“Ready?” Weston’s voice breaks my train of thought, and I open my eyes to find him watching me, his expression unreadable.
“Yes,” I say. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Weston doesn’t say a word as we trudge through the tunnels, his stoic mask firmly in place as he stares ahead, keeping pace with my short strides. His quiet and borderline monosyllabic nature isn’t new to me, but this feels different.
Had the story affected him as much as it did me?
Is he worried about the dust?
Is there something else going on?
My thoughts are consumed by wondering what could be making him even more irritable than usual, and this is not where my focus should be on this shift. I have to find the right time to ask him to send me back, but with the shift in his mood, I’m worried this chance Sig dropped into my lap will be wasted. Changing his mood may be the only hope for a different outcome, so I need to ease the tension.
“Where are we searching tonight?” I ask.
We take a few more steps before he answers, as if he had to convince himself to respond, and when he does, his voice is a low grumble, his words short.
“Where do you want to search, princess?”
Ignoring it and the way it makes me bristle, I continue on. “You mean there’s no plan tonight?”
“We can make whatever plan you want.”
I can feel my irritation rising, but I stomp it down. It won’t get me anywhere if we start bickering again.
“Have you searched a lot around the mountain? That is where the cure is, so it could make sense that the dust is there too.”
“We can look.”
“With all the activity there recently, maybe the island will show us something.”
“Maybe.”
“Are you alright?” I say, stopping in front of him and spinning so I’m blocking his way. I cross my arms over my chest, unable to hold in my rising irritation any longer. “You seem like you’re pissed at me, and I don’t know why.”
“I’m fine, princess.”
“Did I do something?” I ask, a twinge of nerves settling in my stomach. I don’t know if he’ll tell me, but I need to at least pose the question. If it was something I said, I want to clear it up before I bring up what I really need to talk about tonight.
“No.” He stares down the tunnel over my head, refusing to look down at me, making me feel like his words and his behaviors are not aligning.
“Fine,” I say, turning on my heel and storming through the tunnel. If he doesn’t want to talk to me, then I won’t talk. We can search in silence and I’ll just blindside him with my question instead. Maybe the element of surprise will help catch him off guard enough to say yes.
Bounding ahead, I lead the way through the tunnels, the pathway there more familiar with the number of times we’ve gone back and forth through it, but this time we’re not going to the lookout. A small tunnel branches off the main, and I take it,climbing the steps at the end until my head almost hits the top of the tunnel. I push slowly, lifting a trap door above me, and peer out, scanning the surrounding area for any movement or signs of Voyagers. Once it feels safe enough to leave, I prop the trapdoor open and climb the rest of the steps, Weston close behind me.
He lowers the door with a thud, and I don’t bother with any more niceties.
“Are there more caves?” I ask pointedly.
“More caves?”
“Yes, like where we met. Are there more of them?”
“Yes.”
Huffing loudly, I start toward the stone bridge. The only cave I know exists is where I met Weston, but knowing that one is hidden behind the falls of the lagoon, I assume there are others tucked away in the same area. Our cave was empty, and led nowhere, not counting when the island opened up and let Weston leave through the solid rock, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a clue in another.
