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I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out. Now I did, I frowned deeply.
"Slade, how far is this from the perimeter?"
Viva looked confused.
"It's about fifty kilometres to the west, as the dragon flies," Slade said. "Why?"
I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I'll have to speak to Dex when we get back." Or the Alpha. They might already be aware of this. If not, they would be soon.
I rubbed a hand over my head. This was the last thing we needed right now, with everything else that was going on.
"What is it?" Viva asked. She seemed concerned, but not scared.
That's my girl, I thought. Maybe I shouldn't be thinking that, but screw it. Too many women I knew would be ready to run right now. Not Viva. Not Kerina either, but I didn’t think about her like that. She would stab me in the balls if I did. We were too much alike to be together.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "It might be nothing."
She looked sceptical. "Right. I also look like I'm going to pee my pants over nothing."
I looked at her in surprise. "I don’t look like that."
She jerked her head to the side to concede the point. "You look worried," she said finally." Her eyes went to Slade. "You too." She stopped walking and planted her hands on her hips. "What's going on?"
"Truly, it may be nothing," I said. "You're right about the soil. Something should be growing here. We'll look into it. It's not the most important thing we need to deal with right now."
She didn't look like she was buying it. Neither did Slade, but at least he understood what this might mean. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to fill her in either.
"We should keep going," I said. "It will be dark before too long. We might need to head further east to find some thicker vegetation as cover." I didn't want to go too far from the road, but getting caught out in the open would be worse.
"I could run and find some?" Slade offered.
I considered for a moment. "No. I'd prefer we all stay together. Safety in numbers and all that."
"Because you don't trust me," he stated.
"Not entirely," I agreed. "I'm sure you trust me just as much." I shot him a challenging glance.
"Should I?" he asked. "The Keeper sent you to see if I was up to something. What's your assessment?"
"I haven't decided yet," I replied. "Viva got sick and was almost murdered under your roof. That screams suspicious as fuck to me."
Slade might have been offended at that, but he looked thoughtful instead. "Yes, I can see how that looks a bit off."
"A bit?" Viva snorted.
He smiled wryly. "Okay, a lot. I have no idea why you got sick. As for your wannabe killer, if Bain hadn't killed him, I would have. After he was questioned extensively, of course."
"Of course," I echoed.
"You guys and your threats of execution." Viva sounded exasperated.
"Who said it's a threat?" Slade asked.
She blinked. "Because it never actually seems to happen."
"Are you hoping it will?" Again, he seemed genuinely curious.
Nerd.
