“You know this is a lot to get my head around.” Even to my own ears, my words sound slurred. The fact that I’m so tired isn’t helping my confusion. I’m already half asleep, despite the mind-boggling information he’s dumping on me.

I swear I feel his lips against my cheek. Then I tell myself I must have imagined it.

“Go to sleep, Miki,” he whispers, and his lips touch my cheek again. “I’ll watch over you.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG I SLEPT CRADLED IN JACKSON’S arms. I only know that when I wake up, I feel much better than when I fell asleep, and Jackson is back to his usual self. He walks. I follow. I try to ask him more questions about the Drau and our ancestors, about the game. But I guess he’s used up all his words for the day.

I remember the way he cupped my cheeks and leaned close, his mouth a breath from mine. I can’t believe that for a second I actually wanted to kiss him. I’m back to wanting to punch him. Hard.

Eventually we see Luka and Tyrone coming toward us.

“We hit three of them in the tunnels, and then Tyrone’s con led us back to you,” Luka says after I tell them about our Drau encounter.

“Huh. Seems like there should have been more of them.”

“I don’t trust the lack of defense,” Tyrone mutters.

Neither do I.

“Maybe they figure they don’t need much security because they can’t imagine anyone being able to find this place,” Luka offers, but he doesn’t sound convinced.

I shake my head. “Even if that’s so, it was still too easy. Plus, I thought that they can sense us when we’re dropped in, even if they can’t precisely pinpoint our location.”

I glance at Jackson for confirmation and he says, “True enough.”

“Back to being all chatty-chat,” I mutter, stealing Tyrone’s description.

Tyrone snorts. Jackson says nothing.

“The Drau . . . ,” Luka prods.

“The ones we encountered didn’t even seem like they were trained properly,” I muse as I think back on the two Jackson and I came up against. “They almost seemed like new recruits.” I glance at Jackson again, waiting for him to throw his opinion out there, but he seems content just to listen. No . . . more than content; I have the feeling he wants me to reason this out on my own. But . . . why?

“Does it matter?” Jackson asks, and for a second, I think he’s answering my silent questions. Then I realize he’s referring to the Drau level of training. He glances at his con. “Move out,” he says, and heads off down the tunnel, Tyrone behind him.

The tunnel’s just wide enough for two, and Luka falls into step beside me.

“They were like new recruits?” he asks, picking up where I left off. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, remember in Vegas . . . I thought the Drau were so fast, and I asked about that because you guys said they’re slower at night?”

“Yeah . . .”

“You said that was slow for them. But the Drau we went up against here were really slow in comparison. It just seems . . . off.”

“Maybe because we’re in these caves and it’s way dark down here. Maybe that slowed them down.”

“Maybe. But then why would they set up a facility here if it slows them down and makes it hard to defend?” I’m not convinced. “I feel like it’s more than that. There’s too few of them, and they don’t seem well trained. It’s like the place is almost deserted and all that’s been left behind to guard it is a disposable group.”

I take a few quick steps and catch up to Jackson. “If you know something, now would be a good time to share.”

“Know something?” He doesn’t even glance at me, just keeps walking.

“Why did they set up here?”

“Can’t say for certain, but my guess is that it’s isolated, no chance for humans to stumble on them since these caves aren’t on the spelunker radar, and because the space is large enough for what they have in mind.”

“So why’s the security so light?”

He shrugs.

I grab his arm and stop walking, which in turn makes him stop walking. Actually, no. I can’t make him do anything. He let me drag him to a stop, so maybe he’s willing to offer up a few answers. With him, it’s hard to know for sure.

“Are we walking into an ambush?”

“No,” he says, then turns his head toward Luka and Tyrone. “It’s like the situation in Arizona.”

They both nod. I’m the only one in the dark.

“Situation in Arizona?” I look back and forth between them, and they look at Jackson.

His mouth tenses, and after a few seconds he says, “It’s easier to believe if you see it.” His tone is flat.

I figure he’ll just stalk off like he usually does. Instead, he stands there for a long minute, and then he stalks off. Which makes me give a dark huff of laughter.

“Predictable,” I call after him softly.

He doesn’t give the slightest indication that he’s heard. But after a few steps his voice carries back to me. “And proud of it.”

Tyrone follows, with Luka and me taking the rear again.

“Tell me about Arizona.”

“It was a poorly guarded facility. The Drau left only a skeleton staff because they clearly weren’t expecting us to hit. They thought they were too well concealed. We were in and out pretty quick.”