I’d attempted to tug off her boots, but she’d whimpered and held onto them. Perhaps fear still pumped through her body. I’d seen some warriors fall asleep fully clothed and armed between skirmishes, unwilling to be caught off guard.
That same fear had flooded my body like lightning when I saw her dragging Maz. She’d been drenched with blood, her face pale as death. I’d been searching the alleys for hours whenI couldn’t find her among the taverns. I’d started to think that both she and Maz were lost to me.
My business with Melaena had been short. I’d told her we’d got Garyth’s family out safely, and she told me that Renwell had burst in with his Wolves. He’d searched every room but found nothing before seeming to realize his quarry must be headed for the city gate.
She’d stashed the papers that Helene had given her, and I told her to keep them. She would have to be one of Everett’s best allies and closest resources once his father was dead.
Then I’d asked her about Maz, and she said he’d never shown up there either.
Gods, if I hadn’t stumbled on Kiera and Maz when I did... If Kiera hadn’t found enough silvertree powder... If I hadn’t paid Skelly a year’s wages to find some in the secret markets of Eloren...
I stared at the hard gray shell over Maz’s shoulders. The powder had cauterized his wounds and would protect his raw skin until it began to scab. Then I would have to dampen it to get it to dissolve. But it could take days, and we only had a week left here.
The door opened, and Nikella slipped inside with her walking stick. She never went anywhere without it or the spear it usually carried.
“How is he?” she whispered, nodding to Maz.
“The same,” I said, scraping my palms over the stubble on my cheeks and jaw. “He woke for a few moments last night. He was coherent enough to understand what happened.”
Nikella sat next to me on my cot, which I’d dragged next to Maz’s. “I imagine he didn’t take it well.”
“No.” I remembered his anguished face when I’d told him of the damage. Korvin’s knife had cut away something much deeper than skin. “But he’ll rally. He always does.”
Nikella rested her hand on my shoulder, the most affection she usually showed. “We should discuss your plan.”
“It hasn’t changed.”
“Perhaps it should.”
I grunted, raking my hands through my hair. “The loss of Maz as a fighter and leader is great, yes. But we can still carry on.”
Nikella pinned me with her usual stare. “You’ve also lost Garyth and Asher. Renwell is suspicious of Melaena and seems to be drawing lines between all of us, using your heist. I’ve moved out of the Temple for Librius’s sake, but how long before he discovers where we are and what we’re doing?”
“I’ve been playing this game with him for years, Nikella, and he still hasn’t caught me.”
Her hand fell away from me. “I played games with him for much longer than you have. You can’t out-manipulate him.”
“Then I’ll kill him too,” I snarled. “He deserves it for this. For everything else.”
Nikella silently looked at me, unperturbed that I’d just threatened to kill her brother.
“I can’t stop now,” I said, a needle of desperation piercing my anger. “We’re so close. I thought I’d never have this chance again, but I do. And nothing will stop me from taking it.”
“Is it worth your life? His?” She nodded to Maz. Then at the door to the next room. “Theirs?”
My heart wrenched, trying to block the fear that battered it. “I won’t lose them. I can keep them safe.”
We sat in silence, letting the frailty of my promise tremble in the morning light.
I could lose them. I’d lost many before. But my courage couldn’t bear that truth just now.
Don’t mourn what you haven’t yet lost.
That was what Maz had told me when it was Kiera’s unconscious body I was staring down at.
But they were still here. They were still alive, and I would keep them that way. By killing Weylin—and Renwell, if I stumbled across the rat.
“Get some sleep,” Nikella finally said. “I’ll watch him.”
