Threading the Needle Read Online Free PDF

survival, but it gripped her again now.
    Kara bit her lip at the stricken look on Cory’s face, but turned and left with Artras, the older Wielder taking her arm as soon as they were out of sight. “He’ll be fine. You simply haven’t been farther away from each other than a few minutes’ walk in a few months. He’ll adjust.”
    Kara didn’t trust her voice enough to say anything.
    Artras and Kara hustled to the refugee’s meadow. Artras broke away from Kara and headed toward her own tent, shared with Dylan. Kara thrust her own tent flap back and reached inside, her pack waiting. She pulled it toward her, ready to step back outside into the dew-laden air, but she paused. The inside of the tent, still warm from the heating stone, smelled like Cory, his musk like earthen loam mixed with a faint spice that tickled her nose. She drew it in, committed it to memory, then released it and closed the tent again. Swiveling on the balls of her feet, she pulled her arms through the straps on her pack and settled it as she wove through the tents back toward the village.
    As soon as she rounded Logan’s cottage, she saw Cory, Hernande, Artras, Allan, and the rest of the group surrounding the single wagon they were taking into the city. It was already loaded with the few supplies they weren’t carrying in their own packs. Two horses were hitched and stamping their feet, impatient to get moving. Kara noted four Dogs, all grouped around Allan. Aside from Artras, two other Wielders were going with them: Dylan and a younger Wielder named Carter. Two men from the refugees and two others originally from the Hollow—none of whom Kara knew well—would help gather the supplies once they were freed.
    She noted Morrell standing close to her father. As she watched, the young girl—young woman, she realized with a start—suddenly reached out and hugged her father close before pulling back. Allan stroked her long golden hair, but caught her shoulders when she pulled away, saying something to her that Kara couldn’t hear, a serious expression on his face. Morrell nodded and Allan nearly patted her head before catching himself.
    Both Sophia and Paul were standing to one side, Paul scowling as usual.
    Allan glanced around. “We’re all here. Let’s head out so we reach the plains before nightfall.”
    â€œDon’t take any risks.” Sophia gripped Kara’s hands in her own. “We need you here more than you need to heal the distortions.”
    Behind her, Paul grunted in disdain.
    Hernande shifted a discreet distance away as Kara turned to Cory.
    â€œI’ll be careful.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and drew him in close. “And I’ll be fine.” She kissed him, then pulled away before her confident facade could crack.
    One Dog and one Hollower had already taken the driver’s seat and hied the horses to the edge of the forest, the rest trailing behind or already out in front. Artras was waiting for Kara to catch up. She said nothing as Kara rubbed at her face with her sleeves.
    Then the group passed into the shadow of the trees, and the Hollow fell behind.

    â€œShould we camp within the tree line, since there’s only an hour or so before dusk?”
    Allan stared out at the rolling edge of the plains. “We’ll be traveling the grass for days. If there’s someone out there, watching for us, they’ll see us whether we move now or later.” He met the Dog’s gaze. “Be on your guard.”
    Glenn nodded, the gesture the sharp acknowledgment of a Dog to his superior, before retreating back into the woods to fetch the wagon and the others. Allan had been concerned the Dogs would assume Bryce’s disdain for him and be insubordinate, but without Bryce here to goad them, they’d settled into the familiar framework that had existed in their packs before the Shattering. It was like the den before, with