Chapter 8

"I don't suppose one of you would mind checking in on my family?" The note of hope in my voice matched the worry that they'd say no.

I'd been here five days, and even though I was sleeping and resting instead of falling out of bed, I was healing much too slowly. The wind howled outside and pressed between the cabin's cracks. Fresh snow battered the windowpanes harder with every second closer to winter. Jade and Lee likely had enough food to survive for a few weeks, but without Baba's payment to help support them, they would starve. Jade wasn't as good a shot as I was, and Baba... Well, I didn't even know if he was alive.

"Why does your family need checking on?" Archer asked from my bedside.

Grady was here too. He'd limped in after I called for Archer, as I'd thought Archer might be the one to ask because he seemed like he had a heart. Grady... Well, I could feel his anger clinging to him like a second skin, could feel his stare burning through the back of my skull.