Oh, he was good.
I snarled, pushing him away from me. “A pack of mercenaries who can’t be seen in the city? I get caught with you, and I’m worse than dead.” Their enemies wouldn’t just include the king’s guards. I’d wager plenty of rival groups would be pleased at a chance to take out the competition.
His eyes met mine. They were surprisingly clear. “Have you ever seen anyone burned at the stake?”
I swallowed. “No.”
“You don’t want to. And you certainly don’t want that death. If we get caught, I’ll give you a fast death myself.”
What a charming offer. “I don’t need you.” My voice was high-pitched. Desperate.
I didn’t want to need him. That certainly wasn’t the same thing.
Lorian waved a hand, his expression bored. “You just tried to steal my horse. That impulsivity? It tells me you know nothing of surviving outside of your village. The very fact that you managed to last this long is a miracle.”
I hated that he was right.
I’d made it this far on stubbornness, rage, and blind luck. But traveling with the mercenaries meant food, warmth, and learning about my powers.
He was still studying me. I had a feeling those eyes of his could see far too much. “You wouldn’t have killed me.” He caught my chin between his finger and thumb. “You don’t have it in you to kill a man when he’s looking you in the eye.”
My mind flashed me back to the hunter’s last gurgling sound, and I took a deep, shuddering breath.
No. Focus.
“I made it this far. Alone.”
“Congratulations, you lived. But we both know you’ll never make it to the city by yourself.”
Gods, I loathed this man. I yanked my head. His fingers tightened on my chin.
As much as I wished I could deliberate, it wasn’t like I had many choices. I either died out here alone, I got caught by the guards who were trailing me, or I took my chances with these men.
He wanted a deal? I’d let these mercenaries teach me everything they knew about magic, and then I’d use that magic to abandon them close to the border. The way they’d abandoned me.
Sometimes, you had to take your revenge where you could find it.
“Okay,” I said finally.
He released my chin and took several steps away from me. “We need to eat and then get a few hours of sleep. We’ll be up before dawn.”
As soon as Lorian stepped away from me, his friends seemed to relax. Galon still looked displeased, but I picked up his cloak from where I’d dropped it, wrapping it around me. Narrowing my eyes, I gave him my best hard stare.
The cloak was mine now.
The corner of Galon’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing, merely wandering away to collect wood. From the surprised look one of the younger men shot him, that wasn’t his usual task.
I needed to watch this group carefully. Needed to figure out their strengths and weaknesses so I could exploit the latter.
“Come, have something to eat,” one of the men said. I’d nicknamed him Smiley in my head, and he flashed it once again as he gestured for me to sit next to him.
I wandered over to him, taking a seat a few foot-spans farther from the spot he’d indicated. He merely held out a dish for me, already laden with some kind of meat. My stomach growled in response.
I took it, and he passed me a bladder of water. “You can keep that,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“My name is Rythos.”
“Prisca.”
We ate in silence. I inched closer to the fire, still feeling cold deep in my bones. Most of the other men went back to sleep, but Rythos said he was going to be on sentry duty soon so was happy to cook for me.
Maybe it was his way of making me lower my guard around him. That wouldn’t happen, but I’d happily eat his food.
Lorian prowled restlessly around the camp, checking the horses, throwing an extra bedroll on the ground, and sending me the occasional narrowed-eyed look. I restrained myself from making any comments designed to alienate him even more than I had. It was clear that he was the leader here, and his little band of mercenaries didn’t do anything without checking in with him first.
I wolfed down the meat, gulped half the skin of water, and gathered my courage. My next task wouldn’t be enjoyable.
Leaning over, I examined my filthy feet. A few of the cuts still oozed blood, one of them dark with grit. Risking infection would be the height of stupidity. I poured water over one foot until it was clean enough to bandage. Since I could feel eyes on me, I heroically didn’t wince at the sting. Examining my filthy dress, I attempted to find the cleanest part to tear from.
“Here,” Rythos said, holding out a handful of clean strips of linen. Mercenaries would have to travel with medical supplies. From what I’d heard from the men in my village, they were always fighting and killing and doing various other morally bankrupt tasks for coin.
“Thank you.”
“We have salve too.”
I raised my eyebrow as he handed it over. I could scent the brackweed, which had been ground into a paste and mixed into the salve. It would prevent infection. So far, Rythos seemed the kindest of all the men. Although, like all of them, he’d simply watched as Lorian had threatened to have me drowned. I wouldn’t forget that.
“Do you need help?” a rough voice asked.
I glanced over my shoulder. Lorian was watching me. A strange awareness prickled my skin as our eyes met.
I shook my head. “My brother is a healer.”
Surprise flickered across his face, immediately replaced by his usual inscrutable expression. “He heals small cuts and scrapes, and helps with the occasional mild sickness?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head and stalked away. I glanced at Rythos, who just shrugged, watching as I tended to my feet.
I didn’t know what Lorian had against healers, but I’d seen my brother burn himself out time and time again, attempting to heal vicious wounds and chronic sickness. When our father got sick, Tibris lay next to him for weeks, channeling everything he had into him until he’d been little more than skin and bones himself, too weak to summon his own power.
I’d nearly lost them both.
Now, Tibris was either in incredible danger or…
No. My brother was a survivor. He had people in place for just this scenario.
I studied the men as I finished slathering salve on my feet. Other than Galon, none of them had displayed any hint of their own power. I wasn’t sure exactly what Galon’s gift was, but he hadn’t used it again since I’d stumbled across their camp.
Since they knew what I could do, I needed to find out what kind of threat each of them presented.
As soon as my feet were bandaged, I took the blanket Rythos offered me and lay down on my bedroll, curling into a ball as close to the fire as I could get without getting singed. I was still freezing, but my belly was full, my wounds were bandaged, and my eyes burned with exhaustion.