"Dead?"
"Dead and turned into shadow stalkers. Now go on back to the village. Do your duty. Bury them. And then tell me what a foolish child I am."
His mouth worked. Nothing came out. Then he shook his head sharply and retrieved his fallen sword. As he pushed it into its sheath, he said, "You've drunk infected water. You're fevered--"
"I'm fine," she snarled. "The villagers are dead. My father is dead. Turned into--" She stopped fast. "He's gone now. I freed him."
"Freed him . . ." Gavril stared, as if he couldn't quite comprehend her meaning. "If you thought you saw shadow stalkers, then I'm sure that was terrible, but your father cannot be dead."
His eyes held something she'd never seen there before. Genuine concern. His voice was soft, and she wished he would shout. She wished he would snap and yell and call her a foolish child again, because somehow this was worse. Giving her hope where there was none.
"My father is dead. I watched him rise as a shadow stalker and try to kill me. I expelled the thing from his body, and then I ran through my village and there was nothing but bodies and blood, and that was no nightmare."
"Then why would you come back into the forest?"
"Because my sister--" She inhaled. "I thought I saw Ashyn and Tova, and we followed, but they were some sort of phantasm."
She steeled herself for Gavril's arguments, but he only stood there, an odd look on his face.
"A phantasm of your sister led you into the forest?"
"Yes, and don't tell me I was sleep-blind. I never went to bed. Ashyn and I were at the cells with the captive, Ronan. I went up and . . . I found what had happened to the village. To my father. I saw Ashyn and Tova running. Daigo saw them, too." She looked at Gavril. "He's a Wildcat of the Immortals. My bond-beast. If I were fevered or running from a nightmare, he'd know it. Now I need to get back to the village. I need to help Ashyn. I left her in the cells, and I can only pray she's still there, safe, and--"
"Moria . . ."
Her back tightened as he used her name. Call me Keeper, she thought. Shout at me. Curse me. It suits you better. This . . . It feels like pity. You called me a child before. Now you're treating me like one.
"Your breeches are wet."
"What?"
He eased back on his heels. "You've gotten wet in the stream. You should dry off. Build a fire. Rest a little. You're tired. You haven't slept since the Seeking. You're cold and you're wet and you think you've seen--"
"I have seen."
He coughed, as if physically choking back a response, then winced as if the cough hurt his head. "All right. But whatever has happened, you need to get through this forest, and for that, you must be dry and rested. Let me build you a fire."
She looked up at him. His words were kind, but his face was unreadable, as if he was struggling to be nice. Why?
Because he needed her. He was lost and wounded.
"I can't stop," she said. "Ashyn--"
"Whatever has happened, Ashyn needs you to get out of this forest. You can't do that if you collapse from exhaustion. I'll start a fire. It'll take a moment. Wash that mud from your face. You'll feel better."
Nineteen
Gavril had gotten the blaze going faster than she expected. She didn't see what he'd used--he'd put it away before she arrived. Now he poked at the fire to get it higher, but it was as if the dense forest devoured all the air. It was still blessedly warm. Daigo agreed, curled up so close he'd singed his fur.
"The path was still clear enough for me to lead them to where the other guards perished," Gavril said. "Levi--his body--was gone. I saw something moving in the woods. I saw those blasted boots of his and someone called his name. And then . . ." Gavril gripped the hilt of his sword. "There was a scream, and I didn't see anything until they had Levi on the ground. But it wasn't Levi at all. It was . . ."
"A shadow stalker."
He grunted. "That's what the others said. They killed it . . . or expelled it, I suppose. Then the forest erupted with smoke and shadows. It wasn't like with Levi. There wasn't even time to scream."
"Levi was their decoy. They're predators, not mindless--"
"I don't know what happened. I was at the back with Orbec. The shadows fell on everyone and . . . Orbec told me to run. I saw an arm in the fray, and I grabbed for it and . . ." He stopped, his gaze unfocused, trapped in the memory. "By the time I pulled, that's all there was. An arm. Orbec dragged me out of there. We ran. It felt like cowardice, and I know . . ."