“I wasn’t at Powder Town long,” he admits. “Roughly two moons. Soon as it felt safe enough, I left to search out your pack. I’d heard talk that there were a few groups living west of Powder Town”—this is news to me—“and another to the south, halfway between West Tower and the Old Coast. I went west first. Maybe if I hadn’t, I’d have made it to you guys. To you.” His head twists to the side briefly, but he doesn’t make eye contact. “I got jumped by Bain and Cree three days after leaving Powder Town. They took all my gear, were talking about bringing me to the Barrel to trade. I couldn’t go there. If anyone saw the brand, I’d end up back in Bedrock, and I knew I wouldn’t escape a second time. The General would make sure of it. So I made Bain an offer. Told him I would help him bring in ten times what I might have been worth in the Barrel, so long as we could part ways after.”

“And he agreed?”

“Not at first. He wanted to know what I was running from. Probably trying to decide if he could get even more from me by turning me in. I just said I’d already worked in the Barrel once and couldn’t do it again. Turns out, he had, too.”

“You’d think that would make him want to help the vulnerable, not work against them.”

Asher grunts. “You don’t know Bain. He likes assets, comfort. I thought for sure he wouldn’t take my offer, but Cree started arguing that it wouldn’t be bad to have an extra set of hands setting up camp and making meals, and that it would make cons easier to pull off.”

He jumps a particularly wide tributary and turns back to wait for me. I don’t know if I can make this one, but as far as I can see, Asher’s found the narrowest place to cross. I bite my lip, get a bit of a running start. As soon as I leap, I know I’m not going to make it.

My heel hits the edge of the tributary. I don’t feel the heat through my boots, but the rock beneath the water is slick. My foot skids out from under me. Asher rushes forward. His arms hook beneath my shoulders, and I collide with his chest.

“I got you.” He staggers, pulling me upright. We’re so close, my nose nearly brushes his chin when I look up. There’s a small scar by his bottom lip that I don’t remember from when we were kids. I wonder how he got it.