Torchlight did little to push back the dark in the tunnel. Exhaustion was worsened by a lack of senses, like time or distance traveled. Grey felt desperation to get to the old tower, a desperation that beat common sense, and his only focus was seeing what he believed: that his father still lived.
“Grey, stop!” Olivia yelled at him, but he wasn’t listening to anyone. Caleb raced up beside him, grabbing the reins, bringing the horse to a halt.
“What are you doing?” Grey demanded, “If we don’t get there ...”
“We’re going to get there, but we would prefer to get there alive,” Caleb told him. “If what we think is true, then we need a plan in place, and killing ourselves, or the horses, is not going to help any of us,” Caleb cautioned him. “For all we know, it could be a trap.”
“You seriously think it is?” Grey questioned him.
“I don’t know, but we need to consider the possibility that it could be, and plan accordingly.”
“Grey.” He looked to Olivia.
“You need to also be prepared that it might not be true. That Tyrone isn’t alive.” Grey’s shoulders sagged with weariness. She rode up beside him. “I pray to the gods that Tyrone is alive. You need him, we all need him back, and it would prove to the people that Bartholomew is a liar, once and for all.” Olivia swallowed, and her eyes filled with tears. “And if our worst fear is proven correct, and Tyrone really is dead, then we will prove Bart to be a lying murderer.”
The hatred and anger in Olivia’s voice made Grey sit up and take notice. He suddenly looked closer at his childhood friend, seeing beyond the memories of her as a tomboy climbing trees and swimming in the lake. Until now, he had always seen Olivia as one of his friends. Now her cousin Helene -- that girl had caught his eye and set his pulse racing. Grey had felt foolish when Helene, at the first sign of a problem, had bailed. Olivia had stepped up. She was the one who had risked her life for his on more than one occasion to get them information, and now she had helped rescue them from the hangman’s noose, and instead of hiding, she was riding with them on the chance that his father might be alive.
Grey couldn’t take his eyes off Olivia’s when as he asked Caleb, “What do you think we should do?”
“Well, certainly not run in, guns blazing,” he stated.
“What’s a gun?” Grey questioned.
“A gun is ...” Caleb stopped. “Never mind. Look, at this point we have the element of surprise; let’s use it to our advantage.”