Chapter 36

Crovell stared around the cave they were in and sighed. He wasn't totally sure why now, of all times, Duke was so sure he was going to find Kasey when they'd been so unsuccessful in the past, but at the same time he wasn't going to doubt his Daiosen's instincts. The trust was part of the unspoken bond which had always been there between them and even if Crovell had been on the receiving end more often than he'd been on the giving, it didn't mean he couldn't give Duke the same trust and respect he usually demanded.

'She's close,' Duke came to a strange stop, 'or she's been here recently.'

'We know they've been moving around a lot,' Crovell tried not to give a bored sigh, 'it's the only reason we haven't found them before now.'

'Maybe they've returned to one of their previous hiding places.'

'You mean like the cabin or one of the caves we searched months ago because of a hunch?'

'You make it sound like I've instigated all of these possible leads in the past,' his tongue briefly skated across his lips, 'most of the time they were Catilin's suggestions or if not hers than someone else's. I've just been the one doing the leg work up till this point.'

'Don't you mean we've been the ones doing the leg work,' he folded his arms, 'most of the time I've been with you, you know.'

'I know and I am grateful for that, but I just need you to have a little more faith in me now. I don't know why and I don't know how, but I know we're going to find Kasey today. We have to.'

'Want doesn't always equal out to have.'

'I know, but there's something about today… something which feels important somehow. I just know… I know if we don't get her back today we'll never get her back.'

'I'm going to trust your instincts on this,' Crovell lowered his head slightly, 'but I think we need to be a little more organised on the way we're going about it.'

'What do you suggest exactly?' Duke studied him for a moment.

'I'm not exactly sure, give me a minute to think will you?'

'I thought you always did your best thinking on the fly.'

Those words struck Crovell strangely and instantly forced him to study Duke a little more closely.

'Why would you think that? You know me better.'

'Sorry, you're right, I do, I was just…' his tongue skated across his lips again.

There was something odd about the way he'd started doing that. It wasn't that he'd never licked his lips before he'd awakened his power, it was more that it wasn't anywhere near so often. More than that the level he was now doing it at was more like… He pushed the thought away. There was no way he was going to acknowledge that thought. No way he was going to give it any more credence than it deserved. This was Duke. This was his Duke and no one, not even himself, was going to convince him otherwise.

'We could cover more ground if we split up,' Crovell turned his gaze away.

'Then what happens when we find her and her captors?'

'We both know how to call the other one to us so I don't see it being much of a problem.'

'Okay… if you're sure…'

'I'm giving you my trust, aren't I? You should do the same for me,' Crovell could hear the notes of anger in his own voice.

'You're right, I do. It's just… I'm worried about Kasey right now.

'I understand,' he sighed, 'come on, let's get your daughter back.'

'They're just not willing to give up today,' Baraku rolled his eyes the second he sensed someone on their trail.

'Someone must have tipped them off to the delicate position Kasey is in right now,' Jack folded his arm, 'but I will not give her up so easily.'

'I didn't think you would,' he shot him a look, 'but maybe this isn't a fight you can win.'

'Are you suggesting I should just give up on her?' He glared.

'I'm saying you might not have a choice.'

'There's always a choice Baraku, you taught me that. And I'm choosing to hold onto her for as long as I can. She's too valuable an asset to just give up on.'

'Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you,' Baraku made his way towards Kasey and prepared to relocate once again.

'I don't want to go,' the little girl folded her arms, sounding like a child for the first time since he'd met her.

'You don't have a choice,' he crouched down beside her, 'bad people are trying to take you away from us.'

'You're bad people.'

'I'm sorry, what did you say?'

'You're bad people,' she stuck her chin out a little.

'Who told you that?'

'You did.'

'Did we now?'

'What's wrong,' Jack arrived beside them, 'we don't have time to waste like this.'

'Apparently little Kasey here thinks we're bad people,' he half smirked up at him.

'So the damage is already setting in, is it,' an unimpressed look spread across his face. 'Pick her up and carry her.'

'What?'

'Pick her up and carry her, we're leaving, now.'

'I thought we needed her at ease with us.'

'And we can get her that way as soon as this little effect spell wares off. But, until it does, we need to make sure she doesn't end up back with them or else she'll be lost to us permanently.'

'Maybe she should be.'

'We've been over this Baraku, pick her up now, we're leaving.'

'No, you're not,' Crovell's voice sounded from behind them, making everything in Baraku groan, 'she's coming with me, back to her family.'

'And what makes you think you have the power to take her from us,' Jack challenged.

'Because I have her best interests in mind.'

'You really think a trivial notion like that will have an effect here?'

'I don't think, I know, I am the God of Chaos after all.'

'You're no more of a God than I am,' Jack flick summoned an energy ball into his hand, 'and I'm not giving her up without a fight.'