Page 35 of Null & Void

Riley comes to block our view, standing above us with his hands on his hips. “Dinner?” he asks with a wild grin and pink coloring his cheeks.

“Is that an offer, or are you asking where it is?”

“Offer!” Riley announces, turning his grin mischievous. “Beans and I accidentally killed a couple of ducks…”

Tovi coughs through her scoff while I ask, “How do you accidentally kill a couple of ducks?”

“When you disarm someone with such force, their axe goes flying into a flock of them.” He shrugs as both Tovi and I gape at him and then share a glance.

“Waste nothing. They’re on the fire now, almost ready!”

Riley reaches his hands out to help us both up, however, Tovi and I get up without assistance, leaving Riley bent forward holding his hands out awkwardly. Tovi smacks his ass as we bypass him, winking at me as she jogs toward camp, announcing we should wash up before dinner. These two and their ass-smacking.

Tovi reaches the creek before me, and I see her with her hands on her hips and shaking her head slowly. I’m about to ask her what she’s doing when I see a literal blanket of feathers coating every surface. As soon as we make eye contact, she bursts into laughter, which sends me into fits as well.

Back at camp, I hear a shout behind me and spin with knives ready. Tovi is cackling and trying to hide behind Bitty as Beans scoops handfuls of duck feathers out of the back of his pants and throws them at her. Riley is watching me with a frown, and his eyes note my fighting stance and knives in hand. He cocks his head in a question I ignore.

Later that night, when Tovi is on watch and everyone else is asleep, I watch the stars. It’s a mostly clear night, with barely any trees to obstruct my view where we camped. Restless, I roll over to try and sleep on my side instead.

Riley’s sleeping form is closest to me, his hands in front of his face obscuring it from view. He has nice hands. I almost laugh at that thought. Since when do I appreciate hands? I’m drifting off as I study Riley’s hands in the dying light of the fire. Big, attractive hands.

I am afforded a sleep not of nightmares but of pleasant dreams instead.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“There’s a windstorm coming. A big one,” Bitty blurts out, their violet eyes wide.

“What?”I screech. Oh, Divine fuck, of course there is. Because nothing else could possibly go wrong on this stupid mission.It’s been less than a week since we took on the skin traders. I hate Erdu. Except for Jundamara.

“Okay everyone, start looking for windcaves. Go,” Beans says, pointing toward a set of underground gorges while Riley grabs my arm and starts running.

“This is me. Don’t die. Bye!” Tovi yells over the increasing wind and disappears into what looks like a crack in the earth.

“You guys can take that one, it looks empty. We’ll grab the next one!” Riley drags me along, not waiting to see what Beans or Bitty say.

As the wind starts to really scream and the sand scrapes at my skin, Riley pulls me into him. “There’s a cave entrance above us, but I’m going to have to lift you in. I’m going to kneel, and then you climb onto my shoulders, and I’ll stand so you can reach. Okay?”

He looks at me in concern, maybe because I’m concerned. This windstorm is no joke, and I’m already finding it hard to breathe.He kneels and I climb. “Hold on!” he yells, and up he goes with me perched on his shoulders.

I see the entrance to the cave and scramble in, wondering how Riley is going to fit into the small opening. I crawl through the short tunnel, up and over a short wall, and then have to wiggle my way around another narrow passage to the left. Already, it sounds quieter; I can hear myself breathe.

I wait…and wait…and wait.Where the fuck is he?

Then I hear him grunting and dragging our bags. I had completely forgotten about the bags containing our food and supplies when Bitty announced the storm.

Now that he is inside and safe, I explore our cave.

The main area I crawled into has a chimney, airflow going up and out, and a little bit of light through various cracks. A tiny bit of wind and sand float in, but it’s nothing compared to the torrent outside. I can just stand in this room, but there’s no chance Riley will be able to.

An alcove to the left only looks wide enough for a couple of bedrolls—it’s almost complete darkness in there and barely tall enough for Riley to even crouch in.

Off to the right is a thin passage with a higher ceiling, and at the end, a privy has been dug out. There is a deep hole to squat over, and when you’re finished, a pile of loose earth to throw on top. It doesn’t smell half as bad as I imagined it would. Thankfully, there is good airflow in there too.

I come back to the main area where Riley is lighting a small fire. “This is amazing!” I say, plopping myself down heavily.

Riley chuckles. “I’m just happy we found a good one that was left stocked with firewood. The ones lower to the ground are usually first to go, and they don’t get treated with the same respect as the ones that are more difficult to get to, like this.

“We actually went past a couple of lower ones, but I was looking for one up high. Didn’t want to put you through a week in a cave with me that was just one room for sleeping, eating, and shitting.”

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