Mist's Edge (The Broken Lands #2) - T.A. White Page 0,142

bones, otherwise I suspect the climate in here would have preserved the bodies. I can’t tell if whatever beastie ate them was also the one to kill them.”

“Either way, I’d say we’re not the only things in here,” Caden said, giving Fallon a look.

No, Fallon would agree. Which meant the pathfinder had a lot of explaining to do.

All eyes followed Fallon’s to Reece where he stared down at the remains with a fixed expression.

“Would you like to explain?” Witt asked, his voice calm.

“He’s had his chance to explain,” Fallon said from where he crouched near the trough. He jerked his head. Reece was seized from behind, the faces of the Anateri implacable masks.

Caden unsheathed a knife at his waist, turning to Reece with a hard expression.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Witt asked.

Fallon cast a sharp glance at the other man. Witt held his hands up in supplication.

“I’m not questioning you. It’s just he’s the only person besides Shea who has any hope of guiding us out of here. He may very well be the only person who can find her.”

“Those are good points, both of them,” Fallon conceded. “But if we can’t trust him, there’s no point keeping him around. He’s had many chances to earn our trust and failed at all of them.”

“This place is a maze,” Reece said. “You’ll never get out of here without me.”

Fallon smiled, the movement lacking any warmth or amusement. “I’m not convinced you can get us out of here either way. Shea is the one that found the entrance if you’ll recall.”

“I brought you here.” Reece struggled against the men restraining him.

“I would not brag of that, if I were you,” Caden observed, his face coldly amused. “Since we’ve listened to you, we’ve been attacked by eagles and a whole lot of other beasts. The Telroi is now missing, and we are stuck in a place that reeks of death.”

“What do you care for some woman who’s fucking your master?” Reece’s expression was watchful, as if he was testing them. It was the only reason Fallon refrained from striking him down where he stood.

The men holding him tightened their grip to a painful point. Reece didn’t make a sound, a determined expression taking over—one Fallon had seen on Shea’s face on more than one occasion when she’d felt like she’d been backed into a corner or when she was testing the waters for one of her bigger stunts. It made him question Reece’s motivations. Enough that he decided to watch and observe before deciding one way or another.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” one of the men holding Reece warned.

“That’s our Telroi you’re insulting,” the other said.

Both men had been with Fallon for many years. Their loyalty was unwavering, and it seemed it extended not just to Fallon but to Shea as well. A curious and welcome development. The first sign of acceptance.

“My men take insults against the Telroi rather personally,” Caden warned. “She’s saved our Warlord’s life on more than one occasion. That, if nothing else, commands your respect.”

Reece’s mask fell for a moment, and Fallon thought he saw the faintest shadow of relief on the other man’s face before his emotions were hidden again. It was enough that he was willing to take a chance on the pathfinder. A small one.

“You say you don’t know where she is. What’s your best guess?” Shea often said she didn’t know, but she usually had a guess that turned out to be right more often than not. Fallon had to wonder if it was a family trait or part of the training these pathfinders underwent.

Reece turned guarded. “It’s possible that there is another entrance to these caverns that she would need to take once she found the symbol. It looked like she was pretty high in the cliffs when the eagles descended.”

“And can you find this other entrance?” Fallon queried with a lift of his eyebrow.

“No.” Reece hesitated a moment. “But she should be able to find her way here. She has an uncanny way of getting out of scrapes.”

“I’m well acquainted with that trait.”

Reece’s chuckle was brief. “You should have grown up with her. She turned both our parents’ hair gray before she took the pathfinder mantle.”

He almost sounded like a cousin should. It made Fallon tempted to respect him, but he was loath to drop his guard with this man who represented everything he could lose Shea to.

“Looks like we have no choice then, we’ll wait for her to find us,”