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She fumbled with the fasteners on her bag. “What are you getting at, JayJay?”
My voice remained calm, but inside, irritation and heat sizzled below my skin. “Precisely what I said. You can’t argue with me.”
“If you think I’m going to sit here idly like some princess and do nothing, then you’ve another thing coming, King Kong.” On shaky legs, she pulled her bootlaces so tight they were in danger of snapping. “I’m not fragile. Nor am I one of your soldiers to command. I have a perfectly functional mind—”
A shriek rent the air, and my ears rang, blocking Ginger’s tirade. But it looked like she was counting under her breath and taking deep breaths.
She stretched her long neck from side to side and exhaled one more time. “You’re right. I’ll quit being a pain in the ass and stop arguing.”
A calm quiet washed over us. Time stopped when I pushed Ginger’s hair behind her ear and placed her linobee hat on.
The next moment, all hell broke loose. Outside, the hellsna slammed against our prison walls, showering dust over our heads, and voices shouting commands rose above the hellsna’s shrill calls. Rushing, I strapped our bags to my back.
D’Rasma and D’Argon’s familiar voices shouted, penetrating our safe shelter. Their voices bounced off the cave walls. “Did someone call for a rescue?”
The brothers’ sharp-toothed grins shone a bright white against their deep brown skins as they rushed through the concealedentrance. I’d never been so happy to see their razor-sharp smiles.
D’Rasma tapped his mittened hand against his wristport. “Chop, chop. Time is of the essence. That big white bastard won’t get the best of us.”
I swept a sideways glance at the enforcers. “It’s good to see you.”
I scooped Ginger into my arms, and true to her word, she didn’t complain. The linobee from her mittens slid like silk along the nape of my neck, and I swallowed hard at the memory of her hands pressed to my cheeks as her lips grazed mine.
Ginger patted my arm as I stumbled into the harsh light, blinking through my temporary snow blindness.
“Oh my God,” she cried, voice soft, her mittened hand covering her mouth.
What remained of the young forest was splintered everywhere. Enormous boulders were strewn about, and blood splatters marred the cave entrance where the monstrous maggot had bludgeoned itself while it attempted to reach us.
D’Argon and D’Rasma clicked their Boola teeth while they scanned the tattered forest for danger.
“Let’s go.” D’Argon led the way over a trail compacted by the worm’s underbelly as it toiled, waiting for us. Farther down the volcano’s side, hoverbikes hummed in the distance, interspersed with the shrieks of the hell-bent worm.
“Gah, that sound creeps me out.” Ginger shivered as I picked my way through the carnage.
If I had hair, would mine stand, too?
“How did you divert them?” I asked the brothers, both camouflaged in snow-blue pants and jackets.
D’Rasma’s toothy grin flashed over his shoulder. “It was actually Sully’s idea. Pure genius.” Breath puffed around him in white wisps. “YimYim has this toy…”
When D’Rasma’s dramatic pause went on too long, D’Argon took over. “It’s a flying toy. Loud. Kinda buzzy.” D’Argon jumped over a dislodged rock in his path. “Operated by remote control and long range.”
Their plan formed in my mind, sliding into place like a hinge—genius. “That’s extremely clever.”
My fists clenched as I warred with my need to contact Yagras and share this strategy with the new elite guard. The tiny elephant charms wrapped around my wrist chimed. Strangely, Ginger’s eyes appeared to be locked on my forehead ridge, and then she patted my hand. Sooner than I expected, we crested the lip overlooking the valley, and my hoverbike came into view.
Bossman Geo’s palm rested in the curve of Makir’s back, where they paced alongside my hovee. Even in their evident worry, they seemed bolstered by a new self-assurance in each other. Beside them, Sisip’s tawny ears flicked as she called in her enforcers.
Ginger launched herself from my arms as we neared. “I missed you guys.” A flurry of hugs and tears followed. She stood crushed between Geo and Makir, whose blue tail wrapped around the threesome like the ribbon on a gift.
Someone had cleared the snow from around my hovee. Though I should have been thankful, my shoulders deflated. Feeling a strange sense of uselessness, I strapped our bags down, carefully avoiding the dorat. With Ginger in the arms of her friends, the urge to celebrate our freedom had vanished. The rescue had been too easy and left me full of adrenaline, with no battle in sight.
Sisip approached, resting a tawny-furred hand on my elbow. “JayJay, it’s good to see you alive and well.” The wispy tips of her ears blew in the wind. “Looks like I can check reconnaissance of the Starry Mountains off my list?”
I let her teasing distract me from stewing and wiggled my forehead. “You mean Starry Volcano.”
“It’s a volcano?” The pointed ears atop Sisip’s head twitched as she studied the snow-capped peak. Without a conical depression to characterize it as a volcano, no one had suspected the Starry Mountains weren’t mountains.
