I placed my hand on top of his. “You never told me about your parents.”
He shrugged. “They died when I was little. Sickness. My brother—Daire—took care of me for a while. Then the Wolves took him too.”
“I’m sorry, Ruru,” I said, my throat tight.
He gave me a small smile. “It’s all right. Everyone loses everyone eventually. But there are always more to find. I found Aiden. And Maz. Sophie. Librius and Nikella. Melaena. My friends around the city. And you.”
Tears welled in my eyes, but I smiled back. “I’m so glad I found you too, Ruru.” I quickly blinked back the moisture. “So, what happens now?”
His smile widened. “I’ve never had a personal guard before, but I think that means you start carrying my stuff for me. Want to practice?” He lifted the quiver of arrows.
I laughed. “That’s most certainlynothow it works.”
“I disagree, but I’ll also be showing you our route and helping you practice your climbing.”
I sobered immediately. “Climbing?”
“We have to climb fairly high to stay out of reach of the Wolves. Then we’ll have to run over a few buildings to get to the next spot, and so on.”
My palms grew moist at the thought of flying over rooftops. “Then I’ll need all the help I can get.”
“Kiera! Ruru!” Aiden called and waved us over.
He hadn’t called me “little thief” since he’d discovered me crawling out of my hiding spot. Certainly not “mylittle thief” as he had during the heist.
I shook the thought from my head as we made our way over. It didn’t matter what he called me. It was a ridiculous moniker, anyway. One of many I held.
Father’s voice taunted me,You can’t make up your gods-damned mind, can you, girl?
Everyone’s face was serious as we approached.
“I told them about Asher,” Aiden said. He inclined his head at Ruru. “He’s dead.”
Ruru groaned.
“Stealing from the High Treasurer was ill-conceived,” Nikella said.
Aiden cut her an irritated look. “We had to. What’s done is done.”
Her eyes flicked to me, but she didn’t say anything.
“Well, it’s a gods-damned shame—may the gods find his soul—but where does that leave us?” Maz asked, twirling his axe in one hand.
“The same place as before,” Aiden said. “We just need to tread more carefully. Librius will continue working with his new materials, aided by Nikella. Kiera and Ruru will continue training for their part?—”
“—while Aiden and I relax and drink and wait for you all to be ready,” Maz finished with a laugh.
Ruru and Librius laughed along with him while Aiden sighed. I thought I even caught a glimmer of a smile from Nikella, but it was there and gone so quick, it could’ve been a trick of the torchlight.
I nudged Maz’s knee. “What has you in such a festive mood?”
He grinned up at me, his light blue eyes glowing like a cloudless day. “I get to go home soon, lovely. Figured I might as well start celebrating now.”
“We’re not there yet,” Aiden reminded him sharply.
Maz waved him off. “Details, brother.”
My gut tied itself into knots. Would Maz make it home after all this? I didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t. It wasn’t just Aiden’s fate I held in my hands. It was all of theirs.
