a better one?”
Her shoulders slumped, which meant he lengthened his stride and, without thinking, put his arms around her and squeezed. “Chin up, Kay.”
“Kay?”
“Would you prefer princess or your highness?”
“What’s wrong with Kayda?”
“Kayda is what everyone calls you. The name they yell when they want something. Kay is gonna be your name for friends who want nothing from you but will give you their all if you need them to.”
She shuddered, and he heard a sniffle. “Why are you being so nice?”
“Because I think you’ve had enough shit to deal with already in your life.” And more so because he didn’t like seeing her discouraged. Despite not knowing her long, he admired her.
Admired her and more, which he shouldn’t even be thinking of, but at the same time, he was glad he felt something. He’d wondered what ailed him, as his friends and even his sister managed to find people to love. Worried he was broken inside him and would always be alone. Could be he’d just not found the right person.
He glanced at her.
“You’re staring at me again.”
“You’re a remarkable woman, Kay.”
The blush was worth her brusque, “Shut up.”
The area they were in had a funky smell to it. Musty, dusty, and somehow rancid. They must be nearing a nest.
“Quiet now,” she said softly. She slowed her steps and moved carefully, easing the crossbow to aim it in front of her.
A part of him wanted to jump in as a shield, but he knew she’d hate it, so he remained guarding her back. In the remnants of a room that still held the long stone benches carved from the walls, he expected them to halt. The smell of rotted meat filled the nose, and he could feel the hot, ashy air blowing from somewhere nearby.
But Kayda stepped past the waiting area to the partially collapsed doorway.
“I thought we were waiting for nighttime?” he whispered, and it still sounded too loud in this abandoned place.
“We will wait for night to cross the plateau to the tower, but I thought we might want to remove a threat in the meantime.”
“As in take out a dragon?” He grinned. “You sure know how to show a guy a good time. What are we waiting for?”
Chapter 10
After Kayda told Cam they’d be taking out a dragon, he practically ran out the partially blocked entrance. She would have thought he didn’t grasp the danger, except she knew he did. But a man who could heal like he did probably didn’t worry as much as other people.
They waited by the narrow slit for the dragon to return. In the tedious silence that followed, she couldn’t help but contemplate what insanity possessed her to offer to lead him to the tower.
First off, she’d lied about being superfluous for the exodus preparations. They could have used her around, not so much to help prepare but to offer moral support. Everyone was on edge and scared. No one knew what would happen. Everyone kept eyeing the barricaded door to the basement, fear radiating from them. They jumped at the slightest sound, waiting for a ghoul attack.
She should have been there to reassure them. Instead she was on a foolish mission. The tower was dangerous, and not just because of the dragon. Parts of it still stood but only precariously. The damage done to it since it was abandoned was severe. It was the first of their buildings to get taken over completely. The drake who’d chosen to use it as a roost was the biggest one of all. She’d once overheard her daddy say the tower was where the war started in Diamond.
The dragons had since won that war.
No one had ever managed to kill the big drake, though not for a lack of trying. Until her father died. The attempts halted then.
Now that she was older, it did make her wonder why her father was so desperate to regain the tower. What was inside the ruins that was worth so many lives?
The question had plagued her for a long while now. What if her father knew of something in there that could save them? But why then not tell people about it?
For the same reason she didn’t mention it as a possibility. False hope. It seemed cruel to offer it to the people who looked up to her most. That didn’t mean she shouldn’t explore every avenue, no matter how farfetched.
Or maybe not so farfetched. What was my father trying to accomplish? Would his daughter succeed in his