My eyes widen at the sight of it.
Its wooden handle is broken in half, badly splintered at the break point but clinging by a single strand of wood in the middle.
I find myself reaching for it, wondering if the metal part carries magic, but even when my fingertips brush it, nothing happens.
It’s ordinary metal.
Still, I’m intrigued that it rests in pride of place above the other weapons.
As if there is value in a broken thing.
I can’t stop myself from turning back to the keeper. “Who are you?”
Whowashe?
He has worn so many faces. It feels like they mean something, but then, some may not. To read into all of them…
I shake myself.
What matters is that I keep him alive, and keeping him alive hinges on the thread between him and me.
I have to heal his heart.
I tug the fur coat more closely around me as I step out into the snowy landscape, finding Anarchy, Lucian, and Jonah watching the wolves play.
The beasts don’t flicker out of view as quickly as they did before.
“We’ve been watching to see whom they run to greet,” Anarchy says quietly and without turning toward me, her panther senses no doubt telling her I was awake and coming her way. “But so far, the image doesn’t last that long.”
“Family,” I say. “It has to be. He misses them.”
Lucian regards me with his golden eyes. “No longer your enemy, then.”
“Oh, he’s my enemy.” I blow out an exhale. “But enemies can be allies, too.”
Lucian nods. “Like gargoyles and shadow panthers.”
Anarchy gives him a dark smile. “All it takes is a little bloodshed.”
I stifle a laugh that quickly fades when the door opens across the clearing, and Halle bustles back in. She’s still sporting her half-dead, half-wise-woman appearance, but she’s wearing sensible boots this time.
“Do not endanger yourself,” she says to Orlan, who stops inside the door. “Take Veda only as close to the nest as is safe. And keep an eye out for Taiven’s followers. If he’s had any kind of inkling about my brother’s whereabouts, he will have scouts around.”
Orlan doesn’t appear fazed. “To avoid them, I should take Veda closer to the furies’ nest. After all, a safe distance for me is a safe distance for Taiven’s followers.”
Halle huffs. “Well, it depends which foe you would prefer to face: Taiven’s followers or the furies.”
“The furies won’t tell Taiven where Veda is,” Orlan points out. “His followers will.”
“Curse your logic,” Halle says, and I’m surprised to see that she looks genuinely worried, her hands clasped hard and a growing tension around her eyes.
It occurs to me now that maybe… just maybe… beneath her cold façade and dead exterior, there’s the heart of an alpha who cares about her people.
Orlan gives her a smile. “You know I’m a thinker.”
“Even thinkers can die,” she snaps.
I hurry toward them. “But Orlan has me. I’ll keep him safe until he can transport himself out of there.” My forehead puckers. “Actually, I don’t expect you to stick around, Orlan, so how will I let you know when I need to come back?”
