Page 27 of Fire to the Stars

“Why is my bodice still soaked?” Claire asks.

“Oh. Sorry.” I rub the back of my neck. “I scrubbed the bloodstains in the river after I woke up.”

A pause follows, quiet enough for me to hear Lucy pawing the embers.

Claire walks up beside me, her boots in my peripheral vision. “Why?”

I scratch the mask with my fingernail. “You didn’t need to see them again.”

“Very well. I’m going to kick you now.”

I gawk at her. She stands over me, hand on her hip, hair tied with a ribbon in a messy ponytail. I know I offered, but is sheserious? I can’t read past the stoic look on her face. I’m especially thrown when she avoids eye contact. For all her flirtation, she’s embarrassed. I suppose even she has boundaries.

I plant my elbows on my knees and brace for the hit. “A promise is a promise. Like I said, preferably not in the—”

A hand finds my shoulder. I flinch. But it isn’t a painful gesture; if anything, it’s a gentle squeeze. I glance up at her in question.

“I don’t punish the sweet ones,” she says.

Of course, the second I relax, she pats my cheek twice, hard enough to sting. I rub it away as she struts off to collect her coat.

There it is. The reason headstrong girls scare me. I don’t have the first clue how to read them.

Not that it matters. I need to keep her at a distance.

“Claire.” I hold up the mask. “We need to talk about what this means for our journey.”

She rolls her coat into a tight ball. “So talk.”

“We’re facing a lot of unknowns. Who are these people? Where did they come from? What do they want?”

“Fair to say they wanted Ravinfort destroyed, no?”

“I agree.” Lifting the sickle, I run my thumb along the leather-wrapped grip. “What’s haunting me iswhy.”

Tugging at her ponytail, Claire hums. “A slayer outpostisan odd target. Attacking Ravinfort only enables dragons to do more damage.”

“Right.” I sink the sickle’s tip into the dirt, which makes it stand off-kilter. “Why would anyone want to kill slayers? We’re the only people capable of suppressing the curse.”

“There are other clues. The silverwolves, for one.”

As far as clues go, that isn’t a strong one. EvenThe Tale of Starscontains only a handful of references to silverwolves. Noctu created them as an experiment; he wanted to know if a species of individually powerful beings could peacefully coexist, or if they would turn on each other. They passed the test. The seamless cooperation found within silverwolf packs was the assurance Noctu needed to help Diu create the Immortals, and to give them access to the lunar domain of magic. AfterThe Book of Origins, the references to the beasts taper off.

As for modern-day references, the only encounters I hear of are brief sightings within forested hunting grounds.

“I’ve never heard of anyone taming a silverwolf,” I answer. “Have you?”

Claire shakes her head. “Your experience with tinderfoxes doesn’t offer any insight?”

“ ‘Tame’ is a generous descriptor forthat.” I gesture to Lucy, who furiously digs at the remains of our campfire. “But it’s the symbiotic nature of the relationship that makes it work. I have no idea what would compel a silverwolf to betray its innate fear of humans, let alone take orders like a hunting hound.”

“Fear is a horrifically pliable instinct,” Claire says quietly. “I’ve retrained horses that were petrified into obedience. Trauma-based training would explain the aggression, too.”

“That still doesn’t tell us who the tamers are. We need more clues.”

“What about the Old Tongue? They sounded fluent.”

I stiffen. The shock of what I saw them do made me forget what Iheard.