Nameless (28 page)

Gryphon’s knife slipped, and he accidently cut off one of the Ram horns on the wooden figure. He let the knife and wood block tumble to the bed and dropped his head into his hands. “I’ve lost control.”

For as long as he remembered, Gryphon had only longed for one thing—to make up for the shield hanging on his wall. He’d done everything ever asked of him, trained harder and longer than anyone else in his mess.

It wasn’t long ago that he would have done anything for the Ram without question. But times had changed, just like the unhealthy soil of the Ram over the years. His priorities had become diluted. The certainty of his situation dissolved.

All that remained was the core conviction that he wanted to make the right decision. Not the right decision for the Ram. Not even the right decision for himself.

Just the
right
decision.

And protecting the people around him seemed to be the only acceptable course of action. As hard as it was.

Zo watched Gryphon from the corner of her eye as Sara and Ajax swaddled their small baby. “Give the medicine to him twice a day until the lip has healed,” said Zo.

The couple nodded. Ajax draped his arm around his wife and squeezed both mother and child. Zo walked them to the door to bid farewell, the whole time listening to Gryphon’s approaching footsteps behind her. He put his hands on her waist and spun her around. She melted into him, wrapping her arms completely around his waist.

“I’m exhausted.” She sighed, content in his embrace.

Gryphon led her to their usual spot in the hayloft. He lowered her into the hay with his hand supporting her lower back while she clung to his neck. His lips were fire. She pulled him closer and let the hay envelop them.

In the corner of the barn, Zo’s mother and father cried out as men with short swords slaughtered them.

Gryphon bent down to kiss Zo’s cheek. “You trust me, don’t you?”

Tess’ scream filled her head. Growing louder and louder as the walls of the barn collapsed on top of them.

Zo sat up with a start. Markus, the Nameless who slept in the corner, hovered over her with his bushy gray eyebrows raised to his hairline. “You all right?”

Zo’s chest pumped in and out, sweat trickled down the side of her face. “I can’t do this anymore.” She raked a hand through her long dark hair. Somewhere in the woods Joshua and Tess were camped like fugitives. That was, unless they had been discovered already.

Markus frowned, adding six new wrinkles to his already rippled face. “I know.”

But he didn’t know. No one really
knew
what it was like to carry this impossible weight. No one
knew
anything!

Gryphon burst through the door like a tornado. “You need to leave. Now.”

Markus took a few steps away from Zo then quickly left the room as if Gryphon’s words were intended for him.

“Is the Seer here?” Zo whispered. She couldn’t quite look him in the eyes after that dream.

“Not yet, but we can’t take any chances.”

“Your mother—”

“Thinks you’re headed to the Jordan home to follow up with the Nameless family you helped last night.”

“Tess and Joshua—”

“Are safe in the forest.” Gryphon’s demeanor softened. He reached out, almost taking her by the hand, then hesitated. Zo couldn’t pull her gaze from his extended hand, even though yearning for his touch was a complete betrayal of everything she stood for.

When had it happened? The start of this inexplicable longing. Gryphon was everything Zo grew up hating. How could something feel so wrong and so right at the exact same time?

She thought of the kindness he’d shown her sister. Of the mercy he’d shown others. To her. Zo shook her head and tried to repress the contradictions of her thoughts to listen to Gryphon’s instructions.

“You need to find Sara and Eva. Tell them to bring the baby and meet at my home this afternoon. I’ll speak with Ajax at mess training.”

“What are you planning?” Zo gathered her things, purposefully avoiding Tess’ little hole in the floor. Her stomach dropped whenever she looked at it.

“There’s no time for this.” He guided her out the door and into the frosty morning air, his hand a whisper on her lower back. Gryphon’s breath clouded as he spoke. “Stay off the main road until you reach the turnoff. You don’t want to chance running into the Seer or Gate Master on your way.”

Zo shivered. “What about you?” She blew into her cupped hands to warm them. “You said the Seer can tell when someone’s lying.”

“I’ve had interrogation training. Let’s hope the system doesn’t fail me.” He smiled weakly.

A trained liar. She was putting her sister’s life in the hands of a trained liar. Perfect.

The most important part of deception happened inside the mind. Gryphon really needed to believe his own story, and if possible, avoid telling lies altogether, to convince the Seer. When he tweaked the timeline of events, everything he said was true.

Zo—
no that wasn’t right
—My Nameless healer never even mentioned she had a sister
.
The little girl is not here
.

Unfortunately Tess wasn’t Gryphon’s only problem.

Gryphon closed the old barn door behind him. He cut the ropes around the ankles of the Wolf and removed his gag. “What’s going on?” the prisoner asked at once.

“I need to move you.”

“And I was so comfortable here.”

Gryphon didn’t have time for the Wolf’s sarcasm. “Tess is in danger. People are looking for her. They could be here any moment.”

“Where is she?” All humor fell from the Wolf’s face.

“Safe in the mountain forest with Joshua.”

The Wolf nodded his understanding. “Are you being watched?”

Gryphon helped him up to his feet. “Maybe.”

“Where is Zo? If they question her—”

“I know. She’s a dead giveaway. I sent her away.”

Again the Wolf nodded. “And you need me to hide, so they don’t discover you spared my life.”

Gryphon cracked open the door to the barn. “I’m going to walk back to the house and close the door behind me. I want you to crawl through this field until you reach the tree line east of the house. Watch and wait. I won’t be able to meet you until later this afternoon. If you get caught, it’s your own neck.”

The Wolf regarded him from the side. “And you’re not worried at all about me scaling that wall and running?”

“You won’t leave without Zo and Tess.”

“And when they return?” The Wolf’s whole demeanor tensed in anticipation.

Gryphon had made the decision long ago, but it didn’t make the words any easier to say. “You’re all leaving Ram’s Gate with my friend and his family.”

“You’re not coming?”

Gryphon thought of his mother. Of the shield hanging on his wall. Of his dreams to restore his family’s honor. Of his own hopes for success. Of his love for the Ram in spite of the clan’s many shortcomings.

“I can’t.”

Gryphon pushed his knife into the block of wood that no longer resembled the Ram. Now it was nothing more than a sharpened stake. Curled shavings fell to the floor. The scent of pine tickled his nose as always. The familiar smell and the steady strokes of his blade helped calm his nerves as the Seer and two guards climbed the hill to his humble family home.

When they were twenty yards away he stood to give her the respect she was entitled as the chief’s trusted counsel. Her black hair was pulled back into a severe bun at the nape of her neck. Her bird eyes examined the knife in his hand before scanning up to meet his face. Gryphon set the knife on the small deck table and walked down the steps to greet the Seer.

“Good morning, ma’am.” He offered a slight bow of the head to show submission. He thought the guards would begin their search right away, but they just stood there with arms clasped in front of them.

“Soldier.” She returned the gesture. “You’ve been expecting me.” It wasn’t a question. “Why are you not training with your mess?” she asked, her black Seer eyes unblinking.

“Zander was called in to meet with Chief Barnabas this morning. We aren’t scheduled to meet for training until third horn.” She likely knew the answer to her own question. She knew everyone’s business inside the Gate.

She studied him, pulling her brows together just a fraction. “Your mess needs you at your best for a pending mission. Someone of your particular skill is too valuable to lose. Especially now.”

Gryphon bowed his head again, wondering about the nature of his next excursion. “Thank you, ma’am.”

The Seer’s smile spread in a thin line across her face. “Which is why I sent Gate Master Leon last night.”

“You sent him?” Fear rose from his toes to his forehead, fogging his mind with icy doubt.

“With the proper amount of pressure, the guilty incriminate themselves.”

Gryphon couldn’t breathe, but worked to keep his face neutral. “Excuse me?”

“We followed your little red-headed apprentice last night. He was caught smuggling one of my Nameless, the sister of your healer, into the forest. He admitted to stealing her from the Nameless’ barracks and hiding her on your property for the last few nights to help your healer. I’m sorry he let you and his people down. ”

The muscles in Gryphon’s jaw tightened to the point where he couldn’t speak. Joshua had taken the blame for all of it.

“We can only assume he was poisoned by your Nameless girl. I trust you will see her properly punished.”

Gryphon could only nod.

The Seer smiled again. “I don’t think I need to tell you how disappointed the Ram Council is with young Joshua. It reflects poorly on you. We can only assume he spoke the truth when he said you had nothing to do with this.”

Gryphon held perfectly still. He thought of a hundred different scenarios, but the surest way to help Joshua and Tess was also the most disgusting. “Of course not.”

The Seer nodded approvingly. “Good. I told them you had more sense than that. We’d hate to see our famous Striker tangled in such a mess.”

“Where is the boy? He needs to be punished,” said Gryphon, the words were acid to his tongue.

The Seer laughed without humor. “Oh, don’t worry about that.”

“He’s my responsibility.” Gryphon couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.

The Seer’s smile melted like a wax candle. “We will take care of his punishment and assign him a new mentor. Trust me, this type of violation will never happen again. Ever.”

Gryphon tried to swallow, but his dry throat made the effort impossible. “And the little Nameless girl?”

“She is where she belongs.”