“Hey, baby,” she said. She sounded exhausted. “Can I get in the door?”
Wren let go and backed up so she could enter the room. She closed the door behind her and then knelt down and held out her arms. “There, now let me get a proper hug.” Wren stepped into her embrace and hugged her neck. She squeezed him so tight it was almost hard for him to breathe.
“Painter,” Cass said. “Thanks so much for staying with him. Sorry it was so long.”
“It was no problem, Miss Cass. Anyt-t-t-, any time. Any news?”
Cass gave Wren a final squeeze and then stood up. She took off her veil and tossed it in the chair next to the door, then unbuckled her jacket. “Curfew’s in place, we’ve got a lot of extra enforcement on patrol.”
“What about…” Wren couldn’t bring himself to say the names. “…the bodies?”
“Turns out it was only two Awakened. Mez was the other.”
Mez had been among the first few of the Awakened, an older man who’d spent most of his time outside the wall. He’d never really settled into Morningside, and hadn’t kept much contact with Wren or Cass. Wren was still sorry for his death.
Cass said, “The others — we’re not sure about yet. It’s hard to get any information out of people after last night. What about you guys?”
Wren replied, “We’ve mostly been here. Just trying to stay out of the way.”
Cass nodded. “Probably the best idea right now. Painter, anything I can do for you?”
Painter shook his head. “Pretty tired. Think I’m just guh-guh-going to go to b-bed.”
“You’re up with the team?” she asked him.
Painter nodded.
“They treating you well?”
Painter nodded again. “When they’re around.”
“Yeah,” Cass said. “Been a busy few. Not sure when they’ll be back tonight.”
“Finn gave me his rrr-room.”
“Oh, good. Won’t wake you then. Well, thanks again, Painter. You’ve been a huge help.”
Cass leaned forward and gave Painter a hug. From the look of it, Wren could almost imagine it was the first time Painter had ever been hugged. He stood there with his arms at his sides almost rigid, leaning slightly back. When she let go, he gave an embarrassed smile and then opened the door.
“See you tommm-morrow.” He went out and closed the door behind him.
“I don’t think Painter’s getting enough hugs,” Cass said. “What do you think?”
“Probably not,” Wren said. He sat back down on the bed and scooted back so his feet were dangling. Cass plopped down next to him and put her arm around him.
“Tough day,” she said. He nodded. “Did you eat anything?”
“A little.”
“Hey,” she said, turning his face towards her. “I didn’t get to say this earlier, but I’m proud of what you said at Council this morning.”
This morning. It seemed like a week ago. And what did it matter what he’d said? What Wren said hadn’t stopped anyone from killing Luck. It hadn’t even decided anything.
He said, “I’m tired, Mama.”
“Me too, baby.”
“Can you lie down with me?”
“Sure, sweetheart. Come on. Why don’t we both get changed?”
Cass stood up and started pulling the covers down on the bed, while Wren tugged his arm out of the sleeve of his shirt. Even the idea of putting on pajamas seemed daunting, and Wren stopped when he got the one sleeve off. His arms felt like they were full of concrete. Maybe Mama could help. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. She sighed and walked over to it. “Probably Painter.”
Cass opened the door more quickly than usual, and Wren could tell from her reaction it wasn’t Painter. From his angle in the room, though, he couldn’t see who it was.
“Gentlemen. You need me for something?” she asked.
“Can we come in?” said a voice in the hall. It sounded like Connor.
“Wren was just getting ready to go to sleep. Can we talk in the hall?”
“It’s better if we don’t,” said a second voice. Uncle Aron. Wren put his arm back in the sleeve of his shirt. Cass stood her ground at the door, seemingly reluctant to let them in. Wren wondered if she was worried about him.
“It’s OK, Mama,” he said. “I don’t mind.”
She looked over at him, and Wren could tell from her expression that something else had been making her hesitate. Cass bit her bottom lip just a tiny bit, thinking it over.
“It won’t take but a minute,” Connor said.
“Alright,” she said, backing up so they could enter. “Just for a minute. Otherwise it’ll have to wait until morning.”
“Thanks,” Connor said as he came in. He gave Wren a little nod and smile. Aron followed after. He didn’t smile. Cass closed the door. Aron remained next to it, with his hands folded in front of him. Connor came further in, between Cass and Wren, but closer to Wren. Wren got a bad feeling.
“What’s this about?” Cass asked.
“Things are lookin’ bad out there, Cass,” Aron said. “We’ve got the entire guard turned out, and I’m not sure it’s enough to keep the peace.”
“Word’s out about what we found this morning,” Connor added. “We’re trying to get everyone to stay inside, but there’s been some scuffles by the West Wall already.”
“Why there?” said Cass.
“Dunno,” Connor said. “Could be something to do with the uhh, the Awakened that got killed. Could be just people thinking they can get away with anything now. Either way, it’s not good.”
Wren couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt really anxious. Something wasn’t right. Something about the way Aron was looking at Cass, or something about the way Connor was talking. He seemed nervous.
“Mama,” Wren said, “where’s Able?”
She seemed distracted too. Maybe trying to figure out what he was trying to figure out.
“Able and his merry little band of hellwalkers are out there keeping the Weir away from the wall,” Connor said. He didn’t even bother trying to sound anything other than dismissive.
“You’ve got them stationed on the wall?” Cass asked. The governor’s elite bodyguard was certainly capable of manning the wall, but that hardly seemed like the best use for them.
“No,” Aron said. “They’re outside.”
“On whose order?” Cass asked.
“Mine,” said Connor.
“Then who’s guarding the compound?” she said.
“We’ve got our hands full trying to keep the city in one piece, Cass,” Aron answered.
“Then maybe you should leave.”
“Not yet.”
Mama must’ve picked up on something because she managed to get a hand on Aron before Wren heard the thump, but the next thing he knew Connor had grabbed his arm and jerked him off balance. Mama had fallen backwards to the floor, but she was up on a knee, trying to get back to her feet — when Aron pointed a black box-like thing at her, and there was that thump again, and then two more thump thump, and Mama fell back and was still. And Wren tried to scream, but Connor had a hand over his mouth, and had his arms pinned to his sides; and no matter how much Wren fought, he couldn’t get free, and the whole time Connor was in his ear. “Shhhhhh. Shhhhhhh. It’s OK, Wren, it’s OK, shhhhh.”
But it wasn’t OK, Mama was on the floor not moving and Aron was putting the box back inside his coat, and he looked angry.
“Don’t fight, don’t fight,” Connor said. “Your mom’s fine, she’s just going to sleep for a while, OK? She’s not hurt, OK?”
Wren felt like he couldn’t breathe, and Mama was just laying there. And Aron was walking towards him now.
“She ain’t hurt, kid,” Aron said. “But we got a trace on Able and Gamble and the whole team, so don’t you think about trying to call for help, or else we will hurt her, you understand?” Aron grabbed Wren’s face and looked him in the eye. “Do you understand?”