Chapter Eleven

Javier's patrol ended just as the first hints of dawn touched the eastern horizon. The desert was quiet and cool. For a few precious moments, the world seemed almost normal. Then he remembered Rafael and the feeling of being watched. The illusion shattered.

He crossed camp, heading toward his tent. Most of the night patrols had returned, and the scent of coffee already drifted through the air. In the center of camp, Mateo was speaking quietly with Diego and Sofía. The meeting would begin soon.

Javier ducked into his tent and immediately saw the folded blanket at the end of his cot. Abuela Rosa's. He picked it up, draping it over his arm. Then he headed toward the cave.

The cavern was still dim, though soft morning light filtered in through the entrance. Most of the camp was awake, but inside, everything remained quiet. Javier knocked on the canvas of Maeve’s tent.

“Come in,” she said.

Maeve was sitting on her cot. She was already dressed. One knee drawn up, her arms wrapped around it. She looked up when he entered. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then she looked toward the cave entrance.

"Please don't tell me you people are awake before sunrise on purpose."

Javier blinked. "We're usually awake before sunrise."

She looked horrified. "That's terrible. I couldn’t sleep.”

He almost smiled. Almost.

She noticed. "There it is."

"What?"

"That thing you just did."

"I didn't do anything."

"You almost smiled."

"I definitely didn't."

Maeve narrowed her eyes. "You did."

Javier shifted the blanket beneath his arm.

"We have a meeting."

"At sunrise?"

"Yes."

She sighed dramatically. "I miss sleeping."

"You slept most of yesterday."

"That was stress sleeping. Entirely different."

The corner of Javier's mouth twitched.

Then her eyes landed on the blanket.

"You steal old ladies' blankets too?"

He looked down. "No."

She pointed. "Evidence says otherwise."

A small laugh escaped him.

"I'm bringing it back to Abuela Rosa."

"Oh."

She paused. "That's significantly less interesting."

A smile touched his lips. Maeve liked his smile.

"We should go."

She didn't move. Instead, she studied him. The quiet stretched between them.

"What?" he finally asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

Her brow furrowed slightly.

"I guess I expected you to be…"

She searched for the word.

"Meaner."

Javier frowned. "Why?"

She gave him a look.

"The whole mysterious desert guy thing you've got going on."

"I have a thing?"

"Oh, absolutely."

He looked genuinely confused. That made her smile.

"You barely talk."

"You ask a lot of questions."

"That's because nobody tells me anything."

A fair point. The smile faded a little. She glanced toward the cave entrance before looking back at him.

"And…" She hesitated. "Thank you."

He blinked. "For what?"

She looked almost embarrassed.

"For yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"The table."

Understanding dawned.

"When my hands were on fire. You helped me calm down."

She shrugged one shoulder.

"I don't really understand what happened, but…" She met his eyes again. "It felt like you did."

Javier said nothing.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

The words settled quietly between them. After a moment, he nodded once.

"You don't have to thank me."

"Maybe not."

A small smile touched her mouth.

"But I wanted to."

The silence that followed should have been awkward. Instead, it settled between them with surprising ease. Then Maeve cleared her throat and stood.

"So," she said, forcing a lighter tone back into her voice, "what exactly is this meeting about?"

His expression became serious again. "Rafael."

She frowned. "Who?"

He motioned toward the entrance.

"We should go."

She followed him outside. The cool morning air greeted them immediately. The camp was beginning to stir. A fresh fire burned in the center, and several members of the patrol were already gathered around it. As they walked, Maeve moved a little closer to him.

"Are they all staring at me?"

"No."

"They're definitely staring at me."

"They're curious."

"That's somehow worse."

A tiny smile touched his mouth. She glanced at him.

"You know, you're not nearly as intimidating when you do that."

He frowned. "Do what?"

"That."

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't."

She looked ahead again.

"I think everyone else is just afraid to tell you that you occasionally look approachable."

"I don't think that's true."

"I think it might be."

They stepped into the center of the camp. Mateo looked up.

"Good. You're both here."

Maeve immediately frowned.

"Why does that sound ominous?"

A few tired smiles appeared around the circle, but they vanished quickly. Something in the atmosphere shifted. The lightness from her walk with Javier disappeared. Sofía moved over, making room for her on one of the blankets. Maeve sat down slowly. Javier remained standing for a moment, handing Abuela Rosa her forgotten blanket.

"Ah." The older woman smiled warmly. "I wondered where this had gone."

"You left it by the fire."

"I suppose I did."

She patted his hand once before wrapping the blanket over her lap. Javier finally sat beside Mateo. The fire crackled softly between them. No one spoke. Maeve looked from one face to the next.

"Okay," she said cautiously. "Now I'm really concerned."

Mateo folded his hands.

"There's something we need to discuss."

She sighed. "Great."

Mateo exchanged a look with Javier. Then he said quietly, "Last night, someone was watching the camp."

The humor immediately left her face.

"What?"

"We believe it was Rafael."

Maeve looked from Mateo to Javier. The easy expression she'd worn moments ago disappeared.

"Who is this Rafael?"

Javier's jaw tightened. Silence settled around the fire. Then Diego sighed softly.

"I was hoping we'd never have to answer that question again."

Mateo looked into the flames.

"Rafael was one of us."

"He grew up in this camp," Sofía added quietly. "Trained here. Ate at this fire. Patrolled these trails."

Maeve's eyes widened slightly. "You all knew him?"

A humorless laugh escaped Tomas. "Knew him? We practically grew up getting yelled at by him."

That earned the smallest smile from a few of the others.

"He took everything seriously," Diego said.

"Everything," Tomas agreed. "He once made me reorganize our supply tent because
I put the medical kit in the wrong box."

"You did put it in the wrong box," Sofía said.

Tomas pointed at her. "It's been years. Let it go."

The brief amusement faded quickly. Mateo looked at Maeve.

"We used to call him family."

"Used to?"

Javier's expression had gone completely still. "He and I were raised together."

Maeve blinked. "You were friends?"

A muscle jumped in Javier's jaw. "More like brothers."

The answer was quiet. Unexpectedly so.

"What happened?"

Again, silence. Then Mateo spoke.

"He lost his sister."

Maeve's expression softened.

"Oh."

"Isobel," Mateo continued. "She and Javier were the same age."

Javier stared into the fire.

"The three of them were inseparable."

Maeve looked at Javier.

"You knew her,” Maeve said with sympathy.

For a long moment, he didn't answer.

Then, "Yeah."

The word was soft. The fire popped. A faint smile touched his mouth.

"She used to keep us out of trouble."

Mateo snorted. "She tried."

A few chuckles were heard around the fire. Javier's slight smile lingered for a moment. Then it faded.

"She was family."

The words settled heavily between them. Maeve said nothing. She could hear the grief in those three words. It wasn't fresh. It wasn't sharp. It was old. The kind that settled deep and never completely left.

"What happened to her?" she asked quietly.

The camp fell silent. Finally, Javier answered.

"She died on patrol."

No one moved. No one even seemed to breathe.

"I'm sorry," Maeve said softly.

Javier nodded once. He didn't trust himself to say more. Mateo picked up the story.

"After Isobel died, Rafael changed."

"He blamed the Order," Javier said.

"He blamed our purpose."

Maeve frowned. "What does that mean?"

Javier looked at her. "The Guardians protect people."

"All people," Mateo added. "Anyone crossing this desert. Anyone who needs help."

Maeve nodded slowly. "And Rafael?"

"He decided we ask too much of our wolves."

The fire crackled.

"He believes too many of us have died protecting people who don't even know we exist."

"And you don't agree?" she asked.

"No."

The answer came immediately.

"Why?"

Javier looked back into the flames. Because Isobel wouldn't have agreed. Because she believed in this. Because giving up would mean losing more than just her. But he couldn't explain all of that. Instead, he said quietly,

"Because protecting people is who we are."

Silence settled around the circle.

Then Mateo said, "Rafael believes wolves should protect wolves."

"And because of that…" Maeve said slowly.

"He left," Mateo finished. "And formed his own pack."

She absorbed that.

"And now he's watching your camp."

No one said anything. That frightened her more than any answer could have.

Finally, Javier spoke. "Rafael doesn't do anything without a reason."

The certainty in his voice sent a chill through her.

"You think that reason is me?"

Another silence.

"Maybe," Mateo said.

She blinked. "I'm sorry… what?"

Mateo leaned forward. "You're the Living Flame."

"And someone kidnapped you," Sofía added.

"The same night your powers awakened," Javier said.

"And then Rafael appears outside our camp."

The implications settled over her.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Javier said quietly. "Oh."

She looked around the circle. No one appeared surprised, but no one appeared
unconcerned either. In fact, they all looked worried. A knot formed in her stomach.

"So… what does this mean?"

Mateo's expression softened.

"It means that until we know more, we need to be careful."

"Careful how?"

He held her gaze.

"We need you to remain inside the protection of the runes."

Silence. Maeve blinked. Then blinked again.

"Inside the protection of the… what?"

"The runes," Mateo repeated.

"That somehow explained nothing."

A few of the wolves smiled. Lucia leaned forward slightly.

"The symbols carved into the stone around the camp."

Maeve frowned. "The ones near the entrance?"

Lucia nodded. "They are wards. Old magic."

"What kind of wards?"

"They protect this camp."

Maeve looked from Lucia to the canyon walls surrounding them.

"Protect it from what?"

A silence settled over the fire.

"Many things," Mateo said.

"People who want to harm us," Sofía added.

"People who might follow us," Diego said.

"And sometimes," Lucia said softly, "things that cannot always be seen."

Maeve looked back at her. That answer did not make her feel better.

"So they're… a magical security system?"

To her surprise, Tomas grinned. "That's actually not a bad description."

She looked at him. "Really?"

"They keep people from finding us unless we want them to."

"And they hide the camp?" she asked.

"In a way," Lucia said.

Maeve frowned. "I walked right through them."

"Because they allowed you to."

That made her pause. "They can do that?"

Lucia nodded. "The runes know intention."

Maeve blinked. "Your magical security system is sentient?"

"Please stop calling them a security system," Javier muttered.

She ignored him. "They can tell if someone is dangerous?"

"Not exactly," Lucia said. "But they recognize hostility. Corruption. Ill intent."

The fire crackled again.

Maeve's gaze moved around the circle.

"And if someone dangerous tries to cross them?"

No one answered immediately.

Finally, Mateo said, "They don't get very far."

"Which is why," Mateo continued, "we need you to stay within their protection."

"You mean I can't leave."

Silence settled over the fire. Then Maeve stood. No one moved. She took a few steps away from the group. Then, she turned back toward them.

"No."