Nameless (Nameless #1)(40)

The soldier hesitated then gently took hold of one of Zo’s shoulders. She flinched under his touch. He frowned and pressed the wool to her stomach. The sting made her eyes water, but she didn’t cry out. Not with her enemy watching.

Show them no pain. Commander Laden’s coaching echoed in her ears.





Chapter 20





Gryphon didn’t remember falling asleep after moving Zo to his bed. His joints popped as he peeled his worn body from the hard floor. He turned to find Joshua leaning against the doorway of his room. The boy’s swollen red eyes and deep frown made him seem older.

“Sorry kid. I meant to come and—”

“What’s going on?” Joshua folded his arms and scowled, effectively scrunching up the freckles on his face.

Gryphon looked back to make sure Zo was asleep before grabbing Joshua by the collar and hauling him outside. Dark clouds swept over the early morning sky. The cold bit through Gryphon’s damp shirt. “I’ve messed up, kid.” Gryphon studied the horizon. “I couldn’t kill the Wolf.”

The boy was young, but he was still a Ram. He understood the shame in Gryphon’s words and knew him well enough not to console him. Gryphon had failed the clan and deceived his brothers. For a Wolf.

“Why?” Joshua’s disappointment carried over the wind.

Gryphon thought of Zo, the pain in her deep blue eyes as the Wolf walked up the platform to face execution. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I made a decision and now have to face the consequences.”

“You’re not turning yourself in, are you?”

Gryphon hesitated long enough to send Joshua into a full-scale panic. “You can’t! You’re the best man we have!” Beneath his words Gryphon heard something completely different. “You’re my only family!”

Gryphon swallowed against the rock in his throat. “Go look after Zo. Get some sleep if you can.”

“Where are you going?” asked Joshua.

Gryphon took two steps toward the barn then called over his shoulder, “To fix my mistakes.”





Dust particles danced in the beams of sunlight that filtered through ceiling planks of the barn. The Wolf lay face down with his wrists tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth. With his ankles bound to his wrists, his body looked like a crescent moon on the ground. Joshua had taken his time.

Gryphon cut the ropes connecting his ankles to his wrists and removed the gag.

“How is she?” said the Wolf with his first free breath. He tried to stand but fell. “Is she badly injured? I need to see her. I need to make sure she’s all right.”

“I’ll smuggle you out of the Gate once we’ve attacked Zo’s contacts at your command post down river. Once you leave the Gate you are my enemy. If we meet on the battlefield, I’ll tear every limb from your body and have no problem sleeping that night. Do you understand?”

The Wolf barely seemed to hear Gryphon’s words. “Why is she here? What are you doing with her? I need to see her!”

Gryphon picked up a piece of straw from the ground and split it in two. “The girl will heal. It was too dark for her to recognize you. Everyone inside the Gate believes I killed you on that platform.”

“So she thinks I’m … ”

“Dead.”

The Wolf nodded his head. “But you’re going to tell her the truth, right? That I’m alive.”

Gryphon bit the inside of his cheek. “The boy will bring food and water.”

“I’m not leaving her behind. Not again.”

Gryphon replaced the gag and tied the Wolf’s hands to a post. “I don’t know how things work where you come from, but inside the Gate a pact is a pact. You told me what I needed to know inside the cave. Now trust me to keep my end of the deal. I didn’t have to spare you. I’ve sworn with my own blood to protect the girl. That means something to a Ram.”





Zo breathed in the musk of her pillow. The smell of pine and lemon grass tickled her nose. She inhaled deeper. A body lying on the other side of the bed shifted, and Zo’s eyes flew open. She relaxed when she noticed the red hair sticking out from under the covers. The planes of Joshua’s adolescent face seemed softer in the morning light. She reached out and touched his fiery hair, wondering if there was some way to keep Joshua from becoming a monster. Maybe she could find a safe place for him and Tess. Somewhere far away from spears and bloodshed where they could live in peace.

Joshua turned over and wrapped an unconscious arm around her middle. Pain exploded from the wounds in her stomach, but she didn’t move him. Instead, she held him under the wing of her arm and thought of Tess waking up alone in the Nameless’ barracks without her warmth to keep the morning chill away. No one would walk her to the fields. No one would love her and tell her to be brave and keep her head down.

The pain in Zo’s stomach became more internal. The sorrow of her situation was too overwhelming to endure. The image of Gabe suffocating under Gryphon’s strong hands sent her over the edge of an emotional cliff. Tears burned hot on her cheeks. Tears she hadn’t allowed herself to cry in a long, long time.

“Does it hurt?” said a deep voice by the door.