I turned to face him.“When my father finds out about this—”
“He will not find out,” Taio said.“Especially if Loverboy kills me as he’s planning.”
My jaw dropped open.Behind Taio I spotted Dilla and Zil walking along the wall of the outpost and moved back further.I didn’t want them to overhear.
“Gaz wouldn’t kill you.He’s angry, but he’s not a murderer.”
“Will you stop him if he tries?”Taio asked.
I looked away.In the distance, the sun was low on the horizon.The waving grasses would make it difficult to detect any approaching Hollows in the dark.I knew what Taio was asking.It wasn’t enough that I’d chosen him tonight—not that I had any real choice if I didn’t want an all-out battle between us and the Zulenii—but he wanted to know if I would keep choosing him.My every instinct was to choose Gaz.We’d known each other all our lives.I’d admired him for years, and not just as a woman admires a man.I admired his strength, his principles, his honor.But if Gaz tried to kill Taio, he’d be breaking that code of honor.There was nothing to admire in that.
“It won’t come to that,” I said, hoping I was right.
Kintle had moved away from us and now said something I didn’t understand.Taio nodded and gestured for me to move ahead.“He says we can sleep there.”
I trudged after Kintle, noting that he’d managed to find a slight rise.It would give us a better view when standing, but once we sat or lay down, we’d be swallowed by the tall grasses.Insects buzzed and flitted about as the sun dipped lower.I’d probably have hundreds of bites by morning.I dropped my pack, glad to be free of the weight.I’d unlatch my bedroll and spread it out once we all chose spots and sorted out the watch.What I really needed was a fire and hot tea so I might add the herbs the healer had given me.My entire body hurt after the long day, but my neck was the worst.I almost wished Taio could have just knocked me unconscious.I think I’d have preferred a pounding head to the aching soreness in my neck.
“Mara!”Finnrey called from the wall.Her voice seemed to echo over the grass, and I cut my glance to her and held my finger to my lips.Did she want to attract every Hollow within hearing distance?We hadn’t seen any, but that dead deer was evidence of their presence, and I’d rather not risk attracting any still in the area.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Taio and jogged over to the wall to look up at Finnrey.
“Mara,” she called down, her voice muted.“Please come inside.Either that or I’ll come out there.”
“No and no,” I said.
“We’re sisters.I’ll stay with you.”
I spotted Gaz behind her, his hands on his hips, and his expression angry.
“Finnrey, listen to me.”I was aware Gaz and anyone else inside who was near the wall could hear our conversation.I couldn’t speak to her like I would privately.“I should never have asked for you to accompany me.I shouldn’t have asked Nize or Gaz either.”Especially not Gaz, as his presence here was making everything more difficult.“This is my journey to make, not yours.These are my risks to take, not yours.Stay there tonight.Be safe.I feel guilty enough for bringing you.I’d feel worse if anything happened.”
“And how do you think I’d feel if anything happened to you?I’ll talk to the patrol leader.I’ll make them let the Zulenii inside.”
I shook my head.If I was a Zulenii, I wouldn’t go inside the outpost now.Taio was a proud man.I’d learned that much about him.He wouldn’t take the hospitality of the outpost at this point even if the patrol leader begged him.And the patrol leader would not beg.I doubted she would even listen to Finnrey.“Don’t waste your time,” I said.“Rest and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“At least let me send you some food.”
I glanced back at the Zulenii.They were watching and listening, not even pretending to give us privacy.
“I wouldn’t refuse that or hot water for the herbs the healer sent.”
Finnrey nodded, though it was becoming difficult to see her with the sky darkening.Light could attract Hollows as much as sound, so the outpost was probably careful to conceal any light at night, and it was always so much darker in the outerlands when we were away from Highcastle.In the last rays of light, I watched as she lifted her fist and covered it with her other hand.I made the same gesture.She wanted to protect me, and I wanted the same for her.
I remembered what seemed like another lifetime when Gaz had made that same gesture to me.I wished I could go back to that night.I wished Taio had never come.
I moved back to the rise where the Zulenii now spread out their bedrolls.Taio indicated a place beside him, which also happened to be in the center of the circle.Gaz might have once gestured that he wanted to protect me, but Taio had actually taken steps to do so.Not that his actions endeared him to me.He was forcing me to return to Zulen with him, taking me away from my home.He’d ruined everything I’d hoped for in my life and now my future, what little I might have left of it, was uncertain.
“Finnrey will try and send food,” I said, unfurling my bedroll and anchoring it with my pack.“I asked for hot water.We can’t start a fire.It might attract Hollows.”
“We are not fools,” Omira said.
The curt tone of her voice made me wince.“I’m sorry.I don’t know what you know.I’ve trained new cadets on patrol before, and I suppose I have a habit of explaining things.”
“You have trained others,” Taio said.
I glanced at him.He sat on his bedroll, legs crossed before him.He looked perfectly relaxed, which was odd considering we were probably in the most danger we’d been since I’d first met him.Clearly, for him, sleeping out in the open was preferable to being inside Highcastle.“Not formally trained them,” I answered.“I’m not an instructor.But on patrol, we all take part in helping the newer and younger cadets learn the protocols.”
“I do not know this word.”
