Izoven: Song of Fire ✓

Chapter 35

"Found you."

Emery opened one eye first and stared up at familiar sea-green eyes. It made her heart unsettled and frantic. He's here. He's actually here!

Raising herself on the very tips of her toes, Emery looked over his shoulder. There was no army. No ambush. No attack. The only thing behind Theo was a large black bag that was swung over his shoulder. 

She let out a big breath and lowered herself back down. Though she felt relief, her heart wouldn't settle. 

"What took you so long?" she asked Theo. 

He tilted his head, a small smile appearing on his lips. "You weren't exactly easy to track down. It took me a whole week to find my only lead."

Emery furrowed her brows together. "What was that?"

"A man named Asher. Sherriff Lila had given him clues to your coordinates, in case of emergency. I wasted a day or two on wrong guesses . . . until today." 

The small bird returned to the porch, wrapping its claws around a thin piece of broken bark. Theo nudged his head toward it before saying, "I also had a bit of help."

She flinched, her gaze flashing toward the bird, then back at him. Just as she was about to freak out and ask how she could control animals, another question popped into her head. With a raised eyebrow, she crossed her arms and asked, "Wait . . . Asher just told you that he had clues and gave them to you?"

"Not willingly. . . ." 

Not will— What?!

"Calm down. I give you my word. No morons were hurt while getting that information." He raised his shoulders nonchalantly, before shrugging the large bag off his shoulder and holding it in front of her. "As promised: my proof."

Her eyes flashed to the bag, then back to him. "What is it?"

"I'll have to explain inside."

Desperate to get this thing over with, Emery snatched the bag away and yelled, "Lila! You might want to call Mave and Mel now!"

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All eyes were on Theo as he stretched a large map on the floor of the cabin. It was so big they had to move Emery's sofa to make space for it. Red and blue dots were scattered around its different continents. In some places, same-colored dots stuck close together. In others, they were few and sparse. 

Emery noticed a red dot right over Bellenau. 

Her eyes traveled to the other members to see if they shared her confusion or curiosity. They all seemed torn between looking at the map and keeping a wary eye on Theo. Melinda even kept Emery tucked by her side, close to the door, in case the need arose to run. While Lila kept her hand rested on her gun holster. 

Though Emery had managed to convince them not to lock Theo up until he explained—and he promised to comply with their every instruction—they didn't yet trust him. 

Despite the fact that there was nothing but hostility in that room, Theo started, "Before beginning his hunt for the Songs, Vareus spent his first few years on Earth traveling and gathering numbers for his cause. The blue marks are Vareus' active factions. You'll find about twenty to fifty members in each location. I doubt they know I've betrayed them, so you'll be able to catch most of them if you attack soon.

"If you find that any faction is particularly empty," Theo stopped to grab a tall stack of folders he'd set aside. "You should find a brief profile on each of the members here."

Poppy curiously inched toward the stack and opened the first manila folder. Her eyes scanned its contents quickly before she closed it and picked up another. "They seem legit." She sat, eyes never leaving the pages, and continued to pick apart each one.