Moonshadow (Moonshadow #1)(87)

The first thing he did was look for Sophie. She stood by Gawain at the back of the group. At some point while Nikolas had been working, the puck had appeared, still wearing the form of a monkey. Robin sat on Sophie’s hip like a toddler, his skinny, hairy arms around her neck.

No one offered to say any words at the Hounds’ grave. They got the respect of a burial, but they would not get prayers from the Dark Court.

“That’s it,” Nikolas said, wiping his hands on his sodden pants. “We’re done. Let’s get inside.”

The others didn’t hesitate. They jogged to the house, and as soon as everybody was inside, Nikolas and Gawain closed the iron-bound oak doors while everyone else watched in the dim glow thrown from the fire across the hall and the single lit oil lantern someone had set on top of a case of canned beans.

The sound of the doors closing seemed very loud in the silence. Nikolas turned to find them all watching him. Sophie hugged the monkey. Everyone wore the same, sober expression he felt on his face.

Nikolas thought, none of us know if or when those doors will open again.

And one of us is a traitor.

“We’ve thrown the dice,” he said. “Now we pray the gamble pays off.”

Gawain clapped his hands. “In the meantime, we’ve got work to do. Let’s dry off and get changed. Nikolas cleared the chimney so we can build up the fire to take the chill out of the hall. We can sort out the majority of this mess tomorrow, but let’s at least get things shifted so we can have enough clear floor space to make bed pallets for the night. And I don’t know about any of you, but I could use a late supper after all that work.”

While Gawain issued orders, Nikolas turned his attention to Sophie. Dripping wet like the rest of them, she was visibly shivering, and her face was completely colorless. Searching the immediate area, he found the blanket she had left crumpled on the doorstep and enveloped both her and the puck in it.

His hands were reluctant to leave her. He clamped his fists in the blanket and drew her close. She didn’t resist him. Neither did Robin, as the puck turned his face away and laid it on her shoulder.

“You looked spent hours ago, and a lot has happened since then,” Nikolas muttered. “Let’s get you out of these wet clothes. Then will you please sit by the fire and warm up?”

Her teeth chattered. “I would l-love nothing more than to fall asleep by the fire, but Nik, we haven’t found the privies yet.”

He told her, “The men can piss in a jar for one night.”

She glowered at him. “I c-can’t.”

Unexpectedly, amusement welled up inside. Tucking the blanket higher around her neck, he said, “We’ll set up a chamber pot for you and a blanket for privacy. We can locate the privies in the morning.”

“Nikolas Sevigny, I am not going to pee in a chamber pot while I’m in the same room as the rest of you. Just wipe that concept out of your head.” She sniffed and rubbed her nose on the blanket. “I’ll feel better when I’m warm and dry. It’s not going to hurt if we look around a little bit.”

Heaving a sigh, he conceded. “All right, but only after we change into dry clothes.”

They changed quickly. First Nikolas held up a blanket in one of the two corners closest to the fire so that she could strip out of her wet clothes in relative privacy. When she was freshly dressed in jeans, a sweater, and her black boots, he changed too. Thanks to Sophie washing his clothes, he had exactly four changes of clothes with him from his go-bag. In many ways, no matter how much or little time it took, this was going to be a long siege.

While he dragged on clean clothes and settled the damp sword harness into place between his shoulders, he said to Gawain, “We’re going on a brief exploration, hopefully to find privies and a viable source of water without encountering a major shift between here and there.” Switching to telepathy, he added, When you set up pallets for tonight, be sure to put hers close by the fire, between yours and mine. She feels the cold more than we do, and we’re not leaving her unguarded for a moment.

You bet, Gawain said without a flicker in his expression. Aloud, he replied, “We’ll have hot soup and bread waiting for you when you return.”

“Thanks.” Sophie was still shivering when Nikolas turned to her, and she had wrapped the blanket around her again, but there was more color in her face. “Where’s Robin?”

She shrugged. “Hiding in the shadows. Pilfering the food. Your guess is as good as mine. He took off when I changed clothes.” She gave him the ghost of a tired grin. “He’s a bit prudish, I think.”

Nikolas dismissed Robin from his mind. The puck could look after himself, and he had a talent for disappearing when he wanted to. He took one of the nearby oil lanterns and lit it. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” She looked at the chaos around them. “Wait, did we get chalk or paint?”

Gawain said, “I saw that box. Hold on a second.” He rummaged between two stacks and lifted up a hand-labeled cardboard box. “Here it is—both chalk and paint and paper for drawing maps.”

Sophie peered inside and pulled out a plastic package filled with white chalk. “This will do for tonight. If we find any shifts, we can mark them more permanently tomorrow.”

Nikolas approved of that plan. He said, “Follow me.”

As tired as she looked, her expression was alive with interest. She fell into step beside him as he led her toward the huge fireplace. “Why are we going into the corner—oh!”