Finn shook his head. “That’s a few times now that one of the hufen has been cognizant of what is happening, rather than the usual mindless killers.”
“It’s happening more and more,” Griff said quietly. “And no oneknows why or how. Clearly, they’re not hufen. They’re something else.”
Finn scrubbed his hand through his hair, dislodging clumps of snow. “I’ll look into it. We must have a record somewhere of what this is.” He hit me on the shoulder, and I stumbled heavily into Griff, who caught me and glared at his brother. “That was some masterful casting, Lexie. Even I barely felt the wards you flung over us as we entered the cabin.”
Finn the teacher was back, and I was appreciative of the normalcy it brought.
“I’m just glad it worked,” I said softly.
Finn pursed his lips and let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know about you guys, but that’s enough for one day. I’m getting drunk.”
As the adrenaline drained out of my system, I felt unnaturally light. Clearly, alcohol was what I needed. “Drinks sound good.”
I glanced up at Griff to gauge his reaction. The smile he offered me didn’t meet his eyes, preoccupied with the death of another friend. “I’ll follow you, Princess.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
I’ve learned, in this endless time of darkness, to take joy wherever I can find it. You never know when it will come again. And those moments of lightness? They sustain you when the darkness comes.
—From the journal of Violet Andrever
We ended up at a tavern off the main path in the city, about halfway down the mountain. As we approached, a crooked sign denoting it as the Rampart’s Roost swung slowly in the wind. Peat smoke and drunken laughter hit me as Finn flung open the door. The stones inside were colored with age and stained with smoke, and wooden beams ran the length of the ceiling, but the person who’d built this place must have also been partaking in the drinks as everything was lopsided. Clearly, the brothers were both known here; as they walked in, several men slapped Finn on the back while nodding respectfully to Griff.
The bartender immediately sent two tankards sloshing down the oak bar. “And for the lady?” he called over the din.
I shrugged at Griff’s questioning look. I had no idea what to order in a place like this. This was not the quiet little pub from home. I was torn between enjoying the new experience and wondering why my boots were sticking to the floor.
Griff held up three fingers, and another tankard came sailing down the bar.
We navigated our way through the crowd to a rickety table in the back. I settled onto an uneven bench while Finn plopped down across from me. Griff sat next to me, a motion that caused the bench to teeter and me to slide into him before catching myself.
“What a fucking day,” Finn said, taking a long drink. He set his tankard down with more force than was necessary, rocking our table. “What’s the plan for tomorrow? Go somewhere else where we can be attacked?”
“You better not,” Griff said. “I have business out of town and won’t be able to accompany you if you do.”
“Where are you going?” I asked, feeling inexplicably depressed that he had plans without me.
“Ventaris.” At Finn’s raised eyebrow, Griff added, “Prior appointment.”
He was saved from explaining further by Finn blurting out, “How could Fiadh be so stupid?” He took another long drink.
Griff didn’t answer, just took an equally long drink.
I glanced between the two of them, feeling for the first time like an outsider with the twins. It was times like these where it hit me just how much older than me they were—they’d had whole lives before I’d tumbled onto the scene. Lives where they’d made—and lost—friends.
“How well did you two know her?” I asked, not at all sure if that was the right question to be asking.
“Not well,” Finn said at the same time Griff answered, “Well enough.”
Griff raised an eyebrow, questioning Finn’s answer. Finn shrugged, acknowledging his brother’s point.
“At one point, we were all children running around the castle. But she’d always kept to herself. Never joined in, even when it seemed like she was desperate to.” Finn let out a long breath, shifting his shoulders, before lifting his tankard. “To Fiadh.”
“To Fiadh,” Griff echoed, softly, tankard raised. “May she find peace.”
They both drank heavily. I joined them, taking my first sip of something that tasted vaguely like apples when a voice interrupted us.
