Page 21 of Jude

“You’re sure we’re dealing with Dinnorms?”

“There’s no doubt,” said Jude. “We came face-to-face with their leader not so long ago. A dragon hybrid who recently joined us, Juniper, made contact with him. She has an ability to link with another’s mind and influence them. When she peeked into his mind, she found out what they really were.”

“Wow. That’s quite a talent.”

“The dragon hybrids surprise us on an almost daily basis,” said Jude. “We’ve made progress since we started working together. It feels like we’re getting an edge over the State.”

“How have you been doing with finding more dragon egg fragments?” asked Octavia. “Are you still hoping to get the Leixh active?”

Jude grinned. “You really know everything about us, don’t you?”

She matched his smile. “Not everything. I have no clue what your favorite food is.”

“It’s hard to have a favorite food in the bunker. The supplies there are basic.”

“I expect they’re better than what I have in the van.” She tried not to squirm under the intensity in Jude’s eyes as his gaze traveled over her. He must think she was a mess.

“Where have you been getting your supplies from?” he asked.

“House raids. I’ll occasionally risk going into supermarkets to see if there are any tinned goods in the warehouse. The State often have them under surveillance, though. They know desperate people will raid them when they get hungry enough. I found a warehouse a few months back that had boxes of tinned beans. They weighed down the van like you wouldn’t believe, but I’ve been living off them ever since.”

“We can do better than tinned beans in the bunker. The first thing we do when we get back there is get you a decent meal.”

“I don’t suppose you have showers?”

Jude’s eyes widened. “Of course!” He looked at the van. “Don’t you have water in there?”

Her cheeks heated. She must stink. She was so used to smelling ripe. Unclean was the norm. She took a step back from Jude. “I don’t have running water on board. I occasionally get the luxury of using a house that still has the water running. I use bottled water when I can find it. I’ve risked a swim in a few lakes when it’s warm, but they’re dangerous. There are often creatures lurking beneath the surface. I almost got my leg bitten off by some kind of giant crocodile the last time I tried. Since then, I’ve stuck to baby wipes and bottled water.”

Jude closed the gap between them, his gaze on her leg. “Were you bitten?”

“No, it’s fine. I got away. Maybe the thing didn’t think I had enough meat on the bones to make a good enough meal.” She forced out a laugh, conscious that she could smell Jude’s clean soap scent. It only made her feel grubbier.

“Fine. Then the first thing you do when we get back to our base is have a shower. We ration water, but you can take mine.”

Octavia let out a sigh. “That sounds amazing. A quick shower, and then we get to work on these messages.”

Jude shook his head, a finger tracing down her arm. It sent a shiver through her. “A shower, an enormous meal, and then some sleep.”

She tilted her head to keep her scars from being visible. “That would be heaven. But we need to figure out what the State are up to and make sure it will not impact on us.”

“The Invis Tech is in place,” said Lincoln. He strolled back toward them with Malachi.

Octavia turned and stared at the spot her van had been. It was gone. If she squinted, she could just make out a slight shimmer in the air. If you weren’t looking for it, you would have no clue there was a van on the side of the road.

“It will be safe enough there,” said Lincoln. “If you do need to come back for it, we’ll know where to locate it.”

“Thanks,” said Octavia. It felt great to finally have some help.

“Are we all good here?” Lincoln sent a pointed look at Jude.

He nodded. “We’re good.”

Octavia imagined they’d been assessing her as they’d talked, making sure she was genuine and wasn’t hiding a horde of militia in her van. She didn’t hold it against them. She’d have done the same.

“It’s time to get out of here,” said Jude. “Time for you to see the bunker.”

Taking a last lingering look at the van, Octavia turned and followed Jude.