Chapter 24: Pine Salve

The first snow of the next winter came on a Tuesday, and I was on the porch to see it.

The Black Forest barracks had a new roof, a new kitchen and a new sign over the gate in the patrol's crooked paint.

The sign said "Riordan's Wall".

Elias hated it, and no one would take it down.

I sat on the top step in his old patrol coat, which was too big for me, with a mug of black tea going cold in my hands.

Behind me, the cabin was no longer one room.

The patrol had built a second one in the autumn without asking either of us.

Down the path, the grizzled warrior was shouting at two young wolves about a fence post.

He caught my eye and tipped his cap.

"Mara!" he called. "He's coming back along the wall. Says tell you he's cold."

"He isn't cold," I said. "He's showing off."

"He's carrying something."

"Is he."

The warrior grinned and went back to his fence post.

Elias came out of the trees ten minutes later, with snow on his shoulders and his coat open.

He walked up the path as he always did, steady, with no hurry in him.

It was a year since the Court, and he still looked at me first when he came through the trees.

I felt him through the bond, a warm ache just under my ribs.

"You came the long way," I said.

"I walked the wall."

"There was no need. The patrol has the wall."

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