“All right,” he says finally. “Take Brutus and try to find Sammi. Papi, go up to the ridge and keep an eye out. It’s not much, but if The Watch is coming, I want a warning. Luis, stay near the tavern and see what you can find out.”
“What are you going to do?” I ask, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“No faith?” Ax teases before catching the unimpressed look on my face and rolling his eyes. “Weapons. I’m going to go find us some decent weapons. One way or another, we are going to need them.”
“See if you can find me a bow,” I tell him, pushing my chair back to stand. “And don’t kill anyone before I see you again, ‘kay?”
He looks at me a moment before answering but nods his assent.
Without another word, I walk out of the tavern. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m a bit done with males right now. It’s time to find Sammi, get Ethan, and get out of this place.
Chapter Thirteen
Axle
Iwatch Ana leave, wondering what’s gotten into her lately. Ever since we left The Tomb, she seems to be irritated by basically everything I do. Luis and Papi watch my face, saying something low to one another in Spanish that I don’t quite catch.
“What was that?”
Papi chuckles.
“Your woman doesn’t seem pleased with you,tio.”
“No shit,” I mutter, downing the last sip of coffee in front of me. “You fuckers go do your jobs. I’ll see you back here in a few hours.”
Papi gives me a mock salute and Luis only nods as they walk out. I stay for a few more minutes, watching the random people go about their days.
It’s interesting trying to classify people based on looks, something that’s generally been easy in my life. I can guess some things based on basics like clothes and their quality, but there seems to be so much more to it than that in a place like this.
Down the street I see children running and laughing, though covered in mud, it’d be impossible to tell what kind of family they come from. The beggars are easy for the most part, though I see one well-dressed man eyeing the crowd in a way that tells me he is looking for an opportunity of sorts. The eyes always give someone away.
As a child, I was ripped from my home, from a town much like this. Despite a few differences, it’s so much like I remember. Like the world held its breath while I spent two decades incarcerated.
Ana thinks I don’t take things seriously, that I underestimate the power of The Watch and the world as it is now. What she doesn’t understand is that the world was a savage place before I left The Tomb, and really, nothing has changed. The smell of cities is still sewage and sweat, and my body longs for true freedom, for the open hills and trees. Hunting yesterday was an exhilaration like I’ve never known.
Hunting men is all I’ve ever done, and to hunt wild beast, to take an animal down to provide for my woman... well, it’s given me confidence I didn’t have before.
Whatever Ana thinks, I understand this world well enough and my priorities haven’t changed. Keep her safe.
With that train of thought in mind, I head over to the blacksmith.
Chapter Fourteen
Ana
“Sammi!” I cry as I turn the corner toward the brothels and see the woman herself coming out of a building. Her eyes are wide as she sees me, and I notice a fresh bruise on her cheek.
“Ana, you’re here!” Sammi rushes over to me, looking furtively around before pulling my arm and taking me down a small alley. Brutus stands at the end of the row, looking like his usually foreboding self.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, gesturing to the area which is clearly not the nicest side of town.
“I’m looking for you, of course,” I reply, “Where the hell have you been? What happened?”
Sammi bites her lip, looking guilty.
“It was just bad timing,” she admits, her head dropping. “I, that is, Ethan and I spoke on the walk over here and, well, he said he’d help me get away from here, away from Ali. We went at night, there’s no reason he should have been there!”
“Where?”