Roar and Perry set to work building a screen with leafy branches to form a bulwark against the wind. Whatever had happened with the girl, Liv, had left them quiet. They worked quickly together despite their silence, like they’d done this sort of thing a hundred times. Aria copied the way they wove the branches together and found that for her first-ever screen, she did a respectable job.

They couldn’t have a fire, but Roar produced a candle that gave them a flickering light to gather around. Aria had just begun devouring the bread and cheese Roar brought out when she heard the snap of a twig. It sounded close in the quiet. She turned, seeing only the screen of pine branches as she heard footsteps scuttling off in retreat.

“What was that?” She’d just started to relax. Now her heart was pounding again.

Perry bit into a piece of hard bread. “Your friend have a name, Roar?”

Aria scowled at him. How could he dismiss this lurking stranger after what they’d been through with the cannibals?

Roar didn’t answer right away. He stared off like he was still listening for movement. Then he unstopped a black bottle and took a long drink, settling back against his bag. “It’s a kid, and he’s more a pest than a friend. His name is Cinder. I found him sleeping right in the middle of the woods about a week ago. No thought to being seen or sniffed out by wolves. I should’ve let him be, but he’s young . . . thirteen maybe . . . and he’s in bad shape. I gave him some food and he’s been trailing me since.”

Aria peered at the pine screen again. She’d gotten a taste of being alone out there the night Perry had left her behind. Those hours had been filled with nothing but fear. She couldn’t imagine a boy living like that.

“What tribe’s he from?” Perry asked.

Roar took another drink before he answered. “I don’t know. He has the look of a northerner.” He glanced her way. Did she look like she was from the north? “But I couldn’t get it out of him. Wherever he’s from, believe me, I’d love to send him back. He’ll show up. He always does when his hunger gets the better of him. But don’t expect much from his company.”

Roar handed her the black bottle. “It’s called Luster. You’ll like it, trust me,” he said with a wink.

“You don’t look very trustworthy.”

“Looks can be misleading. I’m reliable to the core.”

Perry grinned. “I’ve known him his whole life. He’s full of something else to the core.”