Page 97 of Moon Chosen

“Hey there, Nik! Glad you and your crossbow are joining us.” Monroe clapped him on the back and his pure black Shepherd, Viper, greeted him with a friendly sniff.

“My crossbow and I are glad to be with you, too, Monroe,” Nik said. “Though from what Wilkes has told me it looks like this is an easy in, easy out mission.”

“That’s what we’re counting on,” Sheena said. “Hi, Nik.”

“Nice to see you, Sheena, and you, too, Crystal. Your Shepherds are looking good.” Nik paused, really looking at Captain and Grace, who were sprawled together on the dock. “Grace looks particularly good.”

Crystal’s smile was joyous. “She should.”

“That’s right. She definitely should. She’s carrying the future within her.” Sheena gave Crystal a quick, intimate kiss, and then tossed a provisions pack into their kayak.

“Grace is pregnant?” Nik said.

“Don’t fret, Nik,” Crystal said, patting him on the cheek in a surprisingly motherly fashion. “It’s still early enough that there’s no harm in her coming with us.”

“No harm at all,” Wilkes agreed. “And fertility brings good luck.”

“Does Sol know?” Nik asked. It was hard for him to believe that his father would give permission for a pregnant canine, even one in the early stages of pregnancy, to join a mission that had such potential for danger.

“Well, no. Not yet. Sheena and I thought we’d announce after—” Sheena began, but Thaddeus’s sarcasm bit off her words.

“Nikolas, it’s only you who feels like they have to tell your daddy everything.”

The group fell silent, watching Nik and waiting for his response. It was no secret that Thaddeus had spent the past two weeks on latrine digging duty because of his behavior on Nik’s tracking mission. Up until that moment, Nik hadn’t been sure how many Tribe members had been aware that he had had rather more to do with Thaddeus’s punishment than was supposed to be general knowledge.

Nik schooled his face into an expression of amusement. “I haven’t seen much of you lately, Thaddeus. Oh, that’s right. It’s because you’ve been busy digging shit holes.”

“Because of your mouth, you bast—”

“Enough!” Wilkes stepped between the two men. “I won’t have dissension on this mission. You two bury what’s bad between you until we’re back, or I’ll leave you both behind.”

Nik make himself relax. He smiled at Wilkes. “I don’t have any problem with that. I’m here to help. That’s all.”

“Thaddeus?” Wilkes asked pointedly.

“I’ve been on five other foraging missions. Odysseus and I will do our job, like we always do. You need something tracked—we’ll do it. No need for Sol’s boy to change that,” Thaddeus said.

“Good. Then let’s finish loading the kayaks and move out,” Wilkes said.

Thaddeus walked past Nik, calling to his Terrier, Odysseus, and motioning for him to get into his kayak. As he brushed a little too closely by Nik, he spoke under his breath. “This isn’t over between us.”

Nik met his eyes and smiled humorlessly. “Good to know,” he said in the same low voice.

“Nik, you’ll be riding with Sheena and Crystal,” Wilkes called from the dock. “They have the most room in their kayak.”

“That’s fine with us.” Sheena grinned at Nik. “We’ll make him do most the paddling.”

“No problem. You two are so light, it’ll be like floating on water,” Nik said, grinning back at her.

Nik decided to ignore the still scowling Thaddeus, thinking,let the team see what a pain in the ass he is. Maybe he’ll manage to piss off Wilkes enough that he’ll earn another two weeks on latrine digging duty.The thought had Nik smiling and whistling as he helped the women finish loading their kayak. It might, after all, be a successful mission in more ways than one.

28

The six kayaks were loaded in short order and buoyant litters were secured to the aft of each small boat, all ready to be filled with the much anticipated spoils of their mission. Then Wilkes called them to huddle around the map he unrolled on a big, flat boulder dockside.

“One last time so that we’re all clear—we follow the Willum all the way through Port City to the southwest waterfront. That means we have to pass all of the bridges, so stay alert and aware. Remember, what you don’t see around those hulks is worse than what you do see. So, the find is just before these islands, here.” Wilkes pointed at a spot on the map that showed a teardrop-shaped grouping of small islands centered in the river. “On the western bank.” Wilkes’s gaze flicked to Sheena. “You said there’s a spot nearby to beach the kayaks?”

“Yeah, simple. It’s right about there.” Sheena pressed her finger to a place on the map.