Ashyn shook her head and started to ask the same of Moria, but her sister had already turned to the men who brought them in.

“Where’d the other one go?” she said. “The man in charge. I want—I demand to speak to him.”

The mercenaries laughed and began to leave.

Moria started after them. Ashyn tried to hold her back, but she shook her off.

“You!” she said to the men. “Do you know who I am? In the name of the goddess, I demand answers.”

“Then ask your goddess for them,” one said as he continued toward the door.

Moria lunged. “Do not—”

A hand caught her by the shoulder. Ashyn hadn’t even seen anyone standing there—she was too focused on her sister. She glimpsed the young man’s face, curtained by braids as he leaned over, whispering to Moria.

Gavril.

Ashyn braced for her sister to throw him off, too, and march after the departing guards. But she only grumbled and Daigo snorted, both of them glowering toward the guards. Then Moria did pull from Gavril’s grasp, but only to march back to Ashyn.

“You’re all right?” she asked again.

Ashyn nodded.

“And Tova?”

“He’s fine.”

Moria’s gaze flicked to Ronan. She didn’t ask if he was injured, but he seemed to understand the implied question and said he was fine, too.

“What happened?” Moria said. “And what’s going on here?”

They sat to talk. Moria said she’d found Ashyn’s letter, so she knew how they’d left and why. Ashyn skimmed over their journey through the Wastes, except to say that Beatrix, Gregor, and Quintin were dead. She did not tell them how the first two perished. Stories of death worms could wait. Finally she explained about Wenda.

“Spirit possession?” Moria said. “Yet she was not dead? Not possessed by a shadow stalker?”

Ronan answered. “Not unless they can keep a corpse fresh for six days.”

He didn’t mean it seriously, but Moria considered before saying, “No, the stories say possessed corpses rot slowly, but you would have noticed. It sounds more like . . .”

As she trailed off, she glanced at Gavril. Did he look uncomfortable? Or simply annoyed with the diversion? With Gavril, it was impossible to tell.

Ashyn went on to tell them about the children and the men who had control of Fairview.

Moria took a moment to digest it. “So it appears as if mercenaries were responsible for what happened in Edgewood, presumably working with”—she paused—“men of magic. They unleashed the shadow stalkers, among other things.”

“Other things?” Ronan said.

“We saw a thunder hawk,” Gavril said.

“We fought and killed a thunder hawk,” Moria corrected.

She explained. Then Ashyn told them about the death worms.

When Ashyn finished, Moria fixed Gavril with a look. “Shadow stalkers, thunder hawks, and death worms . . . all just coincidentally appearing in the Wastes at the same time?”