Solomon's Seal by Skyla Dawn Cameron

Author:Skyla Dawn Cameron
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2016-09-20T04:30:00+00:00

19

Return to Kadhim

The atmosphere around camp was solemn and silent.

I cleaned my hair with waterless shampoo, dressed for the caves, then restocked my bag and sheathed my backup knife at my belt. I didn’t feel like eating but forced myself to consume some fruit and an energy bar, and downed a lot of water. Dawson had a new cave radio for me, but I knew this time that if we had to call for help, it wouldn’t do any good. I took my phone from him once more and tried to call Martin but it went straight to voicemail; I left my cell again with Dawson, the heavy sense of just in case weighing on me.

Laurel wasn’t coming. I didn’t argue or even ask when I saw her sitting by Dawson’s table, making herself useful typing up something on his laptop. Glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose but couldn’t hide the hollows under her cheeks. She gave me a brief nod when she saw me, then went back to work.

It would not surprise me if she happened to be typing her letter of resignation already.

While the others were preparing their gear in silence, I saw Mr. Rolph head for the Jeep first, his large backpack slung over his shoulder. I latched onto my backpack and jogged after him, putting distance between West, his team, the mercs, and myself for a few moments of conversation.

Mr. Rolph’s steps slowed for me to catch up when we were a ways from the camp.

“Now that we know the creatures are Drakones Aithiopes, I’d wondered if you’d recovered anything else regarding them that might be of use?”

He shook his head. “Mentioned only vaguely in Greek texts from about two thousand years ago, when they allegedly existed above ground. They’re capable of eating elephants and are among the longest-lived animals.”

I didn’t think he referred to parrots or sea turtles. “They existed pre-Pulse?”

“Could’ve.”

When he offered nothing more, I pressed. “They can’t be just four years old.”

“There are...some things that basically went dormant, activated during the Pulse. They tend to be referred to as Pulse-born. Shamans you would’ve encountered are like that—the Pulse woke genes that makes them capable of certain things now.”

“But the drakones can’t be...snakes or something with dormant genes that turned them into dragons?”

He shrugged, and wasn’t looking at me, which I found no comfort in. “It’s a possibility. I don’t know the how or the why. It’s a new world, Ms. Talbot.”

That was true. Much like stepping into a rainforest and discovering a hundred brand-new different species, post-Pulse there was so much to seek and document and understand.

After this trip, though, I was looking forward to limiting my discovery to what dust bunnies were hiding under my sofa cushions.

“Is that what West is, then?” I asked, remembering Dawson had supposed something similar last night. “Pulse-born?”

“West is something else entirely.”

I waited, but he didn’t continue, and honestly the thought of pressing for more information regarding Ashford’s enforcer just did not appeal to me at all, so I said nothing.

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