Nameless (Nameless #1)(52)

Zo mothered the girl with such attention, absorbed the child’s pain with such emotion, that Gryphon’s throat constricted and he had to look away. Why had the Wolves allowed this young girl to enter the Gate? Zo was one thing, but a child!

He needed to hit something.

The child spoke about Gate Master Leon. Gryphon moved closer to catch every word, to catch a better glimpse of Zo’s silhouette in the moonlight. But, somehow, the child spotted him in the trees.

“Run! He’ll kill you, just like Gabe. Please!”

Zo pulled her sister to the ground and covered her mouth. “Quiet. Someone will hear you!” she shouted a whisper. Zo stood in front of her sister and stepped into a sliver of light. Gryphon could just make out the pained expression on her face. “I wasn’t running away. She’s my sister. I had to see if she was all right.”

Gryphon looked at the pair through heavy-lidded eyes. Just when he thought things couldn’t get more complicated, life slapped him in the face with one more obstacle. One more test of loyalty that he would fail.

Zo stared at the ground in submission. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but … ” Even in the semi-darkness he could see her lower lip tremble as she inhaled a long shaky breath. “I can’t leave her here alone.”

Gryphon’s heart contracted at the pathetic scene before him. But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words she wanted to hear. The Seer kept careful track of all the Nameless inside the Gate. His home would be the first place she would look once the girl came up missing. Besides, Gate Master Leon already loathed Gryphon for taking Zo. It would be foolish to provoke him further. The only thing worse than an enemy outside the Gate was an enemy inside the Gate. Especially one with so much influence.

The image of the Gate Master caressing Zo’s face only to use those same slimy hands to strike her later made him waver. The man wasn’t used to being denied. Gryphon had overheard enough of the sisters’ conversation to know that this frightened little girl would pay for the Gate Master’s disappointment.

He’d seen it before.

“No one can know.”

Zo took two steps toward him, one hand outstretched as if she might touch his chest. Gryphon’s breath sped to dangerous levels. Dangerous because he knew in that moment he was just as foolish as the Wolf had been back in that cave. He would do anything for this girl if it meant filling the vacancy in her lifeless eyes.

He turned away with balled fists and headed home. The Wolf sisters followed, quiet as shadows. It felt like they’d been gone a lifetime before the forest opened to Gryphon’s pastures. At the door of the Nameless’ quarters he pointed to Zo’s sister. “Don’t let anyone see her. Not even the other Nameless. Keep her hidden in the blankets until all of the workers leave. I’ll find a better place for her in the morning.”

“What about the barn?” Zo offered, pointing to the building only fifty paces away where the Wolf was kept, bound and gagged.

“Do as I say!” Gryphon chided. He wanted to hate this girl for what she’d done to him. Emasculating him from the day they met.

Zo nodded and pushed Tess inside the door. She followed but stopped halfway through and turned back. Gryphon could see the shimmer of a tear roll down the healer’s cheek. “Thank you.”

His fingers tingled. He ached to reach out and capture the tear. To cup her tempting cheek in his palm. The sensation lasted long after she left him standing alone outside the door.

What was he thinking? She was a Nameless spy working to destroy his people! He shook his head and slogged off toward the house. Gryphon, the fearless Striker, was losing a battle to his greatest enemy.

Himself.

Nothing was worse than an enemy inside the Gate.





Zo eyed a little cellar that was only accessible through a narrow gap in the floorboards. She’d never noticed the hollow wood under her feet. Gryphon was right, this was better than the old abandoned barn. No one would find Tess here and she would be safe and free from hard labor.

Tess eyed the hole with less optimism. “It’s dark. Spiders like the dark.”

“I have some herbs we can burn to keep the spiders away,” said Zo, pulling back a few strands of Tess’ light hair.

Zo looked up to find Gryphon’s golden brown eyes on her. The line of his broad jaw cast a shadow on his neck. His chin carried a slight dimple she hadn’t noticed before. “This is only temporary,” he said. “At least until the Seer is satisfied we don’t have her.”

“How long will that be?” Tess still couldn’t look at Gryphon, even when she complained. In her eyes, Gryphon would only be the man who killed Gabe. Nothing more. She was too young to appreciate the complexity of the situation.

But then maybe Zo was too.

“Probably several days,” said Gryphon. He turned to Zo. “I’m leaving in a few hours for a brief excursion, but I should be back before nightfall. Don’t let anyone find her while I’m gone.”





Zo refused to feel guilty as she ran to the river when Gryphon left. It was her job to inform the Allies of any movement at the Gate. This was what she had risked everything to do. No matter how generous Gryphon had been to rescue Tess from the Nameless’ barracks, he was still the enemy.

Right?

She watched a bottle get absorbed into the steady current and sighed. She didn’t have much to offer Commander Laden and the Allies downriver. Gryphon and his mess would leave soon. She didn’t know the nature of his mission, but the fact that there was some movement seemed worthy of mention. She wrote briefly about the Nameless’ rebellion, intentionally leaving out her reckless promise to help a pregnant Ram woman escape. She ended the missive by reemphasizing that the Ram planned to relocate south before winter this year.