Chapter 59

— Sienna’s POV —

I took a nap that barely lasted three hours, too on edge about what the evening was going to bring to get any kind of restful sleep.

A part of me should have known that Asher wouldn’t let me go to the watchtower alone, and I scolded myself for it.

Another part was glad I wouldn’t do it alone — because really, what shape was I in to defend myself against a rogue? Let alone more than one?

That’s if they even find us up in the watchtower.

I hadn’t been up in a tower in a while. There was once a time when I was younger that I’d play up in them after the soldiers had been on watch — back when we’d had more soldiers, that is.

The few soldiers we had now were posted on the other borders, leaving Asher and I to watch the one that bordered Nightfall, exactly where he’d seen the rogue earlier.

It felt like I could finally do something to protect my pack, instead of having others do it for me.

A while back, I’d learned how to wield a bow, and I’d rarely missed a target since then. If I needed to silently take down a rogue from up in the trees, I believed I could do it.

And so as the sun began to set, I grabbed a small overnight bag and met Asher in the dining room.

“I patrolled the area about an hour ago, and so far, it’s safe. Not sure it’ll stay that way.” Asher had his own little bag tossed over his shoulder.

“Rogues act fast,” I said quietly, following him out the front door. The sky was streaked with the rosy fingers of dusk as we ducked out towards the Nightfall border, moving just a little more north.

If you didn’t know exactly where the watchtower was, or the markers to follow to its tree, you’d never have a clue it was there. The trees in this part of the forest were huge, sporting hundreds of thick, dense branches.

Asher followed me up a few branches to the rope ladder that hung halfway down the tree, designed so it wouldn’t be visible from the ground.

I already felt safer nestled within the branches, surrounded by the trees heavy leaves. The rope of the ladder tore at my skin, flashes of my childhood in the watchtowers going through my mind.

When I reached the top, it was exactly the way I’d always remembered it. The trunk of the tree cut through the middle, windows positioned on each of the walls for the best visibility, boasting bark colored curtains to hang if you needed more camouflage.

The main area was huge, spanning out quite a few feet into the trees branches, small chairs with little side tables tucked into the corners for comfort, oil lanterns set on the floor next to them.

Asher came up after me, closing the doors curtain behind him and rolling up the ladder, securing us up here with no access from the ground.

My eyes skimmed along the windows, where binoculars and scopes sat, a cabinet in the opposite corner with a variety of bows and even some tranquilizers.

“I had no idea these existed,” Asher laughed, looking around, quite impressed.

“That’s the whole point,” I smiled just a little bit, settling into one of the chairs that sat next to the window that faced towards the cliffs.

“The leaves don’t block line of sight?” Asher frowned, peering out the window into the thick of it.

“The binoculars are insane — plus, look at this,” I grinned, pointing to a little square door in the wall behind him, next to the entrance.

I flipped it open, and four screens flickered to life inside, showing the four different views of the cameras that were placed on different sides of the tree, giving us a crystal clear view of every direction.

Two of those cameras faced the cliffs, so we’d have no problem identifying someone.

“The cameras will alert us to movement, too, and we can activate the warning sirens from up here if it comes to that.”

I was proud of our watchtowers. From the outside — if you could even see them — they looked like glorified treehouses, but on the inside, they offered a lot more security than you’d expect.

Asher took the cozy chair that looked out on another side of the cliffs, while I took the other, and a silence settled over us. My eyes kept flickering back to the screens, waiting for a red light to start flashing, but nothing happened.

It was barely dark, though.

“The rogue was just out and about in the middle of the day, weren’t they?” I asked suddenly, my brows furrowing.

“It was hardly midday,” Asher answered, his eyes trained outside his window, binoculars in his hands.

“Why just go traipsing around in broad daylight?” I thought aloud, and Asher’s answer gave me a chill.

“Because they’re not afraid.”

Our eyes met from our respective sides of the watchtower, the room darkening more by the minute. We’d have to sit in almost pitch darkness, though a lantern in the corner wouldn’t be noticed from all the way on the ground.

It was safer to stay in the dark, though.

And I was okay with it being dark — I didn’t have to look at Asher then.

It was already so awkward being alone with him like we were.

An hour passed, and then another.

Then a third.

Nothing happened, which was definitely a good thing. The tired was slowly creeping in from the lack of activity, my head lolling against the chairs soft cushion.

“You awake over there?” Asher called over, and no, I was actually almost asleep.

“Yes,” I said groggily, rubbing at my eyes.

“Seems pretty silent out there,” Asher said from in the darkness, and I glanced over to the screens.

I expected to see nothing, like I’d been seeing for the last few hours.

Only I didn’t see nothing.

I saw someone. One of the cameras from my side was flashing a red alert, detecting motion along the cliff edge.

“Look!” I gasped, up and out of my chair in a split second, any hint of tired now erased.

“It’s the rogue.” Asher was at my side, our faces inches from the screen.

The display was in night vision, so we saw the silhouette of the hooded figure looking over the cliff edge, checking all directions, before waving behind him.

My stomach sank below the ground, hundreds of feet below us.

“It’s not just one rogue,” I whispered in fear, watching as a handful of other hooded figures emerged from within the cliffs on either side.

“No,” Asher whispered, his voice trembling as more figures gathered, slowly beginning to rappel down to the ground one after the other.

Asher and I turned to one another in disbelief, and a little denial.

“Asher,” I croaked, glancing back to the cabinet of bows.

“I think you need to sound the sirens.”

The words sat in my ears for a split second before I reacted, smashing the siren button on the wall, their wail sounding out in the distance, only fueling my terror more.