Page 96 of Wolf of Ashes
On the upside, there’s plenty of room for Anarchy, who stretches out on the floor perpendicular to our legs, facing the aisle.
Jonah looks even more unhappy about where I’m sitting. He probably intended to sit beside Elijah—if I were him, I would have preferred that, too. As it is, he makes way so that Diavolo can take the other window seat facing Elijah, while Jonah takes the aisle seat facing me.
Diavolo and I are now facing opposite ends of the car. Not bad since we can watch each other’s backs this way.
A group of human teens plonks down in the seating area to our left, their loud chatter washing over us. A far cry from the silence among our group as the train begins to move.
Elijah stares out the window, still gripping my right hand, and I take a few moments to assess each of the passengers—the ones I can see down the aisle and over the tops of chairs.
Most of them are human.
Three are supernaturals I recognize from the station earlier, although none of them is the witch in the red coat, the bear shifter with the beard, or one of the fire mages. The supernaturals in the car with us now have an aura I think belongs to shifters. Not wolves or bears. Lions, maybe. I can’t quite tell, although the aura is the same for each of them.
They’re all bushy-haired, blond males. All sitting in different positions, but each has a row to himself.
It irks me that I have to let Orlan, Gad, or Valki deal with them if they become a threat.
Jonah gave clear instructions: We stay with Elijah at all times. Unless danger reaches our location, I’m stuck in this seat.
A few minutes after the train sets off, Jonah rises out of his chair, apparently to take off his jacket.
His big body blocks my view for nearly a whole minute and when he sits down again, I stare at the three empty seats that the lions occupied only moments before.
Gad now sits in one of them.
Narrowing my eyes, I shift slightly, making out the shape of what could be a body slumped in the window seat next to him. I’m sure Gad will make it look like the dead man is sleeping.
Then I take note of the way all of the humans are staring out of the window nearest to them. They have glazed expressions. When I cast a quick glance back at Orlan, I catch a glimmer of fading light where it appears he drew a spell on the side of his seat.
I can only assume he compelled the humans to look the other way and clouded their senses while Gad dispatched the lions.
A second later, the humans resume their conversations as if nothing happened.
Gad grins at me from across the distance, licking the tips of his retreating fangs as if I’ll be his next meal.
I shiver a little at the speed with which he took the lions out, but I tell myself to sit tight. We’re all on the same team here.
Probably.
Vanguard warned Jonah not to trust anyone.
I give Gad a slow, cold smile.
Getting Elijah to Boston is my path to the usurper Ultima Nostra, and nobody is going to fuck that up for me.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
At the first stop, a few humans disembark and other humans get on while the teens in the seats near us remain where they are.
Then, a minute after the train leaves the station, the bear shifter appears at the front of the car near Valki, his hulking form filling the doorway.
At the same time, I hear the doors swish open at Orlan’s end and a quick glance tells me that the two fire mages have appeared there.
It’s impossible to tell if the mages are working with the bear shifter or if they’ve timed their approach to coincide with his, hoping they’ll have a better chance if our defenses are split.
Craning my neck while trying not to make myself too conspicuous, I catch the quick movement of Orlan’s hand and this time, I sense the very gentle shift in the air right before the chatter ceases and the humans become intensely focused on the landscape outside the train.
Vanguard said he was hoping the presence of humans would limit the attacks, but I guess that only works to a point. At least this way, Orlan is the only one controlling the humans’ minds.
