Page 27 of Ignite the Infernos

“Remind me again why we can’t just leave all of this shit inside the stack and let the firebombs do their thing?” he asks my sister.

Enslee upends her load of bedding and abandoned clothes, and I can’t help but feel another twinge at all the things we’re discarding despite how hard we worked to acquire them in the first place.

“We can’t leave anything the Thrashers might be able to track,” Enslee huffs, slightly out of breath. “I know no one has revealed yet, but the curse is broken and we can’t take any chances. If one of the bombs doesn’t detonate or The Horde puts the fires out faster than we thought, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“All of the decks are done now. The only things left are our personal bunks,” Gable reports, putting his shirt back on.

Enslee nods and then looks over at me. It takes her less than a second to clock that something is wrong. “What happened?” she asks, her gaze snapping to the set of closed doors that protect the tunnel the designated survivors left through over six hours ago.

It’s too early for Craith and Iker to have returned from escorting the others, but we’re all keen for confirmation that everything has gone off without a hitch, and we keep eyeing the tunnel doors like they’re precious treasure we were told not to touch.

“Nothing happened,” I lie, and Enslee’s attention snaps back to me.

She doesn’t bother trying to force me to tell the truth. Instead, she looks over at Gable and silently demands it from him. His smile is roguish, but it does little to dim the demand banked in my sister’s eyes.

“Nothing to worry about,” Gable assures her lightly. “Amadi just got overwhelmed by my raw sexual magnetism and lost her head a little. Everything’s fine.”

Amadi reloads her glower and aims it back at the shameless flirt. Not fazed in the slightest, Gable blows a kiss to her. Mayur snatches it out of the air and then shoves it down his pants with a satisfied smirk. Everyone laughs except for Amadi.

“We don’t have time for this,” she gripes, throwing her hands up. “Everyone needs to get back to work and stop fucking around.” Before anyone can say anything, she points a stern finger at Gable. “And don’t be a perv and tell me there’s always time for fucking. I’m not in the mood.”

I bark out another laugh and then expeditiously shut my mouth. One round with Amadi is enough for the day, even if she makes it too damn easy. Gable presses a hand to his chest in faux affront and bats his lashes coquettishly at the prickly Syphon. Amadi just rolls her eyes and storms back toward the stack.

There’s a distinct flush spreading across her cheeks as she goes, and my brow furrows. I glance back at Gable, curious, but his only reaction is to wink at me and shoot another air kiss my way. I pretend to strike a lighter with one hand and then mime using an aerosol can with the other. I aim my imaginary blowtorch at the unwanted air kiss and imitate lighting it on fire. Gable play-screams, horrified, and laughter once again resets the tension Amadi left in her wake.

“How much time do you think we have before we need to go?” Olinta asks as she starts to collect the empty canteens to be refilled.

Everyone turns to me like I’m some leading expert, despite the fact that I know about as much as they do. “Four days, maybe.” I shrug. “More if they take their time bringing supplies over before they start targeting this area.”

Nods stagger through the group, and eyes wander around the camp, momentarily lost in thought. It feels as though each of us is taking our last mental snapshots of the place we’ve called home for the last sixty-two years, a place we’ll never see again, at least not how it is now.

I scan the skies, but Herm and Blay haven’t returned after they dropped off their last load of supplies. They set up more tents and unloaded a crate of focus stones. However, they didn’t arrange the rune-marked rocks into an arch like I expected before they left again this afternoon. I don’t know if they’ll do it when they return or if that’s something the Span Crafters will oversee when they magic themselves here.

So far, only the two dragons have been spotted, but we all know more will show up. Once they do, I figure it will take a day or so to discover the magic protecting this place, and then they’ll start trying to force it down. There’s some consolation in knowing they won’t be able to breach it, not until they figure out what it is, and it’s anyone’s guess how long that might take.

“It’s eerie how quiet it is now that everyone is gone,” Sofann observes.

Several of the others murmur their agreement.

“I thought I would be more keyed up, more nervous, you know?” Mayur surprisingly admits.

I offer him a soft smile, knowing exactly what he means.

Enslee chuckles. “We’ll see how long that calm lasts when you have a dragon on your ass,” she jokes.

Gable opens his mouth to say something, and I can just see the dirty responses propagating in his mind.

“Don’t,” I cut him off, but a laugh sneaks out at the pouty face he makes.

“Come on,” he pleads. “Just one. She left the door wide open.”

My dimple fights to make another appearance, but I neutralize the little bastard and shake my head. “Try it and you’ll be the caboose when we break for the gauntlet.”

Gable throws his hands up in defeat, but his hazel eyes gleam with mirth.

Enslee claps once. “All right, Amadi has a point. We’ve got a million things to do, and the clock is ticking.”

I must make a face, because both Gable and Mayur laugh and it’s aimed in my direction.