"Okay?" she asked.
"This time, we turned right. We found the path again, but took it in the other direction. The same way I used to go as a gatherer." I paused to swallow, then had to clear my throat when my mouth ended up too dry.
"Let me get you some water," she said, climbing out of bed, no longer worried about what I might see.
And I looked. I didn't mean to, but the lights on the wall shined through the fabric enough to outline the silhouette of her body. A body nothing like mine. I could see the curve of her breasts and the swell of her hips, but the moment I realized it, I averted my eyes.
She was myfriend. I'd said I didn't want to hurt her like that, but the more days we spent together, the easier it was to see the appeal. I wanted to touch her. I just didn't want to hurt her when I did it, and I wasn't sure those two things were possible at the same time. Looking away was definitely the better option.
"Here," she said, pressing a glass into my hands before climbing up to sit by my knees.
I took a deep gulp, paused, then another. "Thank you."
She took the glass and set it aside without leaving. "So you only got plants then?"
"No," I said. "Callah, we hunted the people. Humans, Dragons, and their beasts. We killed and took the bodies. Worse than that..." I paused, but when she reached for the water again, I caught her hand. "I brought back women, Callah."
Her fingers curled to hold my palm. "No..."
"I tried to talk with them, but they didn't understand," I continued. "Itried, Callah, but I couldn't let them go or the other hunters would shoot me!"
"So they're in quarantine?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "Gideon and Mr. Peterson took them the moment we were inside, but I have a feeling they are."
"Me too," she said.
"But it's worse than that," I insisted. "A couple weeks ago, they said we had enough meat for all the weddings so we were skipping the next hunt too. Then, two days ago, they informed us we were going out again. It was almost a spontaneous decision."
"Or they've been hiding it from the hunters," she pointed out.
Which was a good point. "Yeah, maybe."
"The real question is why," she told me. "Either we have the meat or we don't, right?"
"Or we've been eating too much because of the constant weddings," I said. "The problem is I don'tknow,and I'm not sure anyone does."
"Sylis?" she asked.
"No." Because I'd asked. "According to him, Gideon said something about how the Dragons would be waiting, so it was time to try something new. They've been doing that a lot. First, it was the grenades, now this? And it sounds like we'll be hunting again soon."
"There's not another holiday for a while," she reminded me.
"That doesn't seem to matter," I pointed out, shifting her hand so I could wrap it in both of mine. "Ayla isn't there, Callah. I can't talk to her."
"But that's okay, because Sylis doesn't have the code yet," she reminded me. "And while he and Felicity have been walking together, I'm not sure that's enough. He may need to wed her before he can get promoted."
"That's what I'm worried about," I agreed. "Considering she's not available for a little longer, how long will it take for him to be promoted and get that code?"
"And you have to keep your distance from him so you don't look too close," she said, realizing the problem.
"Which makes planning even harder," I agreed. "But what if they changed the plans because of the women?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
I turned her tiny hand over and traced the outer edge of her thumb. "We were barely out of the compound before Gideon told us to collect the women. The ones like us, Callah. He said girls and women. If they were waist-high and looked like Righteous, we should take them too."
"Girls?" she asked.
