Just in case that’s not enough, I grab her arms and pull her close. “I need you to tell the others where we went and why. Keep them in line while we’re gone. You know how Harland and Ursulette can get. They’re squirrely even on their good days. And Rhain will do whatever Ursulette tells him, and Ursulette will do whatever I say—if you’re there to reinforce my message.”
It’s not the task itself that placates her, but the implication of it. I’m trusting in her to do this, and my trust is not something I dole out often. Especially not to Renee Vanderbilt.
But she is wildfire, and she’s not ready to give up the fight.
“Are you listening to yourself? Your great plan is to go investigate on your own? It’s too dangerous. Your father would have my fangs if he found out I let you go off on your own.”
“We won’t be alone,” I tell her, releasing her and dragging my fingers through the thickness of my hair. “I’ll have Caz. And I’m telling Davorin to meet us in the southern quadrant, where we sent Gregor and Boris. The three of us can handle it.”
Her jaw sets. “Fine. For how long should I hold the others off? And what if you get hurt? What if you need our help, after all?”
“If we need help, I’ll send word through the blood oath. Otherwise, I’ll send word every hour, on the hour. If you don’t hear from me,do notcome chasing after us. You send for reinforcements.”
She frowns, but I keep going. This is the most important part out of everything.
“If someone has incapacitated Gregor and Boris, if they do the same to Caz, Davorin, or I, none of you will be able to do anything that we couldn’t. Not without more noctis in your ranks and not if you really intend on saving us.”
Rolling her eyes, she throws her head back, thick waves of auburn hair tumbling off her shoulders and down her back. “You are such a hypocrite. The same thing could be said for our predicament right now! If someone was able to incapacitate Gregor and Boris—and, need I remind you, one of whom could wrestle a bull, while the other could dodge it’s every attempted ramming blow—then shouldn’t we be sending for help already instead of sending more noctis into the slaughter?”
“They could still be alive, Renee.” Unblinking, I hold her gaze. “You’ve heard what’s been happening. Surely, you know that some of the noctis who’ve been found seemed to have been alive for much of what they endured. We can’t wait to do something. We have to act now.”
A gloss-like sheen polishes her eyes. I might not have seen any of the bodies, but with the reports my father has been receiving, we can’t afford to pretend this isn’t as dangerous as it could be. To take out Gregor and Boris would be no easy feat. We have to assume that whoever is responsible is formidable in their own nature.
Blowing through his pursed lips, Caz diffuses the seriousness of the conversation, as usual. “Not that she needs to worry about us needing saving. We know how to handle ourselves. These humans won’t know what hit them. Right,my prince?”
Even if I know it’s misplaced, his arrogance is contagious, and quite effective at bolstering my own.
A grin kicks up the side of my face, exposing one of my pearly white fangs, and I’m reminded of a mantra that’s always put bravery in the hearts of noctis, for it reminds us of where we came from, and how we’ve always,alwayspersevered.
“Blighted we suffered. Bloodied they’ll fall.”
6
THE MERCENARY LIFE
If I had known Boris’ dead body would weigh so much, I might’ve taken Rowland up on his offer to help me carry him back to the compound. Not that it’s really in me to let him, or anyone else for that matter, do something that I can do for myself. If anything, lugging Boris’ deceivingly heavy body can be chalked up to the start of my new regimented training. After all, if I’ve learned anything today, it’s that I could use it.
By the time Rowland leads us into his office, my thighs and arms are seconds away from falling off. I try not thinking about how Rowland has hefted Gregor’s enormous body farther than I had to carry Boris, nor about how, despite his limp and the injury he sustained to his knee that never managed to heal, that every time I’ve glanced back at him, he barely even looks like he’s struggling.
I’m practically dripping sweat and he still appears as divine as ever.
Typical.
It’s not until we’re inside his office that I realize he didn’t take us to the laboratory he has stashed behind these walls somewhere, not that I should be surprised. Even after all these years, I’m still not permitted access to his lab. I’m lucky to even know it exists.
And although some people might be offended to have a secret like that exist between friends who have known each other for as long as we have, I get it. If anyone understands distrust, it’s me. Besides, the fewer people who know Rowland has been studying ghouls and noctis he’s been able to capture, the less likely the monsters are to discover his involvement, and therefore the safer his people will remain.
Before Rowland can finish crossing the threshold into his cluttered office, I drop Boris onto the first flat table-like surface I can find.
“Hey! Not on my desk!” Rowland barks.
A little too late. The damage is already done. The body is already draped over the scattered reports and discarded quills.
He groans, head shaking as he dumps Gregor and my crossbow off by the door, and then does the same with Boris. Together, sitting there all slouch-backed and unmoving, they could almost pass for two drunkards who have passed out after a night on a binge. One of them has even pissed himself.
“Sit,” Rowland says, indicating to the chair in front of his desk. Stepping behind it to start tidying up the scattered paperwork, the stuff that Boris’ blood has damaged beyond repair gets casts aside.
“I’ll stand, thank you.”
