I cocked my head to one side and studied the lizard. “Were you there with him?”
The tip of his tail twitched. “What if I was?”
“So you were in on the theft?”
His tongue flicked out. “I don’t see where you’re getting at with this.”
“Our short friend here was the lookout,” Torvus revealed as he grinned at the lizard. “His ability to climb made him the perfect scout, but he became distracted by the cake.”
“I have a weakness for sweets, alright?” Ramaro snapped as his tail beat against the bed covers. “Is that so wrong?”
“When you have your head stuffed into a cake when you’re supposed to be spotting the contingent of guards running toward us, yes.”
A laugh burst out of my mouth. Both men turned to me, and I waved a hand in front of my face. “I’m sorry. I was just imagining all that chaos. It must have been, well, quite the day for everyone.”
Torvus leaned back against his pillows and smiled at me. “Quite the day, like today. Perhaps you should get some rest.”
I rubbed one of my eyes. “I guess my sleep was interrupted by that island, wasn’t it?” I looked down at my hand and furrowed my brow. “How was that island able to move, anyway? And why was it feeding that thing?”
“Now that’s a magical mystery no one’s ever been able to solve,” Torvus mused as he patted the bed beside him. “But why don’t you get some rest? We have another day before we reach our next destination, provided we aren’t interrupted again.”
“Where’s that?”
“A provision stop at a small port.”
I stifled a yawn and looked around the room. “Maybe I could sleep across a couple of these chairs-”
I moved to stand, but Torvus grabbed my wrist and yanked me onto the bed. Ramaro yelped as I fell on top of him, and the captain deftly stretched me out along his side. The agama squirmed out from under me and dropped onto the floor.
“You fools!” he snapped as he slithered onto the chair formerly occupied by me. “How dare you-” A look of warning from the captain was enough to shut down his complaints.
I tried to sit up, but Torvus draped his arm over my waist and pinned me to the bed. “I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you!”
“Then I’ll sleep and you can relax,” he suggested as he pulled my back against his chest. “Wake me when you’re asleep.”
My cheeks reddened. “How can I wake you up if I’m asleep?”
“That’s something I’m sure you can figure out,” he murmured as he buried his face in the back of my neck. I stiffened, and my heart thumped against my chest. Torvus’ whispered voice drifted over me. “You don’t have to worry. I’m just going to use you as a comfort blanket for tonight.”
I swallowed hard. “And after?”
He nuzzled his lips against my neck and chuckled. “We’ll see. Let me get some rest.”
My eyebrows crashed down. “How about you let me go and-” My protests were interrupted by a soft snore from behind me.
I turned my head and managed to see his patched eye. Another warm snore hit the back of my neck. I sighed and sank into the comfort of his warmth.
Ramaro rolled his eyes. “Humans. . .”
Chapter 18
My ear tickled again. I frowned and creaked open one eye.
Ramaro’s face was mere inches from mine. His long tongue was out and stretched across my cheek and into my ear.
I screamed and shot up, sending the creature tumbling over the bed. Again. I scrambled to the edge and leaned over, but his head popped up, forcing me to jerk back. He had a deep scowl on his face as he scrawled onto the bed.
“Do you enjoy tossing me aside?” he growled as he climbed onto the chair and plopped himself down in front of me.
