Fearless (Nameless #3)(41)

Gryphon closed his eyes and bit back a curse, but he didn’t pull away.

“As much as you don’t want to admit it, we are the same, son. More heart than prudence. The fact that you’re standing here in my camp proves as much.”

Gryphon turned around. “I’m not the one building an army to kill our people.” Gryphon grimaced at his own duplicity. I’m just training that army.

Laden’s mouth formed a thin white line. “Despite what you think, I will do everything in my power to protect the Ram from high casualties. I want to find a way to end this conflict without completely destroying them.”

“Will you swear to that?” Gryphon asked.

“If I do, will you spill your secret?”

The blood oath. Zo’s life in the balance.

Laden sighed. “You’re a smart lad, Gryphon. Surely you can see the crimes of the Ram. Change must happen. Justice demands it.”

Unable to disagree, yet hating himself for what he was about to say, Gryphon met Commander Laden’s eye with steady appraisal. “What I’m about to tell you will make the Ram vulnerable.”

Laden leaned in. “I’m listening.”

“Your word,” Gryphon insisted. “I need your word of honor that you will do your best to protect the innocent.”

Laden sighed. “That fact that you even have to ask shows how little you know me.” He stuck out his hand, shaking Gryphon’s. “On my honor, I will preserve and protect the innocent Ram, including women, children, and others who do not wish to fight us.”

A weight lifted from Gryphon, and he felt his body relax for the first time since entering the Allied Camp. No matter how far he strayed, he couldn’t bring himself to completely abandon his clan—flawed as they were.

“What I tell you, I tell in the faith that you will use this information to help free Zo of this blood oath.”

Laden arched a brow in interest.

“A few days before reaching your camp, one of my mess brothers visited me while Zo and the others slept.” Gryphon went on to explain the favor Ajax asked and the promise made.

Fury etched hard lines across Laden’s face, tightening his arms down to flexed fists.

“Ajax is the reason Zo is still alive,” Gryphon explained. “If it weren’t for my decision to leave, none of this would have happened. Getting Zo out of the Gate and coming here … it was the right thing to do. But I can’t survive the guilt of knowing I’ve ruined the lives of my brothers. I can’t sit by and do nothing. Not when I can fix things.”

Gryphon wondered if Laden could see through his skin, deep into the recesses of his mind where all of his private thoughts were buried.

“You underestimate Barnabas’s drive for power,” said Laden. “Do you honestly believe your sacrifice will make everything go back to the way it was before? You think you can march up to the Gate and Barnabas will forget his anger toward the men of your mess?”

In the distance, Gryphon heard men laughing over their evening meal. It was odd to think people still laughed anymore.

“I’m not marching to the Gate.” Gryphon took a deep, fortifying breath. What he said next would take him from being a deserter to a traitor. Men would die. Their fates would be sealed with only a few words from him.

“I agreed to meet Barnabas and his men where the rivers converge just north of the Valley of Wolves in exactly nineteen days.”

Laden stood completely still, no doubt sifting through a hundred different scenarios at once. “Barnabas will come this far south?”

“Not just Barnabas … ”

Then Laden, a man so sure of everything and everyone, staggered. “The Great Move.” His eyes widened. “So soon?”

Gryphon nodded. “Barnabas is bringing everyone. Even the Nameless.”

“Barnabas was always one for a show. He’ll want his whole army to watch you die for defying him. The perfect form of entertainment for his men before they move on to the Valley to attack the Wolves.” At that he looked up. “But this wouldn’t be just another raid. This will be an invasion.”

A cold chill shot up Gryphon’s spine. He hated these Wolves and everything they represented. But invasion meant death. Children. Women. Elderly. None would be safe from Barnabas and the Ram spear. And this wouldn’t be one lone pack. It would be an entire clan.

Laden walked forward, resting his hand on Gryphon’s shoulder, meeting his eyes with fire. “We can’t let the Ram reach the Valley of Wolves.”

And just like that, Gryphon’s anger and hatred melted, because this really wasn’t about his prejudices. It was about the sanctity of life and the need to preserve it. He felt himself nodding, and agreed. “I know.”

“There really is only one solution to this problem,” said Laden. “The time has come for the Allies to leave our camp and march against the Ram. You need to meet Barnabas, as planned. We’ll use the spectacle as a way to free the Nameless and any others seeking refuge from the Ram, the families of your mess brothers included.”

Spectacle?

Gryphon blanched. He hadn’t expected Laden to show such little regard for his life. But then again, this was the man who wittingly sent Zo into the Gate as a spy.

“Use my meeting to buy the Kodiak time to free their people and the rest of the Nameless. When I leave, I need to know Zo’s commitment to Ikatou and his men is fulfilled.”