Mattox noticed he didn’t call the man an assassin. They were careful with their words out here in the open, where Mutah ears might catch them. “Did he say if Misty was back from selling bagels yet in the Normal camps?”
Renken nodded once. “Yeah. She struck out.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Mattox remarked. “Our assumptions were wrong.”
“What?” The ex-mercenary narrowed his eyes at him.
“I’ll fill you in later. Are you all set for this thing coming toward us?”
“As much as we can be. I’ve been telling people not to start any fires in their homes. That wind could sweep down the flues and scatter those embers all inside, and set everything they own on fire.”
“Good idea. We need to get that passed down to every household.”
Renken grinned. “Already taken care of. Echo’s notifying everyone, and having them pass the warning along. How are things outside the walls?”
“I don’t think anything they do will be enough,” Mattox honestly replied. He turned to look at the storm. “Have you noticed we haven’t seen any lightning? I haven’t heard any thunder coming from that thing, either.”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t either. Is that supposed to be a good thing? No, wait. With our luck, it’s a bad thing, right?” Renken asked, trying to make light of the situation.
“It could be. Or not.”
“Guess we’ll have to wait until it gets here.” The man slapped him on the arm. “I need to go check the roster. See where Yulen wants me stationed this shift. Where will you be?”
“Anywhere he needs me.”
“He’ll probably use you as a floater. Good luck. See you around.”
Renken took off jogging in the direction of the barracks where the duty rosters were posted. Mattox followed behind him until he reached the main hall, and entered through the side kitchen door.
The battle lord was finishing up his lecture with some added warnings. “My men have already been to your camps and given them instructions on what you need to do before this storm hits. However, if it’s worse than we expect, and you feel your lives are in danger, I’ve stationed my men at the side gates to usher you in.”
“Why not let us come in now?” one man called out.
“Because it’ll be too crowded. Let’s see how this thing plays out first. Hopefully, it’ll just hit us hard and fast, and move on.” Noticing how the others’ attention focused to the side, Yulen turned around to discover his son standing there. “Mattox, is there anything you’d like to add?”
“No fires,” Mattox emphasized. “We don’t need those to get out of hand and set this compound ablaze.”
Yulen gave him a thumb’s up and faced the crowd. “Depending on how this evening goes, we’ll resume in the morning, unless you hear differently from me. This meeting is adjourned. Good luck, gentlemen.”
The battle lord turned his back on the group, waved for Mattox to follow him, and disappeared through the door leading into the rear of the medical clinic.
“I have some information,” Mattox told him as soon as he’d closed the door.
“I need to speak with Iain. Can it wait?”
“The archer isn’t Mutah.”
Yulen froze and waited for the rest of it as he stared at his son.
“He’s a Blood…passing as a Mutah.”
“How do you know?” Not, “Are you sure?”
“I smelled him. I was downwind from him when a gust of wind blew through. I caught a second whiff soon after.”
Yulen bowed his head, then shook it.
“We need to tell Mother.”
