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"I hope not," I replied. "I would feel bad for the poor roo." The chance of one hopping through the city was very low, but not zero, especially on the outskirts. A dog was a lot more likely, and just as sad.
"We don't have anything like those here." She sounded wistful. "I've just seen pictures in books."
"The outside world doesn't have dragons," I pointed out. "At least not that I know of. The Vault has all sorts of things the outside world doesn't."
"Dragons eat people," Aisha said. "Unless kangaroos do that, then I'd swap."
Yard turned his head back around and regarded us with his catlike eyes.
"I mean the animal ones, not the Dragonesque," Aisha told him. "You're amazing."
He bobbed his head and made a noise that sounded like 'and don't you forget it', before he turned back around.
Aisha laughed softly. Not quite a teen giggle, but a sign her upbringing hadn't entirely robbed her of her childhood. Not that I was in any position to judge. I couldn't remember having ever giggled.
"When this is over, and if you're allowed, I'll take you to see a kangaroo," I said. If Dex would let me leave. He might insist on coming too. And Bain and Knox. The idea of them in the world almost made me smile. Sometimes it felt like they stepped off the screen of some fantasy TV show. Let's face it, they looked like it too. I wasn't complaining.
I looked over at Slade. He might come along too, if that didn't leave the Vault too unguarded. I suspected the Watcher would love a walk around the streets of Sydney, or out in the bush, where the roos roamed. And the snakes.
And spiders, but best not to think about those. Although, they always gave me a wide berth, as if they knew I could squash them with my power if I felt like it. I didn't.
If anything, I felt a kinship with them. People had an irrational fear of them. The witches had an irrational fear of me.
Personally, I considered myself much less scary than a spider.
"Really?" Aisha asked. "I'd like that. Mother says the outside world is more dangerous than this one."
I considered that for a moment. Was it? No one in the outside world ever shot at me, or tried to drown me, but they had tried to give me to Dex as a slave.
"It's different," I said slowly, my voice raised over the rush of the wind. "Dangerous in different ways. It's a good idea to be on your toes out there." And in here. "I'll take care of you. Don't worry about that."
Aisha sniffed. "I can take care of myself," she insisted.
"I have absolutely no doubt about that," I said. "Maybe I need to keep the outside world safe from you." I was only half teasing, but she seemed pleased at the idea.
"Exactly." She sat up straighter. "They wouldn't see me coming."
Given her training, I assumed she meant that literally. I wondered if she'd killed many people, but that wasn't something I could ask outright. I wasn't sure it was something I wanted to know. The blood on my hands was enough to deal with as it was.
"Hey!" Aisha called out after a few minutes of silence.
I startled and found my hands curled around the fabric of her shirt, clinging hard.
I forced myself to relax, if only so I didn't hurt her.
"What is it?" I asked.
"There are two wolves down there." She pointed.
I squinted toward the ground. The trees and bushes were thicker here. When did that happen? While I was thinking about Dex, most likely.
"I can't see them," I admitted after a minute of scanning the ground.
"They're in the copse ahead of us," Aisha said. "Two dark shapes amongst the leaves."
She must have eyes like a freaking hawk to make them out, because I couldn't see a thing, even when she told me where to look.
I shook my head. "Are you sure, I can't—" Something moved amongst the trees. A rustle of leaves, a flash of darkness.
