I resisted asking why this place wasn’t occupied if it was such a haven. There was no sense in engaging. We wouldn’t be joining them.
My attention returned to the leader. We held each other’s gaze for a long moment, silently measuring, before I answered. “We’re fine just the two of us.”
He looked beyond me again, narrowing in on Luna with such intent focus, I knew that we needed to get away from these two quickly. At least I hoped it was only two of them. I scanned the surrounding trees quickly before looking back at them again, already knowing what needed to be done.
“It’s only us,” the leader offered, clearly reading me and trying to offer reassurance.
Luna’s slight hand shifted against the small of my back and that simple touch sent a bolt of determination through me. I would get us out of this.
“Fowler,” Luna whispered.
I winced at the faint sound of her voice, angry suddenly that she was here and at such risk. I almost hated Sivo right then for placing her here with me even though I knew she wouldn’t have been safe with him either.
I pulled my arrow back tighter, stretching the string, letting them know I wouldn’t hesitate to let go. “We’re fine on our own. We like it that way.”
The leader’s dark eyes seemed to glow at my words. “I can see that you’re fine.” His gaze flitted back to me. “Perhaps we want to be fine, too, eh? Have a little bit of what you have.”
Luna’s breath caught behind me.
At last, he was revealing his true nature. “I’m not the sharing kind.”
Gunner laughed lightly, his hand moving to the satchel that bulged out from his hip. “We men need to stand together out here, friend. We’re not your enemy.”
“I’m not your friend,” I snarled.
Words didn’t need to pass for them to convey their intent. The dwellers weren’t the only monsters out there. There were two in front of me.
Finally the two men looked from me and exchanged a long glance. “Perhaps you’re not aware of what you have there.”
“Oh?” My lip curled up over my teeth. “What’s that?”
Gunner frowned and looked at his companion, giving him a swift shake of his head. “Anselm,” he said in a voice low with warning, his long, bone-thin fingers flexing over that bulging satchel as though it were his most prized possession.
Anselm held up a hand palm out toward his friend in an agitated gesture that was meant to silence him.
I smiled thinly. He thought he could handle me.
“You haven’t heard the decree,” Anselm added, baiting me. “You’re sitting on a gold mine and don’t even know it.”
I took the bait. “What are you talking about?”
Another meaningful glance passed between the men, and then Anselm sighed, as though relenting. “The king of Relhok has commanded the death of every girl between the ages of fifteen and twenty.” He tried to peer over my shoulder again. “I’d say she’s in that range.” He shrugged. “If there’s any doubt of age, it’s been advised to take no chances.”
I felt Luna shudder behind me.
My mind raced, trying to understand the motive behind a decree for the annihilation of a certain group. Young females, no less. It made no sense. The king was maniacal, but he didn’t want to end mankind. Enough of our population had been lost to dwellers, disease, and starvation. An occasional innocent slaughtered as a sacrifice was one thing, but this was something else entirely.
“Why?” The word was more of a thought that materialized than an actual question I was putting to Anselm or Gunner.
It’s not as though I expected these assassins in front of me to have any insight into the king of Relhok’s inner thoughts, but I was reeling. Understanding slowly sank in, like the teeth of an animal latching onto sinew and muscle. This was why Dagne was cut down. I understood now why they had killed her and left Sivo, Perla, and Madoc alive. They were acting on orders.
“He’s a mad king, listening to that crazed Oracle.” Anselm shrugged and took a step forward. “Does it really matter why?”
I matched him a step, pushing Luna back, too. “Why do it? What’s in it for you?” It was a lot of trouble killing girls.
“Every head gets you a month’s rations.” Anselm shrugged. “Sorry, friend. Who wouldn’t take an offer like that?”
Luna made a choking sound behind me.
Gunner patted the fat satchel at his side then. “And we intend to eat well for quite some time.”
A surge of bile rose up in my throat. From the size of the bulging satchel, I knew there had to be at least two heads in there. That must have been the odor Luna picked up. My nape prickled, panic scraping down my spine. If she could smell them, then the dwellers could, too. My gaze darted around, searching for a glimpse of them in the endless dark. They couldn’t be far.
“You’re not taking her head,” I growled.
Luna whimpered behind me, her fingers pressing deeper into my back.