CHAPTER TWO
The voice sounded like it belonged to a female. It was deep, and there was something melodic in it. But above all, it was commanding.
I did as it ordered and scrambled out of bed.
The figure spoke again. “Are you listening?”
I wasn’t sure my voice would work. “Yes,” I managed to choke out.
“Good. I’m not here to hurt you, but I will if I have to. There’s something that I need from you, and it involves us having a calm, civil conversation. Are you following me so far?”
“Yes,” I repeated.
“Obviously, it would be ideal that we continue this conversation in the darkness, to conceal my identity. But there are some things I need to show you, so that isn’t an option. Are the candles on your desk the only means you have for light?”
“Yes.”
Most Cyllene citizens used lanterns. But even after losing my home to fire, I still preferred candles.
They reminded me of how Irene and I would read by candlelight every night before bed.
She was always bringing home new books, and as far back as I could remember, I understood they were something secret and special and forbidden.
I knew better than to ask how she came to be in possession of them.
I tried to visualize that I was back with Irene on one of those nights, curled up under our comforter with a tattered paperback. It seemed as good a memory as any to be my final one, fresh in my mind when this woman killed me.
“I’m going to light the candles,” the woman continued.
“But I need you to understand that trying to remember my face to identify me later is only going to backfire on you. As I said, I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.
If you tell your Enforcers anything that happened here tonight, including what I look like, myself or one of my partners will come right back here, and we will not hesitate to kill you. Do you understand me?”
As terrified as I was, my thoughts still snagged on her choice of words—“your” Enforcers. What did she mean by that?
I wasn’t about to question her. “Yes.”
At that, the woman stalked over to my desk, yanked a match out of its box, and began lighting the candles. With each flame that flickered to life, I began to get an idea of what she looked like.
She appeared to be in her early twenties and was tall for a woman.
Her toned arms and legs looked like they had carried her through many years of physical exertion.
She was wearing a green tank top and tan cargo shorts, both of which were faded and rumpled.
Her ankle-high boots had a slight heel on them, adding to her height.
Her raven black hair was gathered into many braids, which in turn were gathered into one thick ponytail that hung down her back.
Her rich brown skin was nearly the same shade as her eyes, which regarded me impassively.
Although her clothes had seen better days, her face had the glow of health and vitality that comes from time spent in sunshine and fresh air.
“Sit down,” she ordered, pointing to my desk chair. “And I’ll show you what I need your assistance with.”
I did as she instructed.
“Okay,” she began as she slid a faded blue backpack off her shoulders. “I’m going to show you a map.” She cleared her throat. “I apologize in advance for how rudimentary it is.”
The woman pulled a giant sheet of paper out of the main pocket. It had been folded and crumpled in several different ways in order to make it fit. She tried to spread it out in front of me, but all the creases and wrinkles prevented it from lying flat. She sighed.
“While I’m straightening this out,” she continued as she tried again to smooth it out. “Go ahead and tell me what you know about marsh wolves. And how to take down a pack of them.”
A long silence followed.
“I’m sorry…what?” The first words I’d said other than “yes.”
“Marsh wolves,” she repeated. “Tell me what you know about how to take down a marsh wolf pack.”
The terror I had been feeling dissipated for a moment, replaced by utter confusion. “I don’t understand. Is this related to my research assignment?”
“No.” Her tone made it clear that no further explanation would be given.
I was pushing my luck, but I couldn’t help myself. “The nearest marsh wolf pack is at least twenty miles from here,” I said. “Has there been a recent sighting?”
The woman looked like she was considering how she wanted to respond when there was another thud on the balcony. I jumped at the sound. She just narrowed her eyes.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered, stalking to the door. She reached to open it, but the person on the other side opened it first and brushed past her.
At first glance, I saw it was a man wearing all black—a loose black T-shirt, black jeans, and black boots.
Like the woman, he was somewhere in his early twenties and had a tall, athletic build.
But his skin, while having something of a healthy glow, was pale.
His hair—also black—was short, but had a tousled look to it, with strands hanging over his brow and past his ears.
Then he turned to face me.
He had high cheekbones and full lips, with thick, dark lashes that were the perfect complement to his inky hair. And all of that came together like a perfect picture frame to accentuate the most striking eyes I had ever seen.
The irises were silver. Not pale blue, or even a shade of blue that took on a silvery hue, but pure, metallic silver. The candlelight reflected off them as if they were solid chrome.
He smiled at me. A lazy half-smile that somehow made his face even more spectacular.
“Ugh. Kill me,” the woman spat, snapping me out of my trance.
“Aw, you’re no fun,” the man said to her, still not taking his eyes off me. His voice was low and deep.
“Kieran is the most beautiful man in the world!” the woman exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “He amazes us all daily with his beauty.” She turned to me. “Have you beheld his majestic face? Do you want to rip his clothes off and make sweet love to him?”
I gaped at her.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said decisively. “Unfortunately, she has more important things to do right now. So get the hell out and go keep watch.”
I couldn’t even begin to know what to say.
The man, who I now understand to be Kieran, winced. “She knows my name now. I think you just broke one of the most important rules of our mission, Nyathera.” He said the last part with emphasis.
The woman— Nyathera?—gave him one of the most terrifying expressions I’ve ever seen. If looks could kill, he would have been dead a thousand times over.
“Don’t worry, Kieran,” she said calmly. “It doesn’t matter that she knows your name. Because when we get back, I’m going to kill you myself.”
They stared each other down.
I sat there wordlessly.
Nyathera was the first to look away, shaking her head. She walked back to me and went back to wrangling with the map.
Kieran’s eyes flicked to mine. He grinned.
“If you’re going to tell your Enforcers about me,” Nyathera said tightly. “Tell them my name is Nya. I don’t answer to Nyathera.”
There was a beat of silence. I glanced over to find that she was staring at me, waiting for confirmation.
“Okay,” I blurted out.
“Anyway,” Nya continued. “The marsh wolves.”
The map was still wrinkled, but I could make out crudely drawn shapes of trees, wavy lines for water, and squiggles that I assumed represented other plant life.
There were gray smudges where someone had sketched and erased lines several times.
In the right-hand corner, there was a lumpy blob with some lines drawn through it.
Another tree? A bush that was the size of a tree?
No, I realized upon closer inspection. It was someone’s attempt—a pitiful attempt, unfortunately—at mapping out the interior of a cave.
Everything suddenly clicked into place.
“You guys aren’t from here,” I said quietly. “You’re from outside the walls. Strangers.”
I slowly looked up at them. Kieran had moved to stand next to Nya, and they were both regarding me with unreadable expressions.
Then they burst out laughing.
“‘Strangers?’” Nya wiped a tear from her eye. “Is that what they’re calling us now?”
Kieran shrugged. “Apparently so.”
“Sorry if I offended you,” I said quickly.
“You didn’t.” Nya waved her hand dismissively.
“But yes, you’re correct. We don’t live here in the city, and that’s the absolute last thing”—here she shot a look at Kieran—“that we’re revealing about ourselves tonight.
Now, since Kieran has decided he’s not going to keep watch, we’re in even more of a time crunch.
I’m going to request one more time that you tell us how to take down this pack of marsh wolves, and the next thing out of your mouth had better be an answer. ”
All traces of laughter were gone. Kieran’s expression returned to being unreadable.
“Okay,” I said, looking back at the map. I went to flatten a crumpled edge and realized my hands were slick with sweat.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I just needed to pretend that this was a Knowledge Center request. Like it was a part of the marsh wolf assignment I was working on.
In fact, regardless of what Nya said, that had to have been why they were here. They knew, somehow, what my work assignment was. The kind of information I had access to.
“What kind of weapons do you have at your disposal?” I asked in my work voice. I could do this. I could compartmentalize. This was just another job.
“We can’t answer that,” Nya responded quietly.
“Then what is the purpose of this endeavor?”
“We can’t answer that, either.”
I blinked. “How am I supposed to help you if I can’t know any details?”
Nya and Kieran exchanged a look.
“How about this?” Kieran said after a moment, as Nya eyed him warily. “We need to take down this marsh wolf pack. But we need to kill them in the least messy way possible, leaving their bodies mostly intact.”
I considered his words.
“Got it,” I said finally. “You need their pelts.”