Instead she said, “I’m sorry for your loss. You must miss him.”
“I do. I also miss living with the protection of the Pax Protocols. His death represents a much larger problem…the fact that the world as we know it has changed.”
Once, such an acute observation would have surprised her. Not anymore. Raff only pretended to be a hapless rogue.
“And not everyone wants peace,” she said softly. “Some would rather profiteer and sell secrets.”
“It’s one thing to defend your home, quite another to feel as if you deserve to take what someone else has.”
“I agree. This probably won’t come as any great shock, but Ruark Gilbraith is every bit as dangerous as Tycho Vega.”
“Gathered that when he killed Lileth and tried to take out the entire head table at our wedding. No worries, Lady Silver. We’ll get him. Once I’ve rested a bit, I’ll be ready to wreak some havoc.”
How could he be so confident all the time? It didn’t seem like bravado, either. Thalia found this wolf disturbingly hard to read. Maybe his physical prowess gave him the conviction that all enemies could be bested eventually?
“That is so perplexing.”
“What is?”
“In a few days, your leg will have healed? I don’t understand how it’s possible.”
“An Animari physician could explain it better. I just know our enhanced senses and healing kick in after the first shift.”
“What’s that like?”
“Shifting?” At her nod, he seemed to consider the question carefully. “That’s hard to put into words too. Nobody’s ever asked me before.”
“Other Animari wouldn’t need to.”
“That’s not entirely true. Latent Animari probably do wonder but they don’t ask.”
She thought she understood why. “It would be like a wingless bird asking how it feels to fly.”
“Yes. I’m going to sleep for a bit. Keep watch?”
It was mind-boggling the way he just switched off. His weight sagged against her and Thalia had to wrap both arms around him to keep him from toppling across her legs like felled timber. She cocked her head, listening, but the tunnel was eerily silent. It would’ve been nice to hear scraping from the other side of the blockade.
Maybe Ferith is still trapped?
Best not to imagine worst-case scenarios. If the traitor had laid a trap, they might investigate why she hadn’t stumbled into it yet. It seemed likely that the cave-in was meant to separate her from Ferith and drive her toward the exit in a panic. Since theirs was a political marriage, the enemy couldn’t have planned for a meddling wolf. Who was apparently willing to put himself in harm’s way for her.
Repeatedly. Thalia had mixed feelings about that.
In any event, she wasn’t the sort to panic, even when her plans went south. This time, she’d come ready to fight, fully geared with shock bracers and both knives. She also had five different poisons and twice as many antidotes in her pack, but any conflict had to wait until Raff could walk properly. Down here in the silent chill, she might’ve been cold if not for his body draped over hers.
Though she’d had lovers before, brief moments stolen for physical pleasure, nobody had ever given themselves over like this. The implicit trust was daunting. What if I don’t hear them coming? Thalia half-wanted to turn on her light, but that would give away their position, and they were trapped with the blockage behind.
Stay calm. This isn’t how it all ends.
She sat in the dark and held him and breathed.
No telling how long Raff had been resting, but he snapped awake instantly, his muscles tense. Movement in the tunnel. How many?
He tested his leg. It still hurt, but it was fused enough to hold his weight. Gently, he touched Thalia’s shoulder. She probably didn’t mean to sleep but staring into the dark was monotonous. Raff had counted on his ability to hear an intruder from a long way off, and these trespassers weren’t even trying to be quiet. Eldritch from the smell of them, but he couldn’t distinguish between the houses yet. In time, he’d be able to tell where they came from, based on the olfactory clues.
Not soon enough to help us.
It took a second shake to get her attention. She snapped upright, and he silenced her instinctive question with a press of his fingertip against her lips. Raff set his mouth against her ear, barely making a sound.
“We have company, let’s greet them. I’ll take point.”
Ignoring the twinge from his bad leg, he stripped swiftly. In this terrain—in the dark—he’d do much better fighting as a wolf. It would help his balance too since a wolf could move better on three legs than a man could dragging one. Thalia didn’t question his decision; she was on alert as she scooped up his clothing and stowed it in her pack.
Helpful, that.
Over the years, he’d lost lots of garments, the price you paid to be Animari when the shit hit the fan. Since Thalia wasn’t a shifter, she could keep up with all the clothes he discarded, and he’d have something to put on later, after the fight. It was such a little thing, but it felt good to realize that this mixed marriage wasn’t all doom and dire portents.
He slid into wolf form—like diving into cold, deep water—and stretched, testing the strength of his injured leg. Better now. Raising it still let him prowl ahead smoothly, breathing in the nervous tang of the enemy’s sweat. Closer, he heard the whisper-light scrape of leather soles against the dirt and loose stones of the tunnel floor. Thalia was quiet as a Noxblade behind him, more skilled than the Eldritch creeping toward them.
Eighty meters and closing.
Raff wished he could warn her, but she wouldn’t understand even if he tried. He rushed, leaping at the nearest enemy and tearing into the Achilles tendon. Wolves in the wild normally didn’t hamstring their prey because they hunted as a pack, but he didn’t have any other wolves at his back today. The Eldritch went down, his leg buckling, and Raff tore
