Ash Princess (The Deviant Future #6) - Eve Langlais Page 0,51

find an escape weighed on Kayda. Cam could see it in the grim set of her lips and the slumping of her shoulders.

Zee had left to return to Necropolis. With his injuries, he needed to rest. But the man had already done the biggest job of all by giving them confirmation. The tunnels were here. They just had to find them.

Hopefully not under the ass of a giant dragon.

The stairs proved challenging. Once wide enough for several people across, now they were broken remains with entire sections missing that required careful climbing. When they reached a wrecked part, Cam sent her first while he watched the skies. Then he tossed the crossbow and she kept an eye for his turn.

This high above the ash clouds, the sky remained clear except for the distant shapes of flying dragons. Other mountains appeared to have green splotches on them, but this one was only stone, stone, and more stone. Although they did kill another dragon that they surprised napping on a ledge in the sun. The same fucker that had tried to eat his arm. The remains of his helmet still littered its nest.

“The sun’s getting close to setting,” he remarked as the sky emptied.

No more diving and swooping bodies. Already a chill began to creep in.

“We’re almost to the top.”

They were only a few steps from cresting, and when they did, he whistled. “Talk about a view.”

He had an almost perfect panorama and could see for miles. They were surrounded by hilltops and mountains, dotted and jagged in height. As the sun dipped low, the peaks were illuminated in mauves and whites and hints of green.

Night took hold, and the air immediately cooled. Quickly he surveyed the tower at the far end of the plateau. Its ruins rose from the ground, a forlorn relic.

“How do we tell if the dragon’s gone for the night?” he asked. He’d certainly not seen anything flying away from the mountain.

“By looking inside,” was her sarcastic reply.

He snorted. “Good plan. Let me guess, I get to do the peeking.”

He’d meant to anyhow. If she’d argued, he would have challenged her via arm wrestle. Even Casey rarely beat him at that.

But she didn’t even try to steal his fun. “Why thank you for offering. I promise if you end up getting eaten, that we’ll say something nice in your memory before we divvy up your things.”

The humor in her reply had him smiling. Smiling while on the way to possibly meeting a giant dragon. He blamed the woman by his side. She was…incredible. Strong and capable. Her skill with the crossbow impressive.

Beautiful and sexy. He couldn’t help himself earlier, hence why he’d kissed her. He had to taste her lips.

But one kiss wasn’t enough. He wanted more, and that would only happen if he—No, hold on. It wasn’t just him. It was her, too. Another kiss would only happen if they found a way out.

Big if, given the ruins they neared. The plateau was clear open space with nowhere to hide. The good? Nothing was hiding in wait for them. The bad, anyone looking out would see them.

But who did he expect to be peeking?

As they neared the tower, he finally grasped the level of destruction by the jagged remnants of the walls. Since the debris didn’t sit on the outside, he could only imagine it had fallen inwards, burying whatever entrance used to lead below. And him without a shovel or even a pry bar.

It seemed impossible, but he wasn’t about to show anything less than certainty to Kayda. She'd been through so much. He wasn’t about to let her see him afraid. She needed him to be strong.

Neither one of them spoke as they trod carefully across the plateau. While he kept trying to peer all around, looking for signs of danger, all too aware he’d never see it coming from above, she remained fixated on the tower. A tower he could suddenly see quite well.

He stumbled as he noticed the strangeness. “Is that lights?” he hissed.

“Yes.”

“I thought you said the tower was abandoned.”

“It is.”

“Those lights say it isn’t!” He pointed.

“They illuminate the moment the sun goes down.”

“Automated lighting,” he mused aloud. “Common feature in ancient structures. I’m surprised it still works.” It was a good sign, meaning, while there was destruction, some functionality remained.

“Cam, I should tell you something.” She sounded hesitant.

Was this where she addressed the kiss? Would she declare some kind of emotion? What would he reply? A kiss was easy. He could