Ash Princess (The Deviant Future #6) - Eve Langlais Page 0,44
to throw treats at them while the kids run?” Gorri asked with a raised brow.
“Maybe. I was thinking of ghouls. Will they eat those?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No particular reason.” Not yet, but he was starting to mull things over. To get some idea of what he might do. “How do we get to the tower?”
“You don’t. Did you miss the part about the drake using it as a nest?”
“If I walked away from everything that was dangerous, I’d have never gotten to where I am now.”
“You mean never gotten fucked?” Lila remarked, having joined them.
“Language,” Gorri snapped.
“Says the guy with the dirtiest mouth.”
“You’re a lady.”
“Like fuck I am,” Lila growled. “Now tell me what you two are plotting.”
Gorri pointed at him. “Dumb shit over here wants to go see the tower.”
Lila uttered a low whistle. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”
“I’m trying to save a whole bunch of people, as a matter of fact. Yourself included. You could be more helpful,” Cam snapped.
“How is offering yourself as a tasty treat to a drake supposed to help?”
“First off, I wasn’t planning on getting eaten. But I do want to see if the tower is an ancient structure.”
“Even if it were, I doubt it connects to those tunnels you’re obsessed with. Don’t you think we would have known?” Gorri asked.
“You said it yourselves. You were children. Your parents didn’t tell you everything.”
“But they would have saved us if they had the chance.” What started out as a small conversation saw itself widen as Milo joined them. “There’s a reason none of them are around anymore. Because they never gave up trying.”
“And neither should you,” was Cam’s bald addition. “It’s a good thing you’re not staying here, or you’d keep withering until all of you were gone.”
“Still sounds better than ending up as dragon shit.” Lila flipped a knife hand to hand, acting nonchalant and yet…
“How do you feel about being ghoul shit?” was Cam’s flippant reply.
“Fucked if we do, fucked if we don’t,” Gorri lamented.
“Why does it seem like you’re all plotting?” The group was complete with the addition of Kayda.
Gorri jerked a thumb at Cam. “Your Marshlander wants to visit the tower.”
“Of course, he does,” she said with a sigh. She eyed him. “Dare I ask why?”
“If it’s an ancient building, then it might be attached to those old tunnels.”
“Even if they did exist,” she interjected, “they are probably overrun by ghouls.”
“What if they’re not?”
“The chances of you finding the entrance to them in that destroyed tower are slim. Any possible entrance would be rubble.”
“Slim is still a chance. You have to let me try.”
“I’ll take him,” Gorri offered. “Sounds more interesting than sewing pouches.”
“If he goes, I’m going, too!” Lila insisted.
Milo was the one to exclaim, “You’re all insane. We don’t have time for this. We should be planning. I’m going to check on the packing.” He left, but Kayda remained, looking thoughtful.
She eyed the ground for a moment before saying softly, “I’ll take him.”
Immediately the protests started.
“You can’t.”
“They need you.”
She halted them with a lift of her hand. “We can’t all go. Gorri, you and Lila stay behind, keep the kids from panicking while I take him.”
Cam thought about telling her he’d find it himself. She was the leader of this camp. The person they looked up to. However, if she’d actually seen the tower in person… “How long to get there and back?”
“An hour each way at least. But we can’t actually get to the tower until nightfall unless you want to get eaten the moment you set foot on that plateau.”
“Let me take him,” Gorri insisted.
“You’re needed to watch over the making of more of those torches.” Lila crossed her arms. “It should be me.”
Kayda refused. “Milo needs you to keep the peace. I hear Miriam already freaked out once today.”
At the reminder, Lila made a face. “Pity we don’t have any of that quieting herb anymore.”
The arguing went on for a little while longer before Kayda managed to leave with Cam, crossbow slung on her back, the shitty machete by her side. Her expression told him nothing. Her straight bearing seemed more than a little pissed. It made him wonder why she’d volunteered.
“If you didn’t want to come…”
She flashed him a glance. “That’s just it. I do want to come, but I feel guilty now that I am going.”
“I’m sure they’ll handle things fine while you’re gone.”
“I’m not worried about that. Everyone will get ready whether I’m there or not.”
“That’s right, they will. But you’re feeling guilty that