Ash Princess (The Deviant Future #6) - Eve Langlais Page 0,52
handle that, but words? Sometimes they failed him. “What is it, Kay?”
“I should have said something earlier.” She paused, and he had to prod her.
“Tell me now, then.” He drew close to her, ready to reply to whatever thing she said with a kiss.
“The big drake might not be gone for the night. Actually, I am fairly certain he’s still inside.”
He looked down at her, blinking. “Er, what?” Not the expected answer. Should he still kiss her? He really wanted to. “I thought the cold sent them back to the crevices at night.”
“Most of them go. But not this one. Remember how I told you once we went to see the tower. It was at night, and the lights came on and…” She paused.
“You saw the dragon.”
“We saw something moving. Something big.”
“But you can’t be sure what it was?”
She shook her head.
“I could have used the news sooner, but that’s fine. We’ll figure it out once we assess the threat.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I assumed there’d be some kind of danger, or Zee and the others would have made it through.” He rolled his shoulders.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. We came all this way for nothing.”
“Oh, Kay.” He rubbed her lower lip with his thumb. “You know I can’t turn back, but it’s okay if you do. Those kids downstairs need you.”
She grabbed hold of his shirt and dragged him close. “What about me? What about what I need?”
She kissed him. The surprise of it shocked him to his toes but only for a moment. Then he kissed her back. Not long enough. They were in the open, after all, about to go fight the daddy of all dragons. Or something equally heinous. He really should be thinking about that and not how much he enjoyed the feel of her in his arms.
“More kisses later,” he said, reluctantly pulling away.
“Because there will be a later?” she said.
“Most definitely.” He had the best reason in the world to live. “Let’s do this.”
They crept toward the tower and its lights. It was farther than it seemed. Each time the lights flickered, as if something moved within, they froze. But they didn’t turn around and run.
As they drew near, Cam couldn’t help but think there was something odd about the situation. It occurred to him the plateau seemed too clean. If a dragon roosted here, where were the bones? The kills? The other ledges they’d seen were cesspools of carnage.
Then there was the question of, why would the dragon remain when its brethren all chose warmer spots at night? This high off the ground, there was a distinct chill to the air. Colder than he’d ever imagined the world being.
Maybe it wasn’t a dragon in the tower. That didn’t mean there wasn’t any danger. He could imagine all kinds of nasty scenarios, from a ruin filled with ghouls to acid-spitting spiders. Those hurt.
He’d make sure to stand in front of Kayda if there were any kind of projectiles involved. So long as it didn’t punch a giant hole through him, he’d survive. After all, he’d regrown all the toes on his left foot twice. Fucking doctors and their experiments.
They had made it about two thirds of the way to the tower when there was a sound in the sky. Not wings or a battle cry, but an engine.
Without thinking, he hit the ground and dragged her with him. Face to the hard stone didn’t give him a view. He rolled to his back, gun across his chest, ready to fire. Overhead a flying vehicle with blinking lights passed, slow and steady, with an angle that would put it either close or inside the tower.
“It’s a fucking transport,” he said in soft disbelief.
The Emerald City had a few, meaning he recognized it. Hell, he and his friends had studied them in the hopes of taking one down for the supplies inside, only they never could figure out how to do it without it turning into an exploding ball of fire.
“A what?” she exclaimed, not masking the sound of her voice. No need with the growl of an engine filling the sky. She turned to look. Gasped. “How is that possible?” Her face brightened. “Are they here to rescue us?”
He hated to shatter the hope, but he was pragmatic. “Doubtful.”
“Now you sound like Lila.”
“Think about it. Why would a rescue ship suddenly arrive at night?”
“Because in the daytime the dragons would pulverize it.”