Clanless (Nameless #2)(56)
Men near on the opposite end of the shelf waved Ikatou over. Someone was coming.
“You’re walking to your deaths,” Zo hissed as Ikatou and the rest of the men went back to their work. A few of the men Boar kept close to him turned the corner, followed by Boar himself. Zo inched to the back of the foul-smelling tent and hugged her knees to her chest.
Boar barked orders too muffled by the tent for Zo to discern. Then a head popped in front of the tent opening, causing Zo to gasp. A stone jabbed against her spine as she pressed her back more firmly to the mountainside.
“My scouts have returned. Time to move.” Boar extended his hand to her like he had earlier that day, a sickly smile plastered on his red-blotched face.
Zo couldn’t bring herself to move toward him. “Back with the Nameless refugees, you said your people ate human flesh to survive. It was a lie to get us to fear you, wasn’t it?” She didn’t know why it mattered at this point—she was too valuable to kill—but she needed to know. She couldn’t imagine a man like Ikatou doing such a thing.
Boar’s smile widened. “The more the Nameless feared my band, the more likely Stone would make a trade.”
“Clever,” said Zo. She placed her hand in Boar’s and let him help her from the tent. As always, his hand was cold and moist. Would she be forced to hold it like a small child all the way to Ram’s Gate?
Out of the corner of her eye, Zo caught Ikatou whispering to a few of the other Clanless. Other Kodiak, if she wasn’t mistaken.
Boar had fooled the Nameless, but she could be clever too.
If she could turn enough of them against Boar, she might have a chance of escaping before they reached the Gate. She might even convince the Clanless to join Laden’s cause in the process.
What would Laden think if she returned with a small contingent of Clanless and a few hundred Nameless? Hopefully it would be enough to appease him when she told him that she didn’t want to fight the Ram anymore.
If she survived this mess, she would take Tess and Joshua to the Valley of Wolves and do her best to forget any of this ever happened.
Chapter 22
When the sky turned a murky gray and the sun dipped below the mountainous horizon, smoke from a fire rose above the trees only a few hundred yards away.
“Campfire,” said Joshua, pointing at the smoke before Gryphon had the chance to point it out himself.
“Observant.” Not being aware of his surroundings had always been one of Joshua’s weaknesses. As they traveled toward the fire, Gryphon slowed their pace.
“What do we know about them?” asked Gryphon.
“Nothing. We haven’t seen them yet.” Joshua’s voice was too loud.
Gryphon turned back to him and held a finger to his lips, then whispered, “We know they have a fire.”
Joshua nodded, picking up the thread Gryphon left for him. “Which means they’re either cooking food or burning for warmth. They don’t need it for light yet.”
Gryphon nodded. “Go on.”
“They are not threatened by others knowing their location or they aren’t used to traveling outside of a clan and don’t know any better.”
“Which is more likely?”
Joshua answered, “They’re not afraid.”
“Which means?”
“They’re strong. Probably stronger than us.”
Gryphon smiled though Joshua couldn’t see it from his position in front of him.
Joshua whispered, “But overconfidence is also a form of weakness. It will be harder for them to spot us, and their fire will help us see them clearly.”
“Excellent, kid.”
Gryphon knew he wasn’t perfect, but the idea of someone else training Joshua in the ways of manhood made him ill. They belonged together, and somehow, once they rescued Zo and got back to the Allies, Gryphon would find a way to convince Commander Laden to let him stay. With Zo, Tess, Joshua …
And Gabe.
Gryphon swallowed the acrid anger rolling up his throat. Gabe. Zo cared for the lying Wolf. Gryphon had seen her love for him when he and Gabe fought each other in the ring. He’d even spared Gabe’s life for Zo’s sake. Now he wanted nothing more than to take it away.
As they approached the camp, the deep tones of male voices made him pause. Gryphon held up a fist. “With me,” he whispered.
Joshua had the wild look he sometimes got when he wanted to argue. Standard practice would be to split up, Gryphon circling the perimeter in one direction and Joshua the other. But Gryphon wasn’t ready to split up. The boy’s life was worth a great deal more than any information they could gather from separating.
Gryphon inched forward, careful with his steps. Joshua shadowed him so closely he trod on the heel of Gryphon’s boot. One glance at the boy was all the scolding he needed. A few more steps and the foliage divided enough to offer a decent view of the camp.
What Gryphon saw made him flex his hands around a nearby branch.
Joshua gasped and then covered his mouth with both hands as Gryphon pushed his head down to duck beneath thicker foliage.
One of the men in the camp turned his head in their direction, but after a few moments seemed to give up on the notion that he’d heard anything.
Gryphon raised his head enough to survey the camp, practically shaking with the need to launch his spear into Zander’s gut. All of his mess brothers gathered around a fire. Their once clean-shaven faces now bore weeks of growth. Zander sharpened the metal tip of his spear while others mumbled conversation too quiet for Gryphon to hear. Just seeing their round shields and their familiar faces made Gryphon want to waltz into the camp and put an arm around his brothers and at the same time break every one of their necks. When you belonged to a mess, you put your life in your brothers’ hands almost every single day. Those bonds ran deep. Maybe even deeper than blood. And even if they hadn’t liked it, they had all betrayed him on Barnabas’s order.