A lone lamp illuminated Maz’s bearded face twisted in a snarl. “Where. Have. You. Been?” He noted the blood on my shirt and hands. “Fucking Four, Aiden, what happened?”
“It’s not my—” I started.
“Is Kiera?—”
“I’m here, Maz,” Kiera said wearily behind me.
He pulled her into one of his bone-crushing hugs, surprising me. It surprised her too, from the wide-eyed look she sent me over his shoulder.
I shrugged at her. It was Maz’s way.
He released her, and she patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. “Have you been drinking?” she asked, sniffing the air.
“Not enough,” he grumbled, stalking back to a small wooden table that we used for eating or cleaning weapons. An empty mug sat next to a partially drained brown bottle. “I’m guessing we all might need a cup for the story you’re about to tell?”
“I doubt whatever you’ve got will help,” Kiera said, glancing around the room, taking in our two cots, a few shelves of food, and a battered wardrobe. A thin door closed off the next room, which looked almost the same.
“Mead can fix almost anything,” Maz said. “As does a good song or story.”
“This is not a good story,” I said, tossing my cloak onto my cot and pouring a cup of amber liquid that reminded me of Kiera’s eyes. I drank deeply, then settled into a chair next to Maz.
“Hence the mead.” He poured Kiera a cup as well and gestured her to the chair across from me.
She sank onto it with a sigh and gulped her drink.
I recounted what happened while Kiera stared into her cup. When I reached the part where we hid, she interrupted me.
“How did you know there were more coming?”
“Do you remember the howl behind us?” She nodded. “That’s their signal to any nearby patrolling Wolves to join them.”
“Lovely,” she muttered. “They certainly like to play into their nickname.”
Maz tipped his chair back on two legs. “It’s also what makes them hard to evade. Their signals are difficult to imitate, and they never patrol alone but in random packs.”
“That’s how I got caught in the Den,” I said. “Renwell must arrange their numbers in a specific way, or I wouldn’t have revealed myself by trying to join an already assigned group leaving the gate.”
Kiera’s eyes narrowed, and I frowned. The mead must’ve loosened my tongue more than expected. I set my cup aside.
“How did you get the uniform, the mask?” she asked.
“How do you imagine?”
Her eyes widened at my harsh tone, and she looked away, chewing her lip.
We’d stalked Shadow-Wolves for the past two years, trying to learn their ways. Early on, a patrolling pair had snuck up on us, and we barely survived the fight. One of their uniforms was damaged beyond repair, but we’d taken the other one, as well as their masks and knives. We purposely hadn’t used them until it felt like we had no other choice.
“What happened then?” Maz asked, drawing my attention back.
I finished the story in a crisp tone. I left out Kiera’s reactions and our conversation, stating only the facts.
Maz bowed his head. “May the gods find their souls.”
I nodded, weariness seeping into my bones. “We should get some sleep. Kiera, you can take one of the cots in the next room. Sometimes we have others who sleep in there, but it’s empty now.”
Kiera blinked at me as if her mind had been far, far away. “Thank you, but what of food?”
“You’re welcome to anything we have,” I said, waving a hand to our shelves. “Otherwise, Sophie usually has something cooking down in the courtyard.”
