fix this.” As usual, he spoke as if there was no other possibility. “I see only one potential problem.”
She stiffened. “What?”
His gaze shifted over her shoulder. “Him.”
Sharluff brayed in agreement.
31
“If no one’s going to eat them, can someone pass the leftovers?”
Grif chucked the last bars toward Zale, grateful to the guy for being such a damn pig, and for breaking the silence.
Hand snaking out at a near blur, his teammate caught the food so fast the tiny black braids at his forehead and beard barely moved.
“Thanks.” Zale shoved the bars into his mouth and then returned to staring at the flames.
Grif sighed.
Dinner around the fire was usually a lively affair. Not tonight. Tension left a sharp tang in the air, adding to the smoke and crackle of flames.
Bain was doing a lot of thoughtful contemplation of the dirt, his potion bottles clanking as he shifted on the rock he was using as a seat.
Jagger and Nash kept elbowing each other in the ribs, trying to get the other to talk first. Quil, comatose as usual, darted glances at the cluster of noncrew sitting on the other side of the fire.
It was hard to determine who he was staring at. Cam and Lana were both there, but so was Britta, a tall, strapping redhead with a soft demeanor who’d been a Resistance soldier before she was sent to Dragath25.
“When is Maddox returning?” Bain broke the silence.
“As soon as he’d relayed the latest news to the commander and gotten any additional orders.”
The silence stretched once more.
This had all seemed a lot easier when it had just been him, Nayla, and a sharp-beaked beast that wanted to eat him.
“Here.” Malin tossed Zale his bar as well. “You can have mine, too. I’m not hungry.” He leveled an accusatory glare Grif’s way.
The other male was still adjusting.
Grif and Nayla had slept for as short a time as possible while still allowing them to function. Then they started back the way they’d come. They’d met up with the hunting party not too far from where she’d made camp. There’d been shouts, some back slapping, Maddox had even given him a hug. All of which had left Nayla wide-eyed, skittish, and a heartbeat from making a break for it. He’d held fast to her hand the whole walk back to where the others had erected their tents, just in case.
He understood. Encountering so many Others would have been strange under any circumstances: new traditions, new behaviors, new faces, but it was made doubly challenging by the fact that his crew had been out looking for him, certain he was in trouble, maybe even dead.
Suspicion and resentment still simmered in the air.
Added to that, there was a giant beaked creature looming outside the circle, making strange yips and growls as it gnawed on fresh meat it was unwilling to share.
But the crew would learn to deal with Sharluff, just like they would the tiny pixie staring so intently at everything and everyone, he wasn’t sure she’d blinked once.
“You okay, wild thing?” He’d leaned in close so he could keep their conversation as private as possible.
“Yes.” She shivered as his lips brushed her ear, but didn’t face him. He hid a chuckle. Talk about concentration.
“So, Nayla,” Bain brushed a crumb from his chin, his voice inquisitive as he tried to break the silence.
Grif was beyond grateful.
“I hear you can hold your breath longer than we can?”
Grif’s gratitude evaporated. Dumbass. She didn’t need to feel different right now. Sitting up straight, he opened his mouth to rip Bain a new one.
“Yes.” Nayla got there first. She sounded so proud, he snapped his mouth shut. “It very helpful in tunnels, but not necessary. Sharluff also very useful. I show you tomorrow.”
His irritation disappeared as fast as it had come. Pride rushed through him. Nayla was doing fine.
He needed to relax.
He let the conversation wash over him.
Bain’s question had opened the floodgates for more stupid, nosy questions, and the males on his team had a lot. About her skin, her size, her lung capacity. Still, Nayla didn’t seem to mind and Grif was pleased every time she spoke up, so he kept his mouth shut.
Of course, Malin wasn’t participating. He sat there sulking, his scowl deepening with every answer Nayla gave.
He wasn’t the only one.
Lana, too, hadn’t said a word. She sat on the opposite side of the fire, her face pale, her stare locked on the press of his thigh against Nayla’s smaller one and the way their fingers were