The Midnight Watch

Chapter 32

Kai and I were left to eye Jeff uncomfortably. The rogues seemed to be heading to the water, although I didn't know or care why. I wondered when Nate would arrive to glare them into check. I decided it couldn't be soon enough. And the rest of the patrol... How would they react to our newest allies? Not well, I guessed.

Obnoxious splashing drew my attention. Since I had last looked, the rogues had waded into the ocean and were now doing their best to drown each other, all the while spooking at waves as if they were the devil himself. Maybe Kai had been right, I realised, about their knowledge of the ocean, and that was soon confirmed when Skye spat out a mouthful of seawater.

"Shit," she said, "it really is salty."

A lot more obnoxious splashing followed. They didn't appear to care how soaked they got, let alone if any of the spray reached us. I found myself retreating alongside the shade to escape a drenching.

Kai's hazel eyes found mine and stilled. He confided, "I've wanted a word with you since we left Evarlin. And never found the right time or place...somehow."

"And now," I said with a quirked eyebrow, "is the right time and place?"

"No," Kai admitted. Jeff was, after all, just feet away from us. "But later - we'll find a minute, alright?"

I agreed, but not very convincingly. I knew what he wanted to talk about - Natalia - and I didn't share that desire. There wasn't anything left to discuss in my opinion; whatever we had begun was over now. I had always known it was only a matter of time until I lost him. I just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

Space - that was what I needed. Space to think and catch up with the world around me. The cave entrance looked more and more tempting by the second, so I unzipped my backpack and rummaged for a torch. It was buried beneath spare clothes, but I found it quickly and turned it on. A beam of light appeared, flickered wildly and then vanished.

Okay then. Darkness was fine, I supposed. Kai was digging into the sand with the heel of his shoe somewhere behind me as I walked forwards, slow and steady. Both hands ended up fumbling at the rocks above my head just to give me some semblance of navigation. Unending pitch black in every direction except backwards. A squelching sound underfoot, the steady drip of falling water and the sting of cold air on my exposed skin.

Then, all too suddenly, a hand caught the back of my harness, stopping me dead in my tracks. It tugged and my resistance was rendered useless: I was dragged into the light like a pup hanging by its scruff. My attacker let go and I found my balance with no shortage of frustration.

"That's enough exploring for today, Dora," a male voice grumbled. I shaded my eyes against the blinding glare and wheeled to give him a piece of my mind. Then stopped. My mouth closed without spewing any of the outraged words in my mind, and in fact, that anger was draining away into meek acceptance.

Kai was on his feet in seconds, moving in front of me and staring down his cousin. He seemed to disapprove of the manhandling, however mild it had been. Rhys showed his palms, grinning, of course. "Chill, kay? I wasn't trying to hurt her."

My friend growled, "Then what the hell were you trying to do?"

With an exaggerated eye roll, he backed into the cave, stooped, and lifted a brace of dead rabbits from the ground. "I prefer my dinner untrampled, thank you very much."

Then came a flicker of annoyance which I tried and failed to suppress. "So just tell me next time. Did asking nicely even occur to you?"

"No," Rhys said sincerely, "not really."

Someone hollered loudly from the cliff. And I recognised that overloud, boisterous voice. The others had caught up. At last. I happily left the boys to squabble and scrambled onto a high rock. There - high above us, was a tight-knit group. Nate in the lead, Ben and Alex flanking him and Becky smack in the middle.