THE NERVE TO SAY something like that. Jill had been right, handsome men in her world thought they could get away with anything. I needed to be more careful with him.

I brought a lounge chair with me and set it on the ground under the watch tree Seth took over for the next shift. Just to be safe, I wove a feeler spell around the ladder. If he tried to climb down, it would wake me up. The entire perimeter of the camp had such spells. They allowed me to know if anyone tried sneaking in and out or trying to attack. Most of the time, though, it helped us hunt since the spell worked just as well for all medium and large animals.

With Belka still with me, I felt confident enough to let my guard down for a few hours of sleep. Jill and Ricci had told me my dogs were different from those in their world, that they weren’t as friendly and trusting, but with me, they were great. I lay down on the lounge chair, and Belka lowered her head on my lap. With her comforting presence, I drifted to sleep despite a couple of cups of coffee lingering in my system.

Something tugged on the spells. My eyes flew open and immediately went to the rope ladder, but the pull came from a different direction. Someone at the gates. I rang the bell, and Seth came down, leaving the post empty. Few dared to attack us, and my spells should still warn me if someone tried.

In hopes of the sound carrying far enough, I whistled for Strelka to return. The dogs were always eager to protect me if something went wrong, not that I was a fragile little flower. Still, I could never be too careful.

“Someone’s at the gates,” I told Seth as we started walking to the opposite side of the camp.

Strelka ran to us, tongue hanging out. She always expected food. I couldn’t fault her for thinking that. Usually, I called them over to feed them. The fastest way to an animal’s heart was through its stomach.

One of our soldiers ran toward us as we got to the center of the camp. “Nasilain, Chirichik is back.”

Oh, good. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about an attack.

Two familiar forms entered the gate, the human who had been with us since we had rescued him three months ago, and Rocinante, the horse Bralazin had ridden two years ago when he had found us in the caves. Had it really been that long? Seemed like they had come up with the Doctors Without Boundaries just yesterday.

“Any news?” I asked as I walked up to them and petted the horse’s neck.

“There had been problems with shipments in a few towns around the area.” Chirichik breathed heavily after the ride. Or perhaps there was more to it.

Strelka sniffed the air around him. I clacked my tongue to get her attention.

“We should go into the caves to talk. Are you ill?” I asked. Strelka could always sense sickness and could become harder to control. Her natural instincts would kick in when she saw any sign of weakness.

“Yes. I caught a cold when I got caught in the rain,” Chirichik admitted.

Seth, Chirichik, and I walked to the cave entrance. The dogs ran off when they saw where we were headed. With all the wounded under our care, we couldn’t risk having them enter the hospital area.

We made ourselves comfortable on the couches around a low wooden table. The strings of lights made the caves more inviting than they had been when I had first discovered this place.

“What were you saying was the trouble with the shipments?” I asked.

Chirichik eyed Seth, who sat next to me, but after I cleared my throat to let him know I still expected his answer, he began to talk. “The caravans have been disappearing. Some say they are being attacked by the enemy troops, but towns on both sides are suffering from this. If they are getting ambushed, it’s a neutral party.”

First, the animals had disappeared and now this. The right thing would be to go and investigate, but with only me here to take charge, I couldn't take too many chances.

“We should prepare for a potential attack and get ready to go on the road as soon as everyone is back. It shouldn’t be more than a few days.”

We should have enough ammunition. A lot of our soldiers preferred using compound bows since they were at least somewhat familiar, but did we have enough arrows? We had used up almost all of the dynamite, but we did have the new rocket launcher. How useful could it be without Ricci here?

“Do you know how to use a rocket launcher?” I asked Seth because I had no idea what to do with that thing.

“I do.”

Good. If he used to serve in their military, he would probably know more about their weapons. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have him check it over and see if we needed something else. Perhaps in another couple of days, after I had more time to watch him and made sure he wasn’t going to try anything.

“Alright. It’s settled then. We’ll stay here until they are back. Having a third car would be helpful since we don’t know where the threat is coming from.” I hated having to split up our troops, but it became a necessity if we wanted to find some bandits that attacked in multiple areas.

Seth gave me a sly smile. “I could teach you what to do with a rocket launcher.”

I pointed a finger at him and gathered charged ions to dance over my skin. “I know good looking men are used to getting away with things in your world, but don’t even think about it here.”

He raised his hands in surrender, but that smirk remained. “I was talking about the actual rocket launcher, not whatever you were thinking about.” His eyes flicked up and down my body. “You think I'm good looking, huh?”

“Don’t even think about it.” I cut the magic out, killing the electrical charge. I needed to listen to my own warning and stop thinking about his looks. They didn’t matter.