Page 38 of Blood & Ash

Nobody else had noticed her. The pack’s attention was on the table, on the vials, on Arrow, on Gabriel and the space between them where something was being decided without words. Ramsey was still breathing hard. His fist was still on the table. The other wolves had gone still, bodies coiled, waiting for the signal.

The woman at the east wall didn’t coil. She stood loose and ready. Her dark eyes came back to June and stayed there a beat longer.

June took her hands out of her pockets. She pushed off from the wall and stepped away from the door. One step. Two. The floorboards creaked under her boots. Nobody looked at her. They were all watching Gabriel.

Gabriel’s hands came off the table. He straightened. His blue eyes never left Arrow’s face.

“Get out,” he said.

The words were quiet and flat, the kind of quiet that carried.

Arrow’s mouth curved without becoming a smile. “The medicine stays. Consider it. The offer stands until sunrise.”

He turned. His attendants moved with him, flanking, precise. They walked to the door. The pack parted for them out of caution rather than respect, the kind wolves showed toward something they couldn’t classify.

The young woman at the east wall didn’t move with Arrow. She stayed where she was, shoulders against the wall, arms crossed. Her dark eyes tracked Arrow to the door and then came back to the room, to Gabriel, to the tray of vials on the table.

Gabriel looked at the vials. His jaw worked once. He reached for the nearest one and held it to the lantern light. The amber liquid inside caught the flame and held it.

“Ramsey,” he said.

Ramsey straightened. “Alpha.”

“Take these to Marcus. Tell him what they are. Tell him what was demanded.” Gabriel set the vial back on the tray. “He’ll know what to do.”

Ramsey picked up the tray. His hands were careful. The vials didn’t rattle. He turned toward the back door where June stood and stopped at the sight of her.

“You coming?” he asked.

June looked at the woman by the east wall. The woman was watching Gabriel. Her expression gave nothing.

“Yeah,” June said. “I’m coming.”

She followed Ramsey out the back door into the cold. The gravel crunched under their boots. The tray of vials caught the moonlight. Six dark wax seals held antidote or poison or something in between.

Behind them, through the closed door, the packhouse held its silence.

Chapter 11

The door closed behind Arrow, and nobody in the great hall moved. Lanterns hung from the ceiling beams, their light flickering across the scarred oak table and the faces gathered around it. Gabriel stood at the head with both hands at his sides and his blue eyes flat. The hellforged scar that ran from his temple to his collar caught the amber light and held it.

Nobody sat. The chairs were pulled up but empty. Wolves lined the walls instead, arms crossed, backs straight, still, like people who hadn’t yet decided whether to stand or run.

Dex stepped away from the west wall first. He was fifty-something, built broad, with gray at his temples and a face that had taken its share of hits. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest. His jaw was set.

“Have you considered the terms?” Dex asked. His voice was level, less a challenge than a question from someone who needed an answer. “Not the medicine. The rest of it. Have you considered them?”

Gabriel didn’t move. His hands stayed at his sides. His eyes held Dex’s across the table.

A younger wolf near the back wall shifted his weight. He wore a work shirt with the sleeves torn off. His partner beside him was smaller, dark-haired, with a scar across her knuckles that caught the lantern light when she moved. They exchanged a look. The smaller one nodded once.

“He has the cure right now,” the younger wolf said. His voice rose at the end. “He walked in here with it. In vials. Sealed. People are getting sicker. Denny’s dead. Petra can’t stand without holding the wall. What are we supposed to do while Marcus runs tests?”

An older woman near the fireplace pressed her knuckles to her mouth. Her fingers were thin. She pulled them away and spoke without looking up.

“Arrow offered the cure. He offered it. We need it. The sick ones need it.” Her voice wavered. “I’m not saying take the deal. I’m saying there’s a medicine that works and our people are dying.”

A man by the window cursed. The word cut through the room. Another voice followed from the east corner, overlapping, the words running together.