“Kiera!” I roared.
The Wolf’s attention shot toward me. But I didn’t hesitate. I leapt at him. Sank one blade through his weapon hand and the other into his throat, pinning him to a wall.
The sunstone knife clattered to the ground. The Wolf gurgled, shuddering on my blade.
I ripped his mask off. His heavy, scarred face sneered at me even as he choked on his own blood.
As the life left his eyes, I whispered, “May the gods never find your soul.”
I wrenched my blades out of his body, letting it slide to the ground. I hurried over to where Ruru knelt next to Kiera. Maz stood over them both, his face stricken, axe in hand.
“Don’t touch her,” I snapped at Ruru.
He backed away, his eyes cast down. The rage in my blood cooled. I set aside my knives and laid a bloody hand on his arm. “Forgive me, Ruru. This isn’t your fault.”
He looked up at me, silver lining his dark eyes. “She’s still breathing.”
I inhaled sharply, turning my full attention to Kiera. Her body was so still. Only a slight rise and fall in her chest.
I turned from warrior to healer. I pressed my fingers to her neck. A faint pulse. I traced her body from head to toe, checking for broken bones and swelling. She had a shallow but nasty cut across her chest and a large lump on her temple. Her limp fingers still held a bloody knife.
“Stay with me,” I murmured to her.
I worked the knife out of her grasp, wiped it off on the dead Wolf, and shoved it in my boot.
“They came out of nowhere.” Ruru was babbling. “They wouldn’t stop coming. I tried to lose them but... but the alley.” He gestured weakly at the pile of rubble.
“Did they howl for help?” Maz demanded, stalking a perimeter around us.
“No. She... she killed that one quickly.” Ruru pointed at the body lying deeper in the alley. “And I heard nothing from the other one, even after she told me to run.”
“Thank the gods,” Maz breathed.
“Don’t thank them yet.” I stared down at Kiera’s bloodied body. Memories battled for my sanity. Darkness crowded my vision. How did I always end up standing over the body of someone I should’ve protected?
With a growl, I tore myself away from the edge of that particular cliff. “Maz, take care of the wagons and the warehouse while Ruru and I get Kiera to safety. If you see even a flicker in the shadows, abandon everything and save yourself.”
Maz gripped his axe tighter. “I’d rather stay with you, brother.”
I shook my head. “We’ll manage. Right, Ruru?”
The boy wiped the tears from his cheeks and straightened his shoulders. “I would do anything to protect her.”
As will I, it seems.
I nudged the thought away and got to work.
My heart didn’t stop poundinguntil we reached our rooms.
I gently laid Kiera on her cot while Ruru hid the stolen Shadow-Wolf gear under a loose floorboard. We’d taken the uniform of the Wolf Kiera had killed, but the other Wolf’s was too shredded to be of use. We also gathered up their masks and knives. A choice I might come to regret.
But a part of me wanted to know that when Renwell found his dead Wolves, they would be unmasked and unarmed. A feeling I hoped he would understand intimately soon enough.
I also collected Kiera’s knives and cleaned them. Whether she’d want them after all this, I didn’t know. But at least they would be here.
My years of training in Twaryn took over as I removed her boots and grabbed our medical supplies and a bowl of water. I cleaned her head wound and the cut on her chest. I had to remove her bloody shirt, Ruru aiding me with tight-lipped efficiency. She wore a tight band around her breasts, but I averted my eyes, anyway.
We didn’t have the herbs that would’ve worked best for her head wound, but I made do with a different poultice that would at least slow the bleeding and ease the swelling.
