Chapter 6: The Border

I ran across the dark yard to the pack hall in my socks.

Cade's office light was on, and he opened the door before I knocked.

"My mother says there are lights on the north ridge at Cedar Pass," I said.

"Nightfall pulled its patrol this morning. There's nobody there."

He did not ask me to slow down.

"How many wolves does Cedar Pass have?"

"Nineteen who can fight. Most are old or young."

"How far is the ridge from the road?"

"Forty minutes on foot."

He picked up his phone and said into it, "Ironwood station. Wake the line."

Then to me: "My northern wardens sit two hours from your ridge. They can be there in ninety minutes."

"What will it cost?" I asked.

"Tonight? Nothing. We settle later."

"I don't want a favor I can't pay."

"Then we'll write it down so you can," he said. "Right now your mother is on the phone with nobody to send."

I put my mother on speaker and set the phone on his desk.

"Mom, Crimson Sand's wardens are coming. Ninety minutes. Lock the doors and keep everyone in the schoolhouse."

"Who are they?" Bernice asked.

"People I work with."

"Lara," she said. "Is that safe to say out loud?"

"It's true," I said, and she was quiet.

Cade spoke to someone on his own phone for two minutes, in short, flat sentences. I heard the word ridge and the word tonight and nothing else.

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