“Look,” he says, pointing.
Curiosity gets the best of me and I lean in, though with a healthy dose of skepticism. Black ink spreads across each sheet of parchment in a complicated system of veins.
I arch a brow at him. “Maps?”
He nods. “This is where we are—”
Scoffing, I fold my arms. “I know where we are, you prick. Just because I’m illiterate doesn’t mean I don’t know basic directions.”
He’s too immersed in his train of thought to pay me any mind, so he continues dragging his finger along a tightly knit system of corridors before stopping on a collection of buildings that I think might’ve been residential—back when Gravenburg still had residents.
There’s a small, black dot underneath his finger.
“There,” he says, the excitement in his tone causing me some concern. “That’s where Elison went. To check the well for water and to make sure no ghouls or other creatures were rotting inside it.”
“Gross.” I blink down at the map, then up at him, waiting for an explanation as to what this has to do with what he wasn’t telling me. “And?”
“And—” He draws out the word, turning its single syllable into something closer to three. “I want to ask you for a favor.”
No wonder he was acting so weird.
“In exchange for your bolts, and any other supplies you’ll need for the next week, I’d like you to go check it out. See if you can find her.”
My jaw unhinges. A week’s worth of supplies isn’t nothing, especially ones that come at no cost to me—at least in terms of credits. It might even have been a deal I would’ve taken from the job board myself if I’d seen it.
But the fact that it’s coming from him directly ties my stomach in knots. I can’t believe he’s asking me to do this. Rowland, of all people, has always tried keeping me sheltered, keeping me safe inside these walls.
Now he’s asking me to march straight into danger.
Thrusting my arm out, I gesture to the dead noctis near the door.
“Maybe you’ve forgotten but I’ve already paid for my bolts, and then some. You can count, right? I brought youtwoof them.Two.”
“Technically, I killed and carried one of them, and my sentries took care of the other.”
My teeth grind into each other until I’m afraid I might break my jaw.
“If we’re being technical, I never asked for your fucking help.”
He sighs, itching his scalp. “Look, I need an archer for this job. None of mine know the city like you do, and even if they did, I need them to guard Valor’s Rest while we’re in the blackout. We’re already down two thanks to the horde of ghouls that attacked a month ago.”
“Oh,” I balk, red the only thing in my vision. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better? Two have already died, Charlotte. Why not throw your life on the line now so that we can all stay safe and hidden behind these walls?”
His lips purse.
“You know what? I can’t believe you. All your talk about loyalty and caring about people, and just like that you’d throw me to the wolves.”
The restraint he’s showing to bite down on his tongue begins to waver, but I storm on. I’m only getting started.
“And for what? To follow some dead girl’s trail? Look, I know she was a good fletcher—a great one, even—but you’ve got two others here. There’s no reason for me to chase after her when we both know she’s already noctis meat—”
Finally, he loses it. “She’s with child, Charlotte!”
The room stops breathing. Or rather, it’s like it’s inhaling, the four stout walls contracting and caving in on us.
I heard him wrong, surely. I don’t trust what my ears are trying to tell me he said, but even more, I don’t trust the protective, sentimental tone they think they detected.
“What…do you mean?” I dare ask.
