HECTOR

“Where are you going, Nola?” I groaned but the woman just shook her head wordlessly.

It was the second time she’d stopped smack dab in the middle of the procession.

“You’re going to get a fly in your mouth at this rate.” I chuckled, looking down at the woman who had jumped off the horse the minute she saw the city lights, slack-jawed with wonder.

We were almost to the city gates, and I could tell, even from the distance, that the city had not woken up yet, the yellow of my wolf eyes picking off the triangular metal heads of the watch rower guards that were nodding away...