“Ajdin was what you American girls would call a fuck boy.” His tone was so disgusted, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“So the player fell in love with the girl next door,” I sighed out a bit more dreamily than I meant to.
“All the reports I get from home tell me they are doing well and my friend has mended his ways.”
“I bet you miss it,” I replied, glancing at him over my shoulder.
His face hardened, and he stared straight ahead. “It has been many years since I’ve gone home.”
“Because of work?”
“Something like that.” His tone was cold, uninviting, and I stopped digging. It didn’t take much thought to realize that the type of man that decides to be a mercenary is not the type to be a family man. We fell into silence for a few miles. It was nearing the end of the day and my stomach was rumbling.
We were entering the foothills of the mountains we’d been heading for. Boulders littered the ground around us and scrub brush and plants had begun appearing within the last day. The climate was changing just as the landscape was.
There was a bite to the evening air as the sun began to sink in the sky. Rafe stopped near a jumble of rocks. “We’ll camp here for the night,” he announced.
Groaning as Arsen helped me slide off Bilal, I landed on the ground and my jellified legs almost gave out. Teetering over to one of the rocks, I balanced myself on it and started stretching out my muscles.
“Sore, Pet?”
There was a smile in Rafe’s tone, but it wasn’t condescending, so I nodded. “I’m not used to riding that much. Actually, I’m not used to riding at all.”
“You’ve never ridden a horse?” he asked in surprise.
“No,” I responded with a laugh. “Though I think every girl grows up wanting one. I grew up in a city and there was nowhere to keep one that wasn’t insanely expensive.”
He nodded, looking thoughtful, but soon left me to my stretches while they made camp. I’d offered, more than once, to help, but they always refused.
Sig began piling rocks in a circle. He dug a small hole inside it before dumping sticks and leaves from nearby brush into it. He pulled some kind of stone thing from his pocket and started striking a piece of metal against it.
Sparks flew off and into the pile of dry tinder. “We get a fire tonight?”
“Only long enough to make something warm to eat,” he told me. “Keeping the fire in the hole will make it hard to see, we should be able to cook our meal, then bury it.”
My mouth watered at the idea. After nothing but dried rations for two days, I was ready for a hot meal.
“Want to keep the fire going while we set up?”
I looked at him in surprise, but nodded. This was the first time any of them had asked for my help. It shouldn’t have excited me, but being given a job, even one this simple, made me feel useful.
Slowly, I fed the flames while Rafe and Sig set up the tent. Arsen had disappeared almost as soon as we’d gotten here. I hoped I hadn’t upset him, asking about his family and returning home. It seemed to be a sore spot for him.
The sun was sinking below the horizon by the time he returned, carrying three skinned carcasses. I averted my eyes and stared at the flames. I’d gotten over the ick factor of fresh kills being my meal, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see them like that. I felt bad for the animals, but it was that or starve.
The farther we’d gotten from our old camp, the more the men had begun to relax. We sat around the campfire, eating and laughing. Once dinner was over, Rafe extinguished it and we crawled into bed.
It felt like I had just shut my eyes when someone nudged me. “Wake up.”
I blinked blearily up at the ceiling of the tent as someone shook me again. A large hand went over my mouth when I started to ask what was wrong and Arsen breathed into my ear, “Something’s wrong. Stay quiet.”
Nodding to show I understood, I did as he asked when he released his hold on me. Reaching over, I pulled on my clothes. I was just finishing tying my boots when the flap to the tent opened.
Rafe poked his head inside and gave Arsen a grim look. He held out his hand to me, and I took it without question. He pulled me from the tent and we hurried across the sand. Gripping my waist, Rafe all but tossed me on his camel before climbing on himself. The others were mere steps behind.
We started out again, in the middle of the night, leaving behind our camp and all of our things. Worry coursed through my veins, keeping me silent when I normally would have questioned what we were doing. We moved farther into the mountains and Rafe didn’t stop until we were at the base of a steep climb.
Only then did he stop the camels and release them. I watched our furry friends disappear into the dark. “What’s going on?” I asked in a whisper.