The Prime asks me to pull together a scouting party. I’m to travel above the Backbone, survey the state of the river that feeds the Verdant, and report back with my findings. When I mention that this task seems more fitting for the Tender or the Reaper, she bats a hand at me. “I need the truth of this world—what lies above the Backbone, what secrets the river holds. That is a job for the Verity.”
I’m starting to wonder if I should have accepted the title of Goddess. At least then I would be firmly fixed to matters of religion.
“With that reasoning, you could have me heading up practically any task,” I grumble.
“I trust you with this, Delta,” she says, “and my Reaper is still far too busy here with security and training new troops.”
I nod, accepting the mission. “Do you want to approve my team before we head out?”
“If you are confident in your choices, so am I.”
“When should we leave?”
She sighs heavily. “I wish I could say that you could wait for the active period of this solar cycle to pass, but that will be many moons still, and we need answers now. Depart as soon as you’re ready. I’ll see to it that the Reaper arms your team with plenty of black powder and modified rifles. Until we meet again, Verity.”
We shake hands in parting, and I make for Reed’s chambers. When I arrive, the room is empty. After asking around, I hear that he’s returned to the infirmary, and I break into a run, panicked.
Even ten days after the battle, the place still smells like blood and decay. I find where they’re holding him and push through a sheer curtain, revealing his bed.
“Hey,” he says, smiling, and I exhale heavily.
“You weren’t in your room, and I panicked and—”
I freeze as he sits up and the blanket falls to reveal his injury. His arm has been severed below the shoulder, cauterized and bandaged. The last I saw him, he was healing well. He had two arms. The stitches kept pulling, and there was a bit more puss than the Tender had hoped for, but he’d been dismissed back to his room.
“Reed, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It was just yesterday,” he says.
“Still. No one told me. I should have come by.”
“I’m here. Probably wouldn’t be if you hadn’t applied that tourniquet, so don’t go beating yourself up.”
I can’t stop staring at his arm. How it’s just . . . gone. “What happened?”
“The wound got infected. Skin changing strange colors. The Tender decided it was best to take my arm before it spread to my heart.”
I swallow, taking in this information. “How long until you’re out of here?”
“Any day now.”
“Good. That’s good. I’m running a scouting trip above the Backbone and I want you with me. If you feel up to it.”
He frowns. “Don’t you think I’ll slow you down?”
“Kara the Prime is blind in one eye. Bronx the Chemist can’t set foot comfortably in the sun. You have one arm.” I shrug. “So long as you feel up to it, I don’t see why I wouldn’t want you.”
He nods. “I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks, brother.”
* * *
The night before I’m set to leave, I find Asher in his room. He’s standing at the window, gazing out over Verdant, his forearms resting on the sill.
“You’re not packing,” I say.
He glances over his shoulder, frowns. “You never asked me to come.”
“I thought it went without saying.”
He rolls his eyes. “You are the Verity now. I don’t assume anything.”
“If I’m the Verity, so are you. We’re two halves of a whole, right? We both have the truth marked on our backs.”
He smirks. “I’m not sure the Prime would agree with that, but I like the sentiment, Verity.”
I groan. “Don’t call me that. I can handle it when the others do, but not you.” A pause. “Did you decide which pillar you’ll serve here? It’s not like there are saltpeter beds around.”
“The Chemist would love me to move back to Powder Town to man them. I hear she left this morning, and I’m shocked that she didn’t drag me with her.”
I smirk. We all watched the Chemist ride off with a small detail at dawn. She’s been running Powder Town and overseeing production since the battle, but the Prime had called for her a few days ago and she made the trip to Bedrock for some meetings. I gave her a message when she left—told her to send Clay to us the next time she sees him. He has a daughter to meet.
“The Chemist could request you any time,” I tease. “Especially once we train more falcons.”
Asher angles toward me. He touches the scar on my brow, the three newer ones from the General’s falcon. “I thought it would be obvious,” he says softly, “which pillar I want to serve.” His lips brush mine, and he whispers, “I want nothing more than to please the Verity.” He kisses my neck, nips my ear. “What can I do? Tell me, and I’ll do it right now.”
I push him away, laughing. “What did I say about that name?” He captures my wrists and we collapse onto the bed in a fit of playful wrestling that lengthens, slows.
Tomorrow I have to leave again, venture into the unknown. There’s no guarantee that I’ll see another year, or five, or fifty, because that’s life—an uncertain path, a continuous cycle that leads to death and back again.
But I have this moment now, with Asher, and I’ll steal an hour or two with Bay at dawn before we leave. I have a brother who will travel with me, and a pack that will wait for me to return, and a band of sisters not in blood, but in spirit, who I will follow anywhere. Women who inspire me to be more than I ever dreamed.
The ease with which we all fit together fills my heart.
I trust these people with my life. I trust them with my soul.
All this time, I realize, I was only trying to find them. They are my Verdant, my green place, my paradise among the desert.
The map always led to them.
Acknowledgments
This book would not exist without my dear friend Jodi Meadows, who listened when I needed to brainstorm, provided suggestions when I was stuck, and cheered me on when I lost confidence. Jodi, I am deeply grateful.
Thanks also to my agent, Sara Crowe, and the team at Pippin Properties, as well as my editor, Kate O’Sullivan, and all the wonderful book champions at HMH who touched this story during its journey to publication. Matt Griffin and Virginia Allyn, thank you for the incredible cover art and stunning map, respectively.
To my writing friends (you know who you are), thanks for your support and camaraderie. This is a strange yet wonderful career, and it’s a blessing to have friends to discuss all the highs and lows with.
I spent a lot of the brainstorming phase for this novel talking aloud, bouncing worldbuilding ideas off my husband as I obsessed over tiny details. Rob, thank you for tolerating me. Kids, thanks for “tolerating” when I had to work. (We can discuss what those quotation marks imply when you’re a bit older.) You are my Verdant, my green place, my paradise among the desert. Mommy loves you, always and forever.