Nameless (13 page)

“You’re coming with me.” He took a step toward her.

Zo looked at the ground and nodded. She carried the basket over to a table and, in a last-moment decision, tucked a thin scalpel up her sleeve before turning to face her enemy. She would end her own life before they had the chance to torture her, if it came to that.

Gryphon’s hands tightened at his sides. “The man we’re going to see will require medical attention. You’ll need more than the knife to help him.”

Zo froze, unable to hide the shock on her face. Her little stunt had likely squashed what trust he might have had for her. “I … I’m sorry—”

“Just get a kit together. We don’t have much time.”

They left the Medica, Zo walking three steps behind Gryphon on the cobbled road through town. “Will you let me speak?” she asked as they turned onto a dirt trail leading into the thick forest fringing the town.

Gryphon looked back and nodded. Zo absently put one hand to her cheek, wishing she’d had time to apply another layer of mud that morning. “I didn’t plan to hurt anyone with the scalpel. I thought you were handing me over to the guard.”

Gryphon fought a smile. “So you planned to fight your way to freedom without hurting anyone?”

“No.”

Gryphon’s calm demeanor was like a giant snake holding perfectly still until its prey became complacent. She knew he would strike eventually, and when he did the bite would kill.

“Why would you carry a knife, if not to fight?”

“To control how I die.” She blurted the words before she could help herself. A Nameless shouldn’t speak so freely. Especially not to the one soldier inside the Gate who had seen her for what she was. A Wolf.

Gryphon nodded. “We all want to control our lives, healer. Few of us get to.”

Zo wanted to hit him. She wanted to scratch out his honest-looking eyes and spit in his face. He knew nothing about losing control in life. Nothing.

They traveled deeper into the woods. The sun filtered through the trees, lighting up patches of earth with brilliant afternoon light. Zo longed to remove the wrap covering her head and neck and let the light breeze finger through her hair. The green season was nearly here. At home she would have been sowing tubers and peas on her family’s plot. Tess should have been out causing trouble with her two best friends. Her little sister’s greatest worry should be winning the relay race at Spring Festival.

Zo hitched up the medical kit on her hip.

“We’re almost there,” said Gryphon.

They reached the entrance to a cave guarded by two heavily armored men. Each wore a fur vest and boots. Like most Ram, they stood as tall as trees, with white battle scars marking their arms and chests. Zo took a half step behind Gryphon so he stood between her and the guards. Two snakes were always worse than one.

“We’ve come to see the prisoner,” said Gryphon.

The size of Zo’s eyes doubled. Gabe. They’d come to see Gabe!

Weeks ago she had kissed Gabe’s cheek and left him forever. He had been buried with the rest of her friends and family in the grave of her heart. She wasn’t supposed to ever see him again.

“Are you coming?” Gryphon’s voice pulled her out of her stupor. His lip pinched in on one side as he looked between Zo and the cave entrance.

“Yeah, sorry.” Zo hitched up her kit again. If Gryphon connected her to Gabe, he’d have no choice but to turn her in. “I guess I’m still a little shaken from my last cave experience,” she lied.

Accusation lifted from Gryphon’s face. “Joshua told me about the Waiting Room.” His brow wrinkled with concern. “Are you going to be all right?”

Gryphon glanced at the guards and quickly added, “Because if you can’t treat the prisoner, I have no use for you.”

Zo swallowed. “I’ll be fine.”

Gryphon held the torch to his side so the healer could share the light. “Be careful of the ledge. It’s a long way to the bottom if you fall.” His voice echoed off the moist rock walls.

The girl didn’t respond. Were it not for the sound of her soft footsteps, he wouldn’t know she was there. Gryphon should have taken the scalpel from her, but part of him felt he deserved a knife to the back. Penance for letting her live last night.

At least today he’d get answers.

The air grew heavy. The thought of walking beneath thousands of pounds of rock always made it a little difficult for Gryphon to breathe. After several minutes, the cave flattened into a large cavern. The flickering light of the torch seemed barely able to combat the persistent darkness.

“The prisoner is this way.” Gryphon took the healer by the arm and led her to the far corner of the cavern where the guards said he was chained.

Faint rustlings echoed high above them. Water dripped from the tall ceiling, landing with heavy
plunks
at their feet and on their bodies. Gryphon wiped water from his eyes more than once.

The girl shivered under his hand. Gryphon noticed she walked closer to him in the dark confines of the cave. A bat swooped down and screeched at the intruding torchlight. The healer gasped and jumped into Gryphon’s side. His arm fell naturally around her. It was only a moment before she jerked away from him.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

Gryphon couldn’t speak around the lump in his throat. Grateful for the darkness, he pressed on until he found the wall. “Hold this.” He handed the torch to the healer and pulled out an oil soaked cloth from his pack. He wrapped it around the end of another stick to create a second torch.

“Switch with me.” Their hands brushed. The light cast harsh shadows across her face, if possible, making her look even more devious, even more beautiful.

“Aren’t you going to light it?” she asked. The glass jars in her medical kit knocked against each other as she shivered.

“Not yet.” There would only be one chance to witness the prisoner’s first reaction to the girl. He couldn’t afford to miss it. He trailed a hand along the wall until he saw him. The once proud warrior lay huddled in a ball on the floor. Thick chains ran out from the wall, connecting to clamps around his wrists. His eyes flashed opened but his body didn’t move beyond the even rise and fall of his chest.

Gryphon stepped closer. “Before your arrow found my shoulder, I was blinded by a small, but strong burst of light.” Gryphon only assumed it was the other man’s arrow that bloodied him. “What was it?”

The Wolf prisoner didn’t raise his head from the cold stone floor, but his lips stretched into a bloody smile. “Old trick.” He wheezed and coughed, sucking up dirt from the floor. His chains rattled with him.

“They say you don’t speak.”

“I do as I please.” He coughed some more. The man pushed himself into a sitting position. The pinky fingers on each hand were missing. The left side of his face was twice the size of his right. The eye was pinched shut.

“Should I help him?” The healer spoke behind Gryphon’s shoulder.

He held up a finger for her to wait.

“Did you bring a woman?” The man laughed. The chains rattled as he put a mangled hand to his head. “I’ve been lying here for heaven knows how long, waiting for my next
visitor
,” his words took on a biting edge, “and you bring me a woman?” He laughed again. “I swear, nothing will ever surprise me again.”

Gryphon took the torch from the healer, lit it, and threw the spare to the prisoner. The man snatched it out of the air before it hit the wet ground. He squinted against the light as he used the wall to inch up to his feet.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Gryphon stepped aside and yanked the healer into the light of his torch.

The prisoner didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink as he examined the girl. If Gryphon could trust his gut—something he never did well around the healer—the man’s lack of reaction spoke volumes.

“I don’t think I understand,” the Wolf said. “Is she for me?”

Gryphon kept a careful eye on him as he spoke. “In a way, yes. She’s a healer. I’ve brought her to tend to your injuries.”

Zo shifted uncomfortably under Gryphon’s grasp.

The prisoner exhaled. “Under normal circumstances I’d be disappointed. But today—” he lifted his deformed hand and sighed. “Today I prefer a healer.”

Gryphon nodded for her to go to him. She looked up at Gryphon with wide eyes. He fought the urge to comfort her, to tell her he wouldn’t let the man harm her. He didn’t understand why she would be afraid of a Wolf, if she was one, too. Good acting or genuine fear, he couldn’t decide.

The healer moved toward the man with careful steps. “I can treat you better if you sit.” Her soft, smooth voice carried a low echo around the cave. The hairs on Gryphon’s arms prickled.

The tall Wolf studied her for a moment then slid down the rock to sit on the damp floor. Gryphon took the torch from him and wedged it into a crack in the wall before finding a place to sit beside them.

“We’ve met more than once in battle,” said Gryphon. “A few weeks ago my mess was attacked by a group of Raven. You were with them. You gave a Wolf Cry before disappearing over the mountain.”

The Wolf didn’t pull his gaze from the healer. Gryphon could hardly blame him. The usual layers of mud didn’t taint her in this light. “Your spear missed its mark that day,” said the Wolf.

Gryphon frowned at the memory of the young boy trying to string an arrow. The slight adjustment he had made to alter his aim that cost him the kill. “Yes, it did.”

“You spared him. Why?”

The healer stopped cleaning the prisoner’s hand. She peeked at Gryphon from the corner of her blue eyes.

“Tell me about your tattoo, Wolf. The one on your arm.”

“Will you tell me why you spared the boy?”

Gryphon pounded his fists into his forehead. “Why do you think? Do
you
find pleasure in killing children?”

“I’m not a Ram.”

Gryphon growled under his breath. He didn’t have time for this. There was really only one way to confirm his suspicion that the Wolf and healer were working together. Gryphon had hoped it wouldn’t come to this …

He yanked the healer to his chest, whipped her around, and wrapped two hands around her neck. She kicked and bucked, using both of her hands to pull apart his deadly grip. The girl was stronger than she looked.

“What are you doing?” Like a swift change in the wind, the arrogance of the Wolf evaporated into fear. More fear than he’d shown when he stood alone to face Gryphon the day he was captured. More fear than he’d likely shown the interrogators.

Gryphon’s hands closed around her neck. He was careful to put pressure in key areas. The girl struggled, using her sharp nails to claw at his flesh. She gasped and whined.

The worst sound Gryphon had ever heard.

Gryphon’s hands overlapped her delicate neck. She stopped fighting, her hands resting on his, her piercing eyes looking directly into his. Acceptance. She must have never really believed he’d spare her.

Gryphon wanted to comfort her. To explain that he wasn’t really killing her. His stomach rolled. He tasted bile.

“I’ll tell you what you want to know!” the Wolf yelled.

The girl passed out. Gryphon gently laid her on the damp floor, keeping her head in his lap. She wouldn’t be unconscious for long, but the Wolf didn’t know that.

“What have you done!” The Wolf jumped up and fought against his chains. A vein in his forehead bulged with fury. “I’ll kill you, Ram! I swear I’ll kill you!”

Gryphon raised his hands. “She’s not dead.”

The Wolf yanked on his chains like a rabid beast. When he finally sank to the floor in exhaustion, the blood drained from his face. His chest rose and fell with exaggerated effort. “What have I done?” He pushed his palms to his eyes, as if to block tears. “I’ve killed her.” Leaning forward, he rocked back and forth on his elbows and knees, openly weeping.

Gryphon should have felt proud. He had the key to breaking the Wolf. Somehow, the victory soured at the sight of this man before him. Brave enough to give his life to defend his own men, but too weak to put his cause before a woman.

Holding her now, Gryphon felt he understood.

“I will not harm this girl if you answer my questions.”

The Wolf snorted, biting his fist in agony. “How can I trust you? When you have what you want, you’ll kill her.”

Gryphon stared at him for a long while until the Wolf’s wild eyes focused on his. He took out a long dagger from a hidden sheath at his calf and sliced his own hand. “On my honor, the girl will live if you help me.” Gryphon stretched out his bloodied hand.

The Wolf eyed it with contempt. Then his gaze rested on the healer, and he broke. “There is no hell hot enough for me after this.” He took Gryphon’s hand and shook it. “What do you want to know?”