I didn't take anything yet, just looked around while they ate. The road here was much wider than the one we had been following before, and the land around it was flatter too. To my left, the dense forest stretched on, but beyond that there were open fields, scattered trees, and a few yellowed bushes here and there. The whole area felt strangely vast, like this part of the Circle went on forever.
"Tell me, Ace," Bone said, chewing slowly. "Why are you here? I don't see a collar on you."
I shrugged. "Ken and I were just curious about the Circle, that's all."
There was no reason to tell them the truth. The less they knew, the better.
"The Circle doesn't like curious fellahs, fellah," one of the men on my right said in a low, gravelly voice.
"Yeah," I replied.
"The chick with the mask," another one said. "Have you seen her?"
"Yes," I said. "She was dragging somebody."
"A murderer," Bone said. "We were the ones who ratted him out."
"A murderer?" Ken asked with his mouth full.
