Page 20 of A World Enough

That smile sent an extra shot of heat through her blood, similar to what happened when they first met and Brogan first inhaled Camber’s scent. But this was different.

Camber rarely smiled, she was always so guarded, so to see a natural smile made Brogan’s heart skip a beat.

“You don’t like me, do you,” Camber said, offering her a drink and some food.

“Why would I like someone who thinks I’m trying to kill them?” Brogan said.

“If you are a bounty hunter, you have lasted longer than any of the others. Maybe Davor has made your backstory really good. Someone who I might trust.”

“Who’s Davor?”

“He is the senior in the Abnobian pantheon of gods. They have a council of twelve who represent each branch of their society. Science, defence, that kind of thing, but of course you might already know that.”

“Of course I do,” Brogan said.

Camber was warming up to her, but she refused to drop her guard.

“I can’t believe they keep this part of the world so hard to live on, and through that door, everything they need is in abundance. It’s nasty and cruel,” Brogan said.

“There were a few rebellions in the past, but the gods left as punishment, so the story goes. Without them, there was no water and no food. It was a dark time.”

“Were the Abnobians always this powerful?” Brogan asked.

“Their power seems to cycle. They were once even more powerful than now. They had a vast empire in this realm, but there were massive rebellions everywhere.”

“Did the empire fall?”

Camber sighed and shook her head. “They were down and wounded, but they have built themselves near where they were. It’s made them more ruthless than ever.”

They both went quiet.

“Is that why they’re chasing you so badly?”

Camber nodded. “If they got hold of me, they would use me to find all the portals, and…”

“And?” Brogan asked softly.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Camber sat back against the rock. She had already said far too much to someone who she didn’t know a thing about. There was something about Brogan that made Camber unburden herself, something that hadn’t happened to her before.

Only Vorka and her fellow guardians were trusted by her. Why was this lone wolf getting past her defences?

“What’s the plan, then?” Brogan asked.

“We’ll leave in another couple of hours. The working day for the miners should be over by then.”

“Why are we going in through the mines?” Brogan asked.

“We can’t go through the main door because it’s guarded day and night. But there’s a concealed entrance into the mines, and a staff corridor to take us to the main hangar and control area. There we’ll either need to stow away on a ship or steal one.”

“That doesn’t sound easy,” Brogan said.

Camber chuckled. “Welcome to my world.”

Chapter Six

“We’ve been sitting here for three hours,” Morrigan complained.