the pain in her chest.
“Lock down the camp. No one in or out,” she ordered. “If the perpetrators are still here, I don’t want them to have the chance to go after Fallon while he’s alone and possibly injured.”
“I agree,” Caden said with a firm nod. “I’ve already given my men orders to get a head count. They’ll bring us the names of anybody who was missing at any point.”
“Good. I want to hear what the clan leaders are saying as well. Bring me anything you find,” Shea said in dismissal.
Both men took their leave.
Shea took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Panic threatened to spring up from that knot in her chest. She forced it down by sheer willpower.
Fallon wasn’t dead. She believed that. She had to.