Clanless (Nameless #2)(57)
Ajax sat apart from the rest of his mess brothers. He held his head in his hands with elbows resting heavily on knees. Was he thinking about his young family? Sara, his wife, must be frantic with the task of keeping their new baby safe from the Seer. Ajax’s baby was born with a deformity of the lip. Zo said she could help him with surgery, but a baby born outside of perfection in the Gate was not given such opportunities at life.
Gryphon wished he could talk to Ajax. Comfort him. Thank him for not killing Zo like he’d been ordered. He’d proven himself a true friend. More loyal to Gryphon than even his own clan.
Zander was a different case.
“Are they still after you?” Joshua’s whisper barely reached even Gryphon’s ears.
Gryphon nodded but put a fist to the ground. Now wasn’t the time for talking.
“The Nameless tracks lead south,” said Lincoln—one of Gryphon’s mess brothers—as he entered the clearing from the other direction. Lincoln was known for his knowledge of the region as the mess unit’s navigator. “But there is another set of tracks that leads north. Smaller in number. Probably a Clanless group.”
Gryphon held his breath, shaken by how close they had come to being discovered.
Zander nodded. “For now we follow the Nameless. Gryphon and his little flock of Raven will head in that direction. They’ll have decided on a place to meet up with the rest of the Birds.”
What would happen if Zander and the rest of his mess followed the Nameless tracks all the way to the Allied Camp? His brothers were strong, but one mess unit couldn’t withstand the might of the entire Allied resistance. They were walking to their deaths. His fear for their wellbeing mingled with his hatred. Strange that love and hate could be felt at the same time for the same people. He’d felt that for Zo when he first learned of her betrayal in sending bottles downriver to his enemies. He felt it for his father every day of his life.
Regardless of his confused emotions, Gryphon couldn’t let them reach the Allies. If they weren’t spotted, they’d learn Commander Laden’s location and would surely deliver that information to Barnabas.
He couldn’t let that happen.
Gryphon grimaced and gave the signal for them to leave. There was no sense in fighting them with Joshua present. Zo was their first priority now. He would have to decide what to do about his brothers later. For now, he needed to get as far away from them as possible.
The only time Boar released Zo’s hand was to drink from his water skin or point orders to his band of men. And as soon as he finished, he greedily took it again, like she was his oxygen, the only thing keeping him alive. Whether out of perverse affection or fear that she’d escape, she didn’t know. Even though his touch made her ill, Zo always accepted his hand. She’d save her rebellion. Bottle it up and strike when opportunity provided a real chance for escape.
The same eight men surrounded her and Boar as they trekked north, leaving a contingent of men to walk at the tail of the group, Ikatou and his Kodiak friends among them.
Boar practically hissed if any of the men so much as looked at Zo. A viper protecting its prey. She might have felt safe with the man if he weren’t carefully leading her to her death.
They approached a small river crossing; a high plank of timber ran from bank to bank above the water. “The wood is only strong enough for one,” Boar explained to Zo in a voice one might use with a small child.
Zo fought the urge to roll her eyes. A few of Boar’s men walked ahead over the makeshift bridge. When it was Zo’s turn, Boar released his grip on her hand. “I’ll carry your satchel.” He held out his hand for Zo’s medical kit.
“I can manage,” said Zo.
Boar’s lips pressed into a firm line and his nostrils flared, reminding Zo exactly how dangerous the man could be. She didn’t want his grubby hands touching something that belonged to her mother, but instinct insisted she hand it over before his fiery temper flared.
“Fine.” She lifted the leather strap off her shoulder and reluctantly gave him her most prized physical possession. Wiping the sweat of his touch off on her pants, she stepped onto the plank.
“Hold the other end steady,” shouted Boar. His men fell over themselves to obey, one even going so far as to climb down the steep bank and brace the board in ankle-deep water.
Zo stretched her arms out wide for balance and walked toward the center of the plank, the river rushing beneath her.
A dangerous idea came to her as she reached the deepest part of the river. She looked down at the water then back at Boar and the rest of the men crowded behind him, waiting for their turn to cross.
Boar waved her onward as he paced the riverbank. “Just keep going. You’re nearly there.” The breeze coming off the water made his dark hair fly around his grizzled face.
Zo wasn’t the strongest swimmer, and the chance of her plan actually working was slim at best. But a slim chance was better than any other option available to her. If she didn’t escape these men before they reached Ram territory she was as good as dead anyway.
She took a teetering step forward and flailed her arms, pretending to try and save her balance.
Boar shouted something in panic and lunged after her onto plank, but didn’t make it two steps before Zo hit the water. The water came over her head, so cold that she bit through her tongue. Her body cartwheeled in the strong current. Rocks jabbed her on all sides. When her feet finally found purchase on the muddy floor, she pushed off and was rewarded with a breath of air before the river pulled her back down. Her back connected with a large rock and the spinning cycle of chaos ensued once more before she managed another breath, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy her burning lungs.