Nameless (Nameless #1)(23)

Gryphon yanked the band from her wrists and walked away, leaving Joshua and Zo to stare at his back in the moonlight.

Zo sunk to her knees. “I don’t believe it.” She held her unbound hands to her cheeks, her jaw hung slack.

Joshua put an arm around her. “Welcome to the family, Zo. I think he likes you.”





Gryphon punched a tree. Not a good idea, but enough to take his mind off the girl, if for only a moment. He took off on a wild sprint through the mountains. He pushed himself past the point of fatigue, weaving through evergreens, jumping over rocks and streams until he reached the peak he’d visited the day Joshua should have died.

The first day he met the young Wolf healer.

He panted to catch his breath; his head hanging in shame. Zander’s warning assaulted him. If you value the lives of your family, you will kill every Wolf on sight. No exceptions.

He should take the girl to the guards for questioning. What they did to her shouldn’t be his concern. It shouldn’t. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to walk her to the chief’s interrogators.

And they called him a hero?

How could he kill the girl who had saved Joshua’s life? She’d more than earned her place inside the Gate.

Right?

Gryphon balled his fists and yelled at the mountain peaks to the south. A battle cry that brought him to his knees. No matter how hard he tried, the truth overpowered any excuse he conjured for letting her walk.

The truth was he didn’t only spare her because of Joshua. He spared her for the same reason he’d spared the young Raven boy in the field.

He hated himself for it.

He was weak.

Like his father.

A melody ran unchecked through his mind. Tragic and beautiful, the lyrics moved with clouded understanding of this young woman, a girl really, whose eyes were blue wells of mystery and whose countenance was a lonely grave of sadness. It didn’t make any sense, but somewhere beneath the pretty face of his enemy was a person he wanted to know. To understand.

Gryphon had never realized treason could be so complicated.

Only one man might be able to help him know if this girl was a threat to the clan. Who could explain the mark on her back, and clear his dark suspicions. Only he had the power to make Gryphon’s shame bearable.

The only question: Would the Wolf prisoner talk?





Chapter 13





“He won’t tell the Gate Master.” Joshua rolled his eyes for the fifth time. “I’m telling you, once Gryphon makes up his mind, it’s done. You don’t need to worry.”

Zo shook her head. The only thing worse than a Ram soldier was an unpredictable Ram soldier. “I can’t take any chances. There are other things I have to worry about. Other … ” she wanted to say “people” but it was better not to remind Joshua of Tess. He hadn’t asked about her sister since the day they left the Waiting Room. Hopefully he’d been in so much pain at the time that he didn’t remember her.

They reached the main road, barely visible in the darkness. Left would take Zo back to her barracks, right led to the city center and Joshua’s training barracks housing the other adolescent boys his age.

“Just promise me you won’t do anything crazy.” Joshua’s forehead wrinkled, making him seem older than thirteen. “I’ll talk to Gryphon.”

Zo nodded and Joshua attacked her with a hug before taking off at a jog down the dark road. She watched him go with mouth gaping. Did he really just hug her? She needed to lie down. A person could only take so much surprise in one night.

“Hey, Zo.”

Zo whipped around to see Tess. She had one hand on her hip and a sinister smile plastered to her face.

“What are you doing here? If someone saw you … Tess, you’re in huge trouble.”

“I’m in trouble? You can’t leave in the middle of the night without telling me where you’re going. I know you have your little secrets,” she wiggled her fingers in the air, “but you need to tell me when you’re leaving, so I don’t think some soldier has snuck in and carried you off.” Her hand went right back to her hip, her gaze daring Zo to tell her she was wrong. She looked just like their mother when she got this way.

Zo sighed. “You’re right, Tess. I’m sorry.”

“Of course I’m right! Now who was that boy?”

“First, tell me what you planned to accomplish by sneaking out?” said Zo.

Tess looked at the ground and dug her toe into the dirt. “Everyone’s talking about a Wolf. A man they captured. They say they’re going to kill him in front of everyone. They say we all have to watch.”

Zo cringed. Her hand shook violently as she tried to tuck a loose piece of hair behind Tess’ ear.

“Do you know who it is, Zo?”

Zo frowned. “No, I don’t,” she lied.

The sound of crunching gravel made Zo grab Tess’ arm and wrench her into the bushes on the side of the road. A small group of men and women walked past laughing. Luckily they were too caught up in each other to notice Zo and Tess.

Gabe was as good as a big brother to Tess. When she was only four, she used to beg Zo to kiss him so he would always be there to give her horsey rides. The memory made Zo smile despite the circumstances. Tess would discover the lie as soon as Gabe climbed the platform. At least tonight she could sleep without nightmares. If only Zo could claim the same ignorance.