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She stops before me, sticking one foot out and then the other. "How do they look?"
"Perfect," I say, bending to adjust the ties on her left foot.
She coyly ducks her head, color tinting her pale flesh. My touch lingers, my gaze lingering longer. I drink in the sight of her, memorizing every detail—the pale blue of her eyes, the way her lips curl when she grins, and especially how she stands firm against me, demanding she be reunited with her friends.
"We need to mask your scent." I hold up the bottle of husti flower oil. "Make sure nothing will catch our trail."
She sniffs at the oil I rub between my palms. "Is that why you smell like sandlewood?"
"I don't know what that is." I smooth the oil down her arms.
"Just a type of tree that smells really good."
I grin to myself, pouring more oil in the palm of my hand and applying it to her calf. "You think I smell good?"
Her color heightens brighter, her mouth moves wordlessly as she searches for an answer. "No. I mean, yes."
I look up at her, raising an eyebrow in question while smoothing her opposite calf in oil.
Flustered, she stumbles through an explanation, "There's a spice there too, mixing with the oil's scent."
I smile and stand from where I'm crouched before her. "The spice is all me."
"Well, it's nice." She ducks her head. "I like it."
With a finger under her chin, I tilt back her head. "You don't have to hide from me."
"I'm not hiding," she says shyly, fighting hard to hold my gaze.
"Fierce little thing," I smirk. "Not even seasoned warriors can look me in the eye this long without averting their gaze."
"You said I had nothing to fear from you, so why should I look away?"
"You don't and you shouldn't." I wink, causing her to flush further, then clip a wide, silver band around her wrist that matches the one I always wear. "Wear this always."
"Why? What is it?" Zoe studies the band, spinning it around on her thin wrist.
"A reflector band that disrupts biometric and heat signature scanners," I say, attaching my sword to my belt and shouldering the pack. "In case the remaining lifers have gone back to collect any tech from the prison like I did, I don't want them to be able to track us. Ready to go?"
"Yep." Zoe stands straighter.
I know she's afraid of the journey ahead, especially after I told her what awaits us on the ground. Yet she's resolute about reaching her friends to warm them what creatures might still remain inside the lab.
Zoe said Drax and his female had spent several cycles there before gathering the others from the crashed ship. If something were still down there, it seems likely they would have already found it. So I'm trying to remain hopeful the lab is safe and Drax hasn't led those females to their deaths.
Zoe follows me out onto the terrace and gasps, her face ashen with fear. "When you said treetop hideaway, I didn't think you meant at the very top of the tree. We must be a hundred feet in the air."
"My translator doesn't understand that unit of measurement."
"Doesn't matter." She takes a tiny step toward the edge and looks over. "We're really freaking high up."
"The lift is safe," I say, stepping onto the platform. "See. It holds me just fine."
Zoe nods but doesn't look convinced.
I curl my fingers at her. "Come on, lula."
"Promise, you won't let me fall?"
