Nameless (37 page)

“We need to warn the Raven.”

Zo nodded. “What about the Nameless? Do you think the Ram will go after them?” Stone had given her responsibility for them, somehow.

Gryphon shrugged then picked up a pinecone. “Even if they don’t, the Nameless won’t survive outside the Gate without the protection of a clan. We can’t take them to the Raven, and many of the Kodiak have migrated south.”

Zo nodded. “What about the Allies? They would take the Nameless under their protection without question.”

Gryphon crumpled the pinecone in his hand and let the wood litter the earth. Lines of worry etched his brow, his lips turned down in firm concentration.

“You don’t want to travel to the Allies, do you?” Zo leaned forward. She reached out to touch him, persuade him, but even the slightest brush of her hand sent a shock of pain up her wrist and into her arm.

Gryphon rubbed his hands together to remove the debris from the pinecone. “I would not be welcome.” He raised a hand to silence Zo’s rebuttal. “And I don’t think I could live with myself if I joined the Allies—my people’s greatest enemy.”

“How can you still think of the Ram that way? After everything they’ve done.” Zo gestured to Joshua, like Gryphon needed the reminder. “
We’re
your family now, Gryphon. You can’t just wander the wilderness alone.”

Gryphon opened his mouth to speak, his eyes round. But no words came.

As if out of nowhere, Gabe slipped under the bough. He looked between Gryphon and Zo and frowned.

“What did you find?” Gryphon managed. He seemed grateful for the chance to focus on someone else.

“The Ram still haven’t managed to open the gate.” He slapped Gryphon’s shoulder and let go a silent laugh. Zo didn’t know what Gryphon had done to earn the look of esteem on Gabe’s face, but it must have been incredible. “Their scouts climb a rope ladder to get in and out of the wall. It’s a slow process.”

“What about the Nameless?” said Gryphon.

“They’ve left an obvious trail heading south from the Gate. Impossible to miss, but the Ram don’t seem interested in the Nameless. They only sent one scout after them. Probably to gather information. They’ve dedicated most of their manpower to tracking us. Our initial tracks have brought them close, but I don’t think they’ll find us if they haven’t already.”

Gryphon’s head hung a little as he sighed, but his weariness didn’t last long. “Barnabas will not rest until he has his revenge. He sees me as the rebel leader of the Nameless. I’ve insulted him.”

“But what will he do to the Nameless?” asked Gabe.

“A few hundred Nameless aren’t important to him. He’s been searching for the Raven for too long not to strike. The Ram need the bird-people’s resources.”

Gabe nodded. “So we get a head start. I’ve been to the Raven stronghold on assignment from Commander Laden. I can get us there.”

“Laden?” Gryphon raised a brow.

“The Allied commander.”

Zo rolled onto her knees. “We can’t just let those Nameless wander aimlessly. Someone needs to take them to the Allies. Besides, Joshua isn’t going to be fit to travel yet. Not at the pace needed to help the Raven. Tess will struggle, too.”

It seemed everyone had a reason to look away. No one wanted to consider the risk of separating. Gabe was the only one who knew how to find the Raven. With help, Zo might make it to the Allies, but with her charred hands, she’d have no way of defending herself from wild animals and nomadic clans.

“We’re not splitting up,” said Gryphon.

“He’s right,” said Gabe. “It might be several days before the Ram can open the gate.”

“What about the Nameless?” said Zo.

“They’re a large group. There’s a chance they will survive.”

Eva sat up from where she lay on the ground. Her hair was matted with pine needles, but she seemed so alert that there was no question she’d heard the whole conversation. “Stone will find the Nameless. He’ll make sure they are taken care of.”

Gabe and Gryphon exchanged looks that said,
If he’s still alive.

“You said the Nameless moved south. I’m going to follow them.”

Gryphon said, “Eva, be reasonable. I can’t let you wander off into the wilderness to find those people. There are wild animals and dangerous Clanless who wander the hills.”

“I’m going.” She set her chin, daring anyone to contradict her.

Gryphon took her by the arm. “Ajax is my brother, Eva. I will not let you risk your life on the gamble that your Nameless lover survived the rebellion.”

Eva whipped her hand back and slapped Gryphon across the face. “Don’t you
dare
talk to me like that. Stone is alive.”

She turned onto her side and showed the whole group her back. Her body shook with silent tears as she wrapped her arms around her frame. Zo wanted to go to the poor girl, to offer some token of comfort. But what could she possibly say to make things better?

Gryphon turned wearily to Gabe. “I’ll help you evacuate the Raven, but Joshua and I will make our own way from there.”

“But—”

“Those are my terms, Wolf. Take them or leave them.”

Gabe considered for a moment then put out his hand. Gryphon closed the handshake, effectively settling the matter.

They would leave before first light to save the Raven from massacre. All of them.

That night, Zo rested with Tess curled against her side. Joshua put off a pleasant amount of heat at her back. She couldn’t help but think of all of the escaped Nameless and their doomed fate if they didn’t reach the Allies. She thought of Eva’s desperation to be with the father of her unborn child, wishing there was something she could do to help. Stone was counting on her to get them all to the Allies safely. Could she really abandon them?

Gryphon spent most of his watch that night watching Zo as she slept with one arm around Tess and the other around Joshua, as if they were her baby chicks. He wondered what it would be like to have someone care for him with the passion that Eva cared for Stone. In the last few years, whenever he imagined belonging to a woman he never managed to picture the girl’s face.

Now, even when he fought the tendency, he always saw Zo. It was part of the reason he could never travel to the Allies. He’d rather rip out his eyes than watch Zo and Gabe share their lives together.

Gryphon wasn’t quite sure when it happened, but somewhere in the trauma of the last two days he’d realized that he’d never really be happy without her. It was an awful feeling that gnawed at his gut and threatened all reason. Like discovering you’d lost your arm in battle. Living with the memory of what it was like to have that arm, and reminded every day of the loss.

Gryphon the deserter, son of Troy the deserter, was in love with a Wolf. A fitting end to the tragedy that was his life.

Zo awoke with a start to a large, calloused hand cupping her mouth. The sky outside was too dark to be considered morning. When her eyes adjusted, Gryphon’s face came into focus. His breath kissed her ear, their bodies sandwiched together, as he whispered, “Ram scouts.” He put a finger to his lips and removed his hand. His words barely travelled over the breeze of the night. “They must have stumbled upon some of our tracks. Gabe went scouting. He said not to expect him back until dawn. I’m going to try to lure them away from the tree.”

Zo grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close to whisper in his ear. “We can’t all outrun them.”

Gryphon nodded, his jaw flexed. “But I can.”

Zo shook her head over and over. But what option did they have? “When it’s safe to leave, I’ll take Eva, Joshua, and Tess to the Allies. We’ll find the Nameless on our way. You and Gabe can go help the Raven.”

The footsteps outside moved closer. Rock ground against rock in a chorus of danger. Gryphon cupped his hand around her ear to block his words. “The mountain isn’t safe for you to travel without protection.”

She sighed. “Gabe can’t go alone. Too many people will die if he doesn’t make it. Please promise me you’ll help the Raven, Gryphon.”

Gryphon pulled away, shaking his head. A shiver of steel rang in the early morning—a blade being drawn from its sheath not far away.

“Please.”
Zo mouthed the word.

The footsteps stopped just outside of the tree. Zo made out the fur-lined boots of three Ram. She worried her pounding heart might give them away if nothing else did. Tess … Joshua … How could she protect them when these men attacked?

Gryphon pushed Zo behind his back. More boots came. More crunching gravel—a sound that, if Zo survived, would forever haunt her nightmares.

Zo looked back to Joshua, Eva, and Tess sleeping around the trunk of the tree. Helpless.

Gryphon turned back to her, pain etched into his face. He must have realized that Zo’s plan was the only option they had. He drew Zo close to him. This time Zo met and held his eyes. He pressed his cheek to hers and Zo felt her stomach drop to the ground. “Track the Nameless. Be careful with fires. Don’t try to be a hero. Just do what you have to do to stay alive. I’ll meet you at the Allied Camp.”

Zo nodded. Tears sprang to her eyes. A rigid fear seized her, making her limbs stiff and breathing a chore.

Gryphon silently picked up his shield and turned to leave, but Zo caught his hand. She couldn’t let him go.

He looked down at their connection in disbelief, like he didn’t trust it.

Zo placed her charred hands on either side of his face and suddenly Gryphon’s hand was at her back, a firm support. It belonged there, somehow. The Ram outside the tree walked the perimeter like starving wild dogs sniffing out a kill. At any moment someone would bend down to look under the heavy skirt of the tree and they would all be dead.

“Come back to me,” Zo whispered. She leaned into him and hesitated for a thin moment before touching his lips with hers. His hand traveled up her side until he cupped her neck. The kiss turned urgent. His lips demanding and yielding all at once. In that short blink of time, something within Zo changed, an earthquake that shifted everything she believed. They rested their foreheads together and Gryphon brushed away one of her tears.

“They’re here, Zander. I can feel it,” someone whispered near the tree.

Gryphon stiffened at the mention of his mess captain’s name.

His hands fell to her shoulders. “No matter what you hear in the next few minutes, promise me that you’ll stay under this tree with the others.” He didn’t wait for a reply. On hands and knees he crawled to the opposite side of the tree, away from the guards and crept out into the darkness.

Gryphon carried his spear in one hand and his shield in his other, but still his arms felt empty. He doubted they would ever feel full again without Zo.

Outside the tree, Gryphon slowly gathered his feet, careful not to make any noise. He would alert Zander and the others to his location eventually to draw them away from the tree, but it wouldn’t be wise to do it yet. Apart from his mother, everyone he cared for was under that tree. Suddenly the Historian’s story made complete sense. He would do anything to protect the people he loved.