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“Nice work. How would you describe the route to get there from here?”
Granite went silent for a moment.
He finally peeked his eyes open and looked at Quake and Margo, who were both grinning now. “Trick question,” Granite finally scowled.
“Good work.” He nudged the kid with his shoulder. “People will always ask for more than you can give when you’re the king, no matter what you do or how hard you work. Get used to realizing when someone’s asking a question like that, so you’re ready to say no when it happens.”
The kid didn’t look happy, but he nodded.
“I’ll go after him with you,” Quake told Flood. “I need some excitement, anyway.”
Margo smacked his bicep with the back of her hand, and he laughed.
“I’m going to show Ayla to the bakery here,” Margo said, standing up. “I’m not going to keep my eyes closed the whole time, so let me know if it gets dicey, and I’ll shut them.”
“Deal.” Quake smacked her ass, and she grinned as she strode over to my couch.
I looked at Zoran, who captured my face between his palms and kissed me thoroughly. When he released me, he signed, “I’ll come back to you quickly, Cier.”
The words felt more private since no one else in the room could understand them.
“Please be careful,” I signed back.
He nodded. “I won’t put your life on the line by risking mine.” He kissed me again, then stood smoothly and strode toward Quake.
I knew they communicated with water and by reading lips, so I hoped they’d be able to talk easily enough that no one would get hurt.
Other than Crest and Locha, that is.
I didn’t think they’d survive if the kings had anything to say about it.
Margo and I headed out as the men disappeared, and she wiggled her hand toward Granite. “Come on, buddy. We’re going to the bakery. You need all the calories you can get to fuel all that growing.”
He groaned, but reluctantly joined us.
He didn’t take Margo’s hand, though.
Chapter16
Zoran
Quakeand I transported to the edge of a village in the middle of the sand dunes. There wasn’t a damn drop of water in the air, which I knew was exactly why Crest had chosen it.
But that fact would work against him far more than it would work against me.
“What’s the plan?” Quake asked me. Though there wasn’t much water in the air, I’d never had a hard time finding it below the surface of the earth, so I formed my words there, knowing that he would understand them.
“Plans are for people who aren’t confident in their ability to handle whatever the future throws at them,” I quoted Flame.
Quake laughed. “I’m not going in without a plan. My woman would kill me.”
I wondered what Ayla would think of the same thing.
It only took a moment for me to reach the conclusion that she’d trust me to make the best call, whether that was to have a plan or to go in confident of our abilities.
“Crest is a bastard, but he’s not a complex one. I would’ve killed him centuries ago if he’d given me a reason to. He knew that, and stayed in the shadows because of it. Taking the throne when I went insane was the extent of his planning since our childhood, so I doubt he’s set any kind of traps. He knows his power can’t compare to mine. He’ll attempt to appeal to my emotions.”
“Will it work?” Quake asked me.
