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The tunnel was narrow and low, but we squeezed through single-file. Xero walked in front with me immediately behind him. When he suddenly stopped short, I ran into his back, causing a chain reaction all the way back to Kai, who was bringing up the rear.
“What’s the matter?” I whispered.
“Metal bars. A gate or something.” He raised his voice slightly, calling out into the space ahead of us. “Maori sent us.”
“For what purpose?” a voice called back after a moment.
“Rest and provisions. We’re tracking Gavriel’s army.”
“Why?”
“Sabotage.”
“Ooh, good answer.”
And an exciting one, apparently. Honestly, I hadn’t put much thought into our decision to track Gavriel’s army. It was just the thing to do at the time—I’d been pissed as hell about Michael being killed, and I’d wanted to do something to make up for bringing Gavriel’s wrath down on him. But the more people questioned us, the more I wanted a strong answer to give. To fuck shit up just didn’t seem detailed enough for an action plan.
Metal screeched somewhere ahead, and Xero moved forward again.
I had to stop and blink for a moment when I saw where we were. It was a whole town. A little rustic, a little medieval maybe, but it was a fully functional town complete with stone buildings and a tiny marketplace.
“Whoa,” Kingston said. He turned to the gatekeeper, a little gnome with a nose almost as long as he was tall. “How many people live here?”
“Not many. Less than a hundred, now. Used to be more before people got it through their thick skulls that popping down the lane to call on the neighbors was a bad idea.”
“Are there lots of towns like this?” I asked him.
He looked at me like I was stupid. “How should I know? There used to be. I won’t be the one to check now, no, I won’t. If Gavriel catches you out there, he’ll put you to work or kill you. Them’s the only options.”
“Seems like a great way to run through your whole population in a single generation,” Hannah said with a scowl. “How does he expect his numbers to maintain if he doesn’t give his people ample opportunities to multiply?”
“That’s a whole lotta words for ‘when do soldiers fuck.’” I smirked at her, and she blushed. “But it’s a good question. What’s his long game?” I directed the question at the gnome.
“What do I look like, a tour guide?” He scowled. “How should I know?”
“You have to hear rumors.”
“Fine, fine, maybe I do. Rumor is earth is full of fresh meat ripe for the turning. Good enough for you?”
“Still short-sighted,” Hannah muttered.
“Go find Jemma,” the gnome said, waving us off. “She knows things.”
I took a step forward, then turned around. “Where will I find her?”
“Wherever she is,” the gnome snapped. He lifted his gaze to the sky. “Fuck’s sake, they do think I’m a tour guide.”
I looked at the others and shrugged. No one here seemed inclined to attack us, so I supposed we didn’t actually need a guide—or an escort, more like. Keeping together in a tight group, we made our way into the center of town. People, going about their lives, offered us the occasional curious glance or smile, but we didn’t seem to be making waves here the way we had in other places.
“Must be some kind of safe haven,” Kai said thoughtfully. “How are we supposed to find this Jemma person?”
“I don’t know. I guess we could ask someone.” Jayce scrubbed at his chin, glancing around.
“They all look busy,” Hannah said anxiously. “I don’t want to bother them.”
“Look, there’s someone. Let’s go ask him.” Kingston pointed at a man who sat by the well in the center of the small town square with his back to us. He didn’t seem to be doing much of anything. He wore a cloak which hid his head, but his furry elbows were visible.
Hannah chewed her lip. “I don’t know—maybe he’s meditating or something, I wouldn’t want to disturb him.”
