Nameless (Nameless #1)(19)

If it weren’t for Tess, Zo might have bitten off one of his fingers.

The Gate Master raked her cheek with his fingernail, clearing away a line of plastered mud. “You might actually be something to look at underneath that filth. Maybe we should take a walk to the steam caves and find out.”

“The records … ” Zo whispered, still casting her gaze to the floor.

A young boy burst through the door. “Master Leon! Master Leon!”

The Gate Master pushed Zo aside. “What is it?”

“Zander and his men are back. They caught a Wolf! They caught a Wolf!”

The two men hurried away and left Zo unattended in the Building of Records.

Unwilling to think of the poor Wolf they had captured, she ducked into a room, clutching the stack of records to her heaving chest.

The room was instantly familiar. The bare walls. The orderly desk piled with neat stacks of parchment and scrolls. The Seer’s office. She dropped the Medica records on the desk and went to leave when a page of the Seer’s neat script froze her feet to the floor.

“Military Records,” she whispered aloud.

She dove toward the desk and rifled through the pages. The stack of parchment was an inch thick, filled with numbers and records of troop movement, supply inventories, and more. She snatched the stack off the desk and shoved it into the front fold of her white Medica robe, looking over her shoulder all the while.

It took everything in her not to run through the hall to get out of the building and back to her bunk. The papers crinkled with every hurried step, itching her chest, reminding her of the risk she’d taken. She stepped into the evening air and a smile stretched across her face. The papers tucked close to her chest gave her purpose. Meaning. She wanted to skip. To prance around the square and make a mockery of the monster that was the Ram.

Her smile faltered when she spotted Joshua’s friend, Gryphon enter through the giant gate. A blood soaked wrap covered his Ram-sized shoulder. She stopped walking. The urge to help him came from a place deep within. It was warm and completely foreign, but there all the same. She shook her head, blaming Joshua for making her soft.

She didn’t see the prisoner Gryphon dragged behind him until they passed her.

“No!” she sobbed.

For one moment the earth froze mid-rotation, the heavens shattered and fell like daggers from the sky, and everyone standing within earshot turned to see the Nameless who dared speak against the Ram.

Zo’s eyes locked with Gabe’s, the history of their childhood together passed before her eyes, then Gabe’s head slumped forward and he collapsed to the ground, drawing the attention away from Zo and back to him.

Zo didn’t squander the distraction. She tugged up the front of her robe and sprinted all the way to the Nameless’ barracks. Throwing herself on the bed, she sobbed until crying turned to breathless convulsing and convulsing turned to rage.





The graying healer wrapped another layer of gauze over the hole in Gryphon’s shoulder. “Make sure to drink it all. It will numb the pain and help you sleep tonight.”

Gryphon almost choked on the sour concoction when he saw Joshua. The boy sidestepped the old healer and tackled him on his Medica bed. “You’re a hero! Everyone’s talking about it!”

“When were you released from the Medica?” said Gryphon, amazed.

“Zo cleared me three days ago. I feel great!”

The image of Joshua sick and pale in his bed only ten days prior didn’t match the lively kid before him. “You shouldn’t use the healer’s name, Joshua. She’s a Nameless. You know that.”

Joshua took a step back and frowned, his fists balled. “Her name is Zo. She saved my life.”

How could Gryphon argue? The girl had worked a miracle. “Fine, just don’t let anyone else hear you.”

“I won’t.” He bounced up and down. “I want to know everything. They say you took down the Wolf yourself. That you dove like an eagle off a cliff. Is that true?”

“Nope.”

“Then what happened? Give me every detail!”

Gryphon told him the whole story. Zander’s command that Gryphon lead the second group. The blinding light that preceded the arrow. The chase. The bravery of the man at the back of the Wolf pack who turned and charged him.

“What an idiot! The Wolf was outnumbered,” said Joshua.

“I don’t think he actually planned to take us, kid. Just slow us down so his friends could escape.”

“Wow.” Joshua sat back staring off into nothing. “That might be the bravest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Gryphon nodded. “You should have seen him. No fear at all.”

Joshua blinked out of his trance. “And they call you the hero?”

Gryphon swatted at him but Joshua easily dodged.

“I need to tell Zo.” Joshua’s eyes went unfocused again.

“Is she impressed by bravery?” said Gryphon, wondering why he cared.

“She doesn’t believe in it. That’s why I need to tell her.”

“Naturally.” Gryphon snickered over his mug. “Isn’t she a bit old for you, kid?”

“Stop making fun. She’s sad all the time. I think something inspiring would make her happy.”

Gryphon’s shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh. Once Joshua set his mind on something there was no deterring him. “Don’t get too attached to this Nameless girl. It will only bring you trouble.”