A gust of stale air tinged with salt and iron nearly made me retreat. But Yarina was crowding my back as she herded me toward her brother, who was lying facedown on a cot. I feared for the flimsy bed under Maz’s massive bulk.
Several Dags and a few bone-rattlers occupied the other cots that littered the low-ceilinged room. Swinging lanterns bathed them in pools of yellow light.
Nikella sat in a corner with a Dag man, threading white bandages between each of his burned fingers. But her sharp eyes, so eerily like her brother’s, speared me from across the room.
“As requested, you great oaf,” Yarina announced. “Now you can stop threatening to ruin my excellent healing work.”
Maz’s head swiveled around, and he gave me a sideways grin. “Ah, lovely, there you are! I nearly didn’t believe Nikella when she said you were on the ship. But I know our illustrious Teacher would never lie.” He stretched out a massive hand. “Sit with me before I go mad with boredom.”
My stomach churned. Aiden had kept the truth sheathed. But why? What was he waiting for?
I grasped Maz’s rough hand and sank to the wooden floor beside him.
Yarina flopped onto an empty cot. “Aiden says you only need a few more days of treatment, Mazkull. Grandmother would put us on night-watch duty for a month if we let you run around re-opening your wounds.”
“I’m fine,” Maz muttered, the spark in his blue eyes dimming.
My gaze darted to his exposed back. The shiny pink skin where his mountain tattoo used to be was still raw in a few places. Shadows danced over my vision.
Maz’s screams. Blood and skin discarded on the cave floor. Korvin’s flaying knife and twisted grin.
“Kiera?”
I jerked my gaze back to Maz’s concerned one.
“Are you all right? Nikella said you weren’t gravely injured, but that’s all she would say. And Aiden has been lost in his own head, barely speaking. What happened with you and Ruru? Did your side of the plan work?”
I swallowed hard. “Ruru... Ruru was alive and well the last I saw of him.” Except now he was alone in a city controlled by Renwell. “He still has your whistler.”
“You gave someone your whistler?” Yarina interjected. She slid one of her scythes from its harness and stroked it lovingly. “I could never part with Death Drinker here or her twin, Soul Stealer.”
Maz rolled his eyes. “We’re not all as in love with our weaponry as you are, little sister.”
“Were you not going to get your lost axe inked on your skin?” I asked him.
Yarina snorted, and Maz chuckled—a sound that seemed out of place in this room. But Holy Four, it felt good to bring someone joy. For one moment, the shackles on my heart loosened.
But then the door opened, and Aiden stepped into the room.
Our gazes clashed in the shifting light. Those bright green eyes had captivated me from the first moment they found me in our shared cell in the Den. Right after he’d broken the jailer’s nose for hurting me.
They had been filled with fury then. Now, they looked as haunted as I felt.
Maz squeezed my hand, drawing my attention back to him, and I realized I’d been crushing his fingers. I slackened my grip.
His teasing smile faded as he studied my expression. He glanced between me and Aiden, his brow creased.
“Kiera was just telling me of Ruru, Aiden,” he said, holding me firmly in place as though he could feel my body tensing for flight.
I didn’t dare look back at Aiden, but his deep voice pierced my heart all the same.
“And what did she say of him?”
“Our little brother is alive and well, still in possession of my whistler. Hopefully, he had the good sense to get out of Aquinon before Renwell looks for him.”
“I told him to,” I said quietly. I’d given him my gold from the heist as well, enough to buy food and lodging for a month.
“You’re the very best of friends, Ruru.”
