After what seemed an age, Destiny appeared at the top of the ramp and the tension oozed out of him. She was grinning widely, her eyes lit up with excitement.
“You pressed a button, didn’t you?” he asked, eyes narrowing on her.
She hurried down the ramp and stopped just in front of him. “A big red one. But I was sure that it would be okay.”
“How sure?”
She shrugged. “Fifty-fifty. Do you want to come in and have a go? I turned it off pretty fast, but we could try for longer next time. A whole lot of things flashed up. There was a screen and when I swiped my hand over it that’s when we went up. Then down. It was easy.”
He shuddered. “I hate flying.”
She patted his arm. “Maybe you need to face your fears, Milo. Get over them.”
Why did he suspect she wasn’t only talking about flying? “Another day, perhaps.” Like never. She was dressed differently, in blue jeans that fitted her perfectly and a dark blue tank top that skimmed her breasts and matched her eyes. “You’ve got some new clothes.”
She twirled. “Dylan brought them for me. He stole them. But he said sometimes stealing is all right.”
“How long did he stay?” he asked, trying not to sound suspicious.
Dylan had turned up at dawn, smelling of sex and looking very self-satisfied. He’d thrown himself into bed, muttering something about the tech officer from the Trakis Four. A pretty redhead if Milo remembered rightly. But maybe that had just been a ruse to throw him off the scent, and he’d actually spent the night with Destiny. Taking advantage of the fact that Milo was doing the honorable thing.
“Not long,” she replied. “He said he had people to see.”
“Good. He’s a bad influence. You want to explore the tunnels with me?”
His stalkers had gone by the time he’d gotten up that morning and he’d made sure he wasn’t being followed before heading around the lake. Unfortunately, he didn’t think there was a chance of him doing anything unnoticed in Camelot from now on. They had clearly gone into high alert after Destiny had disappeared.
He didn’t think they suspected him or Dylan of anything specific as yet, but the fact was, they stood out as different. However hard they tried to fit in—and he was the first to acknowledge that he hadn’t tried that hard—they were different. They asked a lot of questions.
Which all meant he needed an alternative route back to the tunnels close to Destiny’s cell. He wasn’t sure how far he had transported them when he had done the spell, but likely the tunnels were all interconnected.
“Yes please,” Destiny said. “Why are we exploring?”
“I want to see if I can find out what they were hiding that first night we met.”
“Oh. An adventure. And a mystery.”
He handed her a bag of fresh donuts.
“Do we need a torch?” she asked, biting into one and then licking the sugar from her lips, while watching him out of lowered lashes.
“No.” He forced himself to turn away, then stood for a moment orientating himself and working out which direction they needed to head in. Finally, he selected a tunnel. “That way.” He pulled his wand from his belt as he walked toward the darkness of the tunnel. Destiny fell into step beside him.
“That looks like a wand. Like Harry Potter.”
“It’s just a…sort of torch.” He raised it up and murmured a word under his breath and a bright white light shone out. He blinked. Too bright—nothing worked as expected here—and he murmured again and the light dimmed. “Let’s go.”
“Did you find any useful information in Mr. Kinross’s computer system?” she asked as they walked.
“Some, but not the stuff we really need. We do know that he has detailed information on all the ships, the people on them, and what they brought with them from Earth. And we know he has an army at his disposal.”
“The men in the green jumpsuits with the weapons. But where did they come from? I read about the Chosen Ones and who was given places on the ships and there was no mention of an army.”
He paused for a moment as he came to a crossroads. He could go left or right. “That way,” Destiny said, pointing left.
They headed off again. “Kinross set things up before he ever left Earth. Put his own people in place.” He thought for a moment. Should he tell her about the crew members? Specifically about Dr.