Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 146530 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146530 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Camellia found that heartbreaking.
Lily waved her hand in the air. “Listen to me. I’m still defending myself and my position.”
“I asked why you did it and you gave me your answer,” Camellia said. She was a little shocked that she could actually understand why Lily had decided to do what she had. “But, and I’m just asking, if Ryland is a dreamwalker, why didn’t you insist he listen to you and let you record everything with him? There wouldn’t have been a chance that anyone would know if it was just the two of you.”
“We argued over Daniel’s safety, and in the end, I agreed with him completely. I did. What Ryland said made sense to me at first. But then there were so many darling moments that I knew I could never get back. I brought the subject up and Rye got angry with me. He said he was not putting our son in jeopardy, that he wasn’t a science experiment. I kept trying to explain and he just wouldn’t hear me. He compared me to Whitney. That really hurt. I was being a mother, not a scientist. So I went to Jeff.”
Camellia realized Lily had reached out to Jeff when she was hurt by Ryland’s thoughtless accusation—the one thing he said that had cut her deep. Instead of confronting her husband as she should have, she’d kept that hurt to herself and chosen a course of action she couldn’t take back.
Camellia pressed her lips together. She wasn’t the best at communication. She barely knew how to act around people. If Lily and Ryland, who clearly loved one another, could get to this point—so far apart—that a betrayal of this magnitude could take place, what chance could she possibly have with Jonas? They both had so many issues.
On the other hand, she and Jonas shared connections no one else had. They had the obvious pairing Whitney set up, just like the one he had clearly set up between Lily and Ryland. That had worked for a long time for the other couple. In addition to that, however, Camellia and Jonas had the underground mycelium network. They could communicate easily, feel what the other felt and know one another’s thoughts. They also would know what the other needed as far as mental and physical health. Most important, they were connected through Middlemist Red.
Middlemist Red was inherently sensitive. She lived in both of them. Granted, the dose Whitney had put in Camellia was far stronger than what he’d put in Jonas, but Red ran through both their veins. The connection between them was extremely strong because Red was so powerful. The plant had the ability to hide, which gave them that ability. Jonas had tapped into it often. He just hadn’t realized why he could disappear into shadows, mist and fog, not any more than he had comprehended that his early warning system came from the mycelium running beneath the ground.
“Ryland will never forgive me, and I can’t blame him,” Lily said. “And if anyone dies, I won’t be able to forgive myself. I’ve considered leaving Daniel here and hiking up the mountain to find this army coming at us and turn myself over to them. Maybe they’d turn back and be satisfied with just me.”
“You know better than that,” Camellia said, alarm spreading through her. Lily not only sounded desperate; she felt it as well. She was liable to do anything when she felt so hopeless and guilty. “The man Ryland and Jonas are questioning was sent to kidnap you and Daniel. The ones coming up the mountain aren’t here for you or your son. They plan on killing everyone they find here and at the other compound. That includes the women and children.”
Lily’s breath hitched audibly. “Marigold can’t be moved. We could try it, but if she starts hemorrhaging again, it could kill her. We’ve tried all kinds of medication, and nothing has worked so far. The road isn’t smooth, and airlifting her is out of the question.”
She ran shaking hands through her hair and stared with despair at Camellia. “Why would these men want to kill us all to begin with? Surely Whitney didn’t order it.”
“No, it doesn’t appear as if he did. Some bank conglomerate that wants to force Whitney to do their bidding. He’s too much of a patriot for them. According to Jonas, these people think Whitney will cooperate with them if they have you and Daniel.”
“They’re wrong. He would never sell out his country. He’s completely insane in so many ways, Camellia. He believes he should be able to go to any country, including the United States, and take female children that he claims no one wants. He buys them, so in his mind, he owns them. To him, those children are worthless until he gives them greatness and purpose by experimenting on them.”