“We keep losing telepathic demons in the Wilds,” Hawk said to me. “And Raphael has become our go-between when it happens.”
“Hehatesit,” Wren said, and they all laughed again.
The click of Lix’s feet on the stairs drew my attention back to him, Lopan, and Calah. “What is in Lopan’s black pot?” I asked.
“It’s a caultin,” Gage said. “He can use it to conjure things.”
“He’s a leporcháin,” the queen said. “His kind is where our legends of leprechauns originated.”
“Fascinating,” I murmured.
Lix returned to the stage without the two demons and rejoined us.
“They said they would come with us, but they’d prefer to stay, especially after what happened yesterday,” Lix said.
“I know of a demon who could be an asset, if she survived,” I said. Zanta also volunteered to go into the Wilds this time, and I hoped that, if she was alive, she would still want to leave the wall.
“Take two hours,” the king said. “If you don’t find anyone else, you’ll have to go without them. Don’t forget, you’ll have some hounds with you too, and they’re immune to the horseman’s abilities.”
Chapter Eighteen
Hawk
I followed Aisling as she wound her way expertly through the streets of the town. Clothes and whatever weapons she couldn’t strap to herself weighed down her backpack. The bun she’d pulled her hair into emphasized the contours of her high cheekbones and doe eyes. The set of her jaw was one of determination as she made a right onto another tree-lined street.
Before the war, this town was like any other town in suburbia. Kids rode their bikes in the streets, parents barbecued, and neighbors talked over their fences. Flags lined the streets on the Fourth of July, and people waved when they passed each other.
After the war, they evacuated the survivors and erected the wall dividing this town from the rest of the surviving areas. The government turned the once quaint town into a military base and assigned the houses to those who guarded the wall.
Over the years, the sidewalks cracked, the streets became riddled with potholes, porches sagged, and the paint started chipping from the once pristine homes. It wasn’t that the soldiers didn’t have pride in their homes and town; they didn’t have the time or resources to care for things like they once did.
Leaves crunched beneath our feet as they floated down from trees that had turned the color of a sunset. I knew, from past years, most of those leaves would pile in corners where they would remain until the wind took them away or someone finally cleared them out in the spring.
Stars lit the sky as the quarter moon hung over the wall. The flashing red lights of the wall illuminated the soldiers patrolling the top of it. Some of the backup troops had arrived and were already helping to separate the dead and secure the town.
Aisling made a left toward the medical clinic that was a part of the town before the military took over. After packing her clothes for our upcoming journey, she spoke with a couple of demons and learned her friend, Zanta, hadn’t survived the battle. She’d taken the news with a brisk nod and a thank-you, but I saw the sheen of tears in her eyes when she turned away.
I’d reached for her, but she dodged my hand, gave me a scathing look, and walked away. I knew that look had nothing to do with the loss of her friend and everything to do with the fact she was aware I’d debated not allowing her to join us on this journey.
“I don’t want you going with us,” I said.
“No shit,” she retorted. “I didn’t miss your exchange with Corson. I’m not your little woman. You don’t get to decide whatIdo withmylife. If I decide to go into the Wilds, then I’m going.”
I grabbed her wrist to pull her to a stop as I turned her to face me. She looked like she was considering hitting me when she lifted her chin.
“If I believed you weren’t capable of handling the Wilds, thennoyou would not go. Incompetence only gets you killed out there,” I told her.
“I amnotincompetent, and it’s not your decision—”
“Yes, it is. I’ve been in the Wilds; I know the monsters and horror out there, and I know who can’t handle it. Corson and Bale may be Kobal’s seconds-in-command, but I’m also one of the leaders, and I helpdecide who watches our backs. You are my Chosen, and I would prefer you here, where it’s safer—”
“Did you miss what happened yesterday? It’snotsafer here.”
“But it is, or at least it is for now. You have more numbers here, and while there’s a chance the horsemen could come back, it’s unlikely. We slaughtered their troops, and they’re on the run. I don’t want to separate from you, but if I believed you couldn’t handle the Wilds, I would leave you here. However, you’re a good fighter, and I think you can handle it.”
I also preferred her with me, where I could protect her. I didn’t think they’d attack the wall again, but there were other dangers out there, and I had to know she was safe.
Red flickered through her eyes. “Icanhandle it.”
