Page 147 of Moon Chosen

“Could you get him for me?”

“Of course, Nik!”

“And can I borrow your cloak?”

“Sure. Are you cold? In shock? You look bad,” Davis said, pulling off his cloak and handing it to Nik.

“No, I just don’t want anyone else to see me before Father does.” Nik pulled the hood of Davis’s cloak over his head. If he kept his face down, no one should recognize him—especially since they thought he was dead.

“That makes sense. It’s been bad, Nik. Really bad since the survivors got back from the foraging trip.”

“Who did we lose besides Crystal and her Grace?”

“Monroe’s Viper died two days ago. Yesterday Monroe followed him.”

“Suicide?” Nik felt sick.

“No. He caught a spear in his side. It killed him. It just took several days,” Davis said.

“What about Sheena and Captain?”

Davis shook his head sadly. “They’re barely hanging on.”

“They made it back!”

“Yeah, Captain’s front leg is broken. It’s too early to tell if he’s going to heal. If he dies, Sheena will follow him.”

“Was she hurt?”

“She almost drowned, but wasn’t wounded. She managed to avoid being sucked into the run-off. She and Captain clung to the bridge ruins long enough for Wilkes to paddle back for them. Captain’s leg got caught in the truss, and it snapped. I don’t know how Sheena kept ahold of him and the bridge, but she did.” He paused and then put his hand on Nik’s shoulder. “That thing with Crystal. It was pretty terrible, huh?”

Nik nodded, not trusting his voice enough to speak.

“You did the right thing, though, ending her before those bastards took her away.”

Nik nodded again, blinking hard and looking away. He cleared his throat. “Did the rest of the team make it home? What about Thaddeus? I saw a Skin Stealer grab him from his kayak, and tried to stop him, but I couldn’t get a good shot.”

“Yeah, it was really bad. Skin Stealers captured him and Odysseus and started flaying the flesh from the little Terrier’s body.”

“Bloody beetle balls, that’s awful! I don’t like Thaddeus, but I wouldn’t wish that horror on him or his Odysseus.”

“Hey, don’t get too sad. Thaddeus managed to escape with Odysseus, and he’s back to being even more arrogant and asinine than he was before.”

“Odysseus is alive?”

“He is! And healing remarkably well. Seems that the Skin Stealers started on him, and were so distracted by how hard the little guy fought them that Thaddeus somehow managed to get free, kill a bunch of them, grab Odysseus, and escape on the river.”

“I’m glad to hear it. It was awful—truly awful. I’m glad any of us made it out of there, though we were all in the same amount of danger.”

“How Wilkes tells it the team wouldn’t have been in danger had they listened to you.”

“It’s too late for second-guessing. And Wilkes had good reason to make the decisions he did.” Nik passed a shaking hand through his hair.

“Well, shit! Here I am blabbing on and on, and you’re about to fall down. Go to your father’s nest. I’ll get him for you.”

“Thank you, Davis.”

“Welcome home, Nik. It’s really, really good to see you alive.”