Page 120

“I have trouble not knowing,” I mutter.

“Because you enjoy being in control, like me,” dad says, patting my shoulder as we reach the dorm tent. “I’m proud of you, Nadia.”

I turn to him, a bit surprised. Dad can be a little withholding sometimes when it comes to things like praise and encouragement. So, when he says it aloud…he really means it.

Dad smiles at me, intuiting my thoughts. “You did well last night.”

“Thank you.”

He nods. “Keep up the good work.”

I grin at my dad for a moment before tossing myself forward, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a big hug. Dad laughs and hugs me back, rocking me a little and pressing a kiss to my head. “Love you, baby.”

“Love you too, dad.”

He’s still smiling as he lets me go, urging me towards the tent. “Short shower, there’s a job to do! And don’t let Grace and Shayne distract you with chat.”

“No promises!” I call, waving to him as I step into the tent, my emotions torn between love for my dad and worry for what’s coming next. Whatever that phone call was, it didn’t sound good.

Which, in this situation, just means more injuries and more work for us.

I sigh, straightening my shoulders and heading for my bunk to collect my shower stuff, eager to get this started.

Chapter 50 – Duties

Nadia

I’m on the fourth hour of my evening shift, staying awake on pure grit alone because…there is nothing tonight getting my adrenaline going. And no Grace and Shay to keep me company – their shift is next. I yawn, looking back to the room, wondering if I need to check on the patient in bed six again when Cole comes to the door of the tent.

I turn and see him standing there, looking for me. “Hey!” I call, raising a hand and jogging over to him, a smile already on my lips.

Cole smirks at me. “And what makes you think I’m looking foryou, Amir?”

I slow my pace and put my hands on my hips, grinning at him. “You are.”

He laughs a little and shakes his head, looking around the tent again. “You got a minute?”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, shrugging and looking around for Daniel. He waves to me, already intuiting that I need to step away, and I wave back before following Cole outside. “What’s going on?”

“There was more action at the caves,” Cole says, glancing down at me as we move across the camp towards dad’s tent. “I would have told you earlier but –“

“It wasn’t finished yet,” I say, nodding. I get it. There’s no reason to update me until there’s something definitive to say.

He smirks at me, shaking his head as he holds the tent flap open. “You’re getting awfully intuitive, Nadia.”

I grin at him, ducking inside.

Dad looks up at us, saying his hellos as he finishes typing something on the computer, and then standing, peering at Cole. “Updates?”

“Yes,” Cole says, looking between us. “But fortunately or unfortunately, not more work. At least not right now. Injured parties from the caves are being airlifted directly to hospitals.”

Dad raises his eyebrows, surprised.

“Wait, why?” I ask, frowning at Cole. “What happened?”

He sighs, shaking his head. “We lost track of Slaken. He’s slipped away again.”

“What?”