Besides, they neither wanted, nor needed, her as part of this. She was the ultimate bad luck token. Tyrez should know, he’d gone from a prince to an exiled pauper right after she’d arrived in his life. Everything Dani touched, or that touched her, turned to ash.
The thoughts had swirled around in her brain all through the meeting, and continued as she contemplated Sirki’s offer.
“Are you okay?” Sirki tilted her head and regarded Dani through narrowed eyes.
“Yes, I’m fine, and I’d love a ride back.”
Sirki smiled. Although still enthusiastic, the Dragona shifter was no longer carefree. Sirki had been a light-hearted teenager when they’d met only eight days before. Now, her eyes reflected her dread of what was to come.
To Dani, Sirki was a case in point. Everywhere Dani went, disaster seemed to follow. The world was a safer place when she wasn’t part of it.
The Dragona not only looked serious, but also determined. Dani recognized the same sentiment in the faces all around her.
She thought of Rindek and shuddered. Determination alone wasn’t going to be enough.
40
Dragons could move one hell of a lot of dirt.
Under the cover of darkness, Tyrez and a large group of Dragonas excavated a series of trenches across the grasslands of the Gryphons’ realm.
The Sabres carefully cut and extracted the sod before the Dragons did the digging. After they’d buried their explosives, they filled the trench back in and relaid the sod.
The results may not have fooled a casual hiker with an eagle eye, but it would certainly be enough to fool a charging line of Dires.
It was far from elegant work, but neither Tyrez nor the Dragonas complained as they became totally encrusted in grime.
They weren’t the only ones digging. Dani stood in a group along the second trenchline, using her talent to heave dirt. It was an exercise in control for the Mover, who had never had an opportunity to fine-tune what she was capable of achieving. Her first efforts spread dirt in a wide swath across the grasslands and overtop many of her helpers. Now she was managing a fairly neat pile.
Are you almost done?
Tyrez sensed the effort it took for Ash to sound casual. His talent had been hammering at him for hours. Most of the time, it was rehashing what they already knew, but Ash was pushing hard to find anything new.
You sound exhausted,Tyrez said.
I’m fine. You’re the one flexing your substantial muscles.
But Tyrez could detect the subtle tremor in Ash’s mindvoice.You need to rest.
How can I rest? We need a timeline.
Tyrez straightened and paced to where Razir was up to his Dragon shoulders in the trench. “Ash is wearings himself tos a frazzle,” he said. “Cans yous finish ups here?”
No, I’m not.
Yes, you are.
Razir watched Tyrez’s eyes and clacked his jaws at him. “Ares yous talking tos him?”
It surprised Tyrez. “Yous can tell?”
“Yeah, yours eyes gos all funny.”
Tyrez had seen it often enough with his Sabre friends. “Yeah. Yous goods here?”
“Yep. Wes haven’t got much mores tos dos. Taran just commed me, saids the Dires moves is goings as wells as can bes expected.”
Their elder brother was overseeing the Dire packs, who were slipping through gates and hiding in the mountain’s depths. Tyrez would much rather be digging than doing that.
