Val was staring at the mainland.

  The island was far enough away that we couldn’t see anyone, but it was still close enough that we could watch the city still burning. It looked like they were constructing a barricade on the beach where we had landed. Some of the people had fled with axes and swords, which made cutting down limbs and trees easier, but it was going slow. If Zombies attacked us in earnest, the limbs they’d planted in the ground would barely slow the undead down.

  The red-haired woman was the main one chopping down trees. With her Bokor sword and the purple swirls on her arms supplying it with magic, the blade was slicing through trees with little effort. While a fence was important, it seemed that housing was taking precedence with the majority of what she was cutting going to the log cabin that was being built on the treeline.

  “You’re back.” The Bokor sheathed her sword as she walked over to me and motioned at the woman in my arms. “What happened?”

  “Can we talk about this somewhere private?” I looked around. Makeshift tents and layered branches were what passed for housing, which meant there was nowhere on the beach where curious ears wouldn’t be listening.

  Val pulled up Fyga’s goggles to her forehead, then spread open the unconscious woman’s eyelids. She sighed as she looked up at me and shook her head.

  I couldn’t tell if the sigh was because she was disappointed that Fyga wasn’t going to die or because the Touched had gotten herself knocked out.

  “Is the master-” One of the men was brave enough to approach us.

  “She’s fine Carl.” Val’s voice dripped with venom as she cut the larger man’s question off.

  “But if something could hurt a-” The burly middle-aged man took another step towards us.

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  “I said she’s fine!” Val snapped as she turned to glare at the brown-haired man.

  “She just slipped in the water and landed on a pufferfish.” I repositioned Fyga’s weight. “She’s just sleeping off the poison.”

  Val turned so that the gathering crowd couldn’t see the look on her face. She mouthed a word that I couldn’t make out, but I understood the context.

  I nodded. It was more or less true and wouldn’t cause a panic. At least not until Captain Jace started telling everyone about how we’d fought off an army of fishmen.

  Val turned to the crowd of over a dozen people. “You heard Master Byler, now get back to work and give us some privacy!” When the crowd didn’t start dispersing, the red-head raised her voice. “NOW!”

  Everyone scattered, with Carl being the last one to leave. It wasn’t until Hugh walked back and grabbed the other big man by the arm and pulled him that the curious man left us.

  “Ugh.” Val shook her head as she started walking towards the beach. “He’s going to be a problem.”

  “Carl? Or Hugh?” I swallowed. With Theo roaming the woods, we didn’t need another problem.

  “Both.” Val shook her head. “Carl wants to be in charge and Hugh…” She half-turned to look at the retreating men. “No one is that helpful unless they want something.”

  “Ah.” I looked down at the sleeping woman in my arms. “So I don’t need to leave her here.”

  “Not until Eve gets back.” The older woman stopped once we were far enough up the beach that there wouldn’t be any eavesdroppers. “Did she really fall on a pufferfish? And where’s the other Touched you picked up?”

  “He ran away.”

  “What!” Val glared at me as she took a breath, then lowered her voice. “What do you mean, he ran away? Is that why she’s like that?”

  “Sort of. He ran away while we were fighting a group of sailors.”

  “You’re just now telling me there are other people on the island?”

  “I didn’t want to worry anyone. Plus, they’re going to be busy putting out the fire and keeping their ship from drifting back out into the water…” I saw the re veins start popping out. “Why don’t I start over at the beginning?”

  She stuck her right palm up in the air and blasted off a ball of fire that exploded once it got above the trees. The Bokor crossed her arms in front of her. “Yeah. The beginning would be nice.”

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