Ash Princess (The Deviant Future #6) - Eve Langlais Page 0,78

knowing if everyone on board the ship knew each other. How often did they change up the guards?

He stood looking bored behind Kayda as the ship kicked up dust during its landing. Same spot as before. Rattling a stack of crates.

The gangway opened, and a man in a helmet stepped down first. His voice had a tinny echo to it as he said, “Where’s the dragon?”

“Escaped,” Kayda stated, remaining by the stairs. In the dim lighting, she could have been anyone.

“Escaped?” The soldier glanced to the sky. As if he’d see a menace coming.

“He’s long gone. Do you have our supplies?” Because they were overdue.

Instead of answering, the soldier asked, “Is the shipment ready?”

“Yes.”

Still the soldier didn’t budge from the ramp. The next query held the expected suspicion. “Who are you? Where’s the countess?”

“I am her assistant.” She arched a brow and tried to look as snooty as possible. “The countess is sick in bed. Something she ate. We think.” She shrugged. “You’re welcome to go check for yourself. I don’t believe she’s contagious.”

“No need. Bring out the supplies.” The soldier waved, and the others on board exited the transport. A group of ten, just like last time. Six of them in helmets. Four without, meant as replacements for the current crew.

Those were the dangerous ones. Cam remained watching as they trooped down the steps. By Kayda’s tense posture he knew she waited for someone to sound a warning, to notice the imposters.

The soldiers returned from the first level, hands full of heavy cases, meaning they couldn’t easily pull their guns.

“Now,” Cam barked.

The thing about living in the tunnels, and surviving, was the children had gotten good at blending in and hiding. Some popped out of the crates the soldiers carried to attack, the element of surprise helping. The handful of camouflage devices they found also assisted. Those wearing them popped suddenly into view and darted for the soldiers, who took a moment too long to assess the situation. And then hesitated even longer as the leader, who’d not yet realized the cases were empty, yelled, “Don’t drop the goods.”

But the time it took to set them down gently was long enough for the children to swarm and tug at their helmets, breaking the seals.

The air at this altitude wasn’t enough to kill them on contact, which was why the younger children were tossing buckets of ash. Despite only being slightly exposed, the panic proved very real. For those soldiers at least. Those Diamond born and adapted to the tainted air didn’t freak out.

Those were the ones Cam and Gorri shot.

Their bodies hit the ground, and in the chaos, Cam saw the leader running back into the transport. He couldn’t be allowed to leave with it. Cam ran for the ship, but Lila was faster.

By the time Cam arrived, barreling onto the transport, the soldier leading the group was dead and the pilot was on his knees, blubbering.

Cam didn’t say a word as Lila tore off his helmet and ended him. They were all guilty even if it was just by being complicit.

It was shortly over except for the guy who kept screaming. The shrill noise ended abruptly.

And the children, who weren’t children anymore, cheered.

There was even more rejoicing at the food stores on board the ship. The children stripped the vessel bare of all supplies until only Kayda, Cam, and her closest friends remained. They stood outside the transport staring at it.

“It’s big,” Gorri noted.

“It is,” Cam agreed.

“Big enough for everyone now that the cargo is gone.”

“Ayuh. But where would you take them?” Cam folded his arms. “Here’s the problem. We don’t have enough fuel to take it somewhere safe.”

Kayda knew better than to mention they could fly to Ruby. Ruby wasn’t safe. “Are you sure we wouldn’t make it to the Marshes?”

He shook his head. “Not even close.”

“You can’t know that for sure,” Gorri protested.

“Have you ever driven?” he asked with an arched brow.

Given Gorri had still been in diapers when the volcano erupted, the answer had him grumbling.

“What are you proposing?” Milo asked.

“The way I see it, we have a few problems. One, more Ruby soldiers are going to come back. Two, the dragons. Three, the volcano, which subcategorizes into ash fall, poisoned air, and making overland travel virtually impossible.”

“And how do we fix one, let alone all of those problems?” Lila interjected. “Ruby will keep sending soldiers with more and more weapons. We won’t be able to hold them off. As for the other problems…you can’t