"Are we doing all right?" Rachel asked. Her head rested comfortably on Will's chest. He put an arm around her and held her just as she liked it—firm, but never squeezing her, never pressuring her. She felt contained, like she were safe and sound in his grip and didn't have to worry about anything happening around her. Rachel's mind was free to wander while she was pressed up against him.
"Is that a 'me and you' we, or an 'all of us' we?" Will asked, brushing her hair gently. The room was steadily getting colder, so he reached over her to the edge of the bed and pulled up the blanket to wrap them both up. The sensation of his skin moving across her own scattered Rachel's thoughts for a moment, forcing her to refocus her thoughts before answering.
"All of us."
"Oh good. You had me really worried for a moment there."
Rachel laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm just... there's a lot on my mind."
"Isn't there always?" Will said, grinning. "Even your mind needs a break, Rachel. Just every once in a while. I haven't seen you drawing or relaxing in months. Not even at night."
"I know. I haven't been keeping you up, right?"
"Nah. I'm still a bit jealous you only need an hour of sleep though. Maybe someday I'll try that trick."
"Not until we know how to do it properly, remember?" Rachel said. "Kendra already told me she's noticed something off. I don't want unexpected side effects hitting us both."
"Yeah, of course. Not until." Will kissed her forehead gently. "What's on the superbrain tonight, then?"
"I'm afraid, Will," Rachel said quietly, closing her eyes and trying to let her muscles relax. She could feel Will calm and solid beneath her, and was unbearably jealous of him. She wished she could be so peaceful. "There's so many variables in play right now. I still have no clue where Rika is, why she's here or who her friend is. Omega's out there, even though Alpha promised us he'd never return. Grey-eyes is actually talking to me, but she's giving me cryptic warnings. And the secret's out and I don't know how it's spreading.
"It all depends on two groups keeping two massive secrets," she continued, letting out a deep breath. "Everyone in the entire town has to keep it a secret from the world that magic exists. If they find out, that's already a mess of trouble as people start looking for us. But everyone who's awakened has an even bigger secret to hold, that anyone can awaken. If that gets out..."
"We'll deal with it," Will said firmly.
"You can't know that though," Rachel said, opening her eyes and looking up at him. It was the one instance where she wished she weren't so tall, as she either had to constantly curl up to stay in place, or have her legs dangle well off the bed since she was a full five inches above Will's six feet. As much as she wanted to be contained and held, at the end of the day Rachel felt like she would always burst out and away. "There's so much at stake, and we're so few and divided. And I can't reach any of them to unite them against the threat."
"You can't reach them because they're not afraid yet."
"Not afraid?" Rachel asked, surprised. "They're all downright paranoid! And they've seen this before—why wouldn't they be afraid?"
"Everyone's cautious, and they have a reasonable distrust of one another. We've got a power structure entirely based around knowledge. No one wants to let anyone else get a single inch if they can help it. That's gonna naturally breed wariness."
Rachel considered for a moment. "So I need to bring together anyone not affected."
"Like who?"
"Cinza's people. They all trust each other, and Cinza trusts me. Kendra, Josh, and everyone else on our side of the Council. Natalie. Ryan."
"Did Ryan check in yet, by the way?" Will asked, looking over at their phones on the bedside table.
"No, but I'm sure he's still out looking. You know he's not gonna give up until he finds her. We can trust him."
"And when we've got all these people together, what then?"
Rachel took a deep breath. "We go hunting."