“We lost hope.” The pain in Cassie’s eyes said the rest.
She walked and Nox followed.
Luca stood with a pole in his hands while a young woman threaded fabric over the end.
She said something Nox couldn’t hear, and Luca laughed.
The man who’d introduced himself as Shalaman made a face and threw a napkin at her, then Luca.
They finished threading the pole, and all three worked to set it in a holder staked into the ground.
Luca’s smile glowed. His eyes brightened. The rose in his cheeks darkened enough to show against his bronze skin.
“Nash? Are you okay?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“Do you need me to take a few of those?”
“No, you’re already carrying eno—” Her hands were empty.
Her bundle of wood sat next to half a metal drum laying on its side and propped up on cinder blocks.
The perfect make-shift grill.
Nox piled the wood he carried next to hers.
One of the large betas walked over, and instinctively, Nox braced for the Anubis.
“How good are you with a shovel, Nash?” The man held out his gloved hand. “I’m Harvey, by the way.”
Nox took it. “I’ve dug my fair share of holes.”
“Good, it’s a big pig, so it’s gonna need to be deep.”
Nox hesitated because he’d promised to help Cassie.
She shooed him with a wave of her hand. “Go on. I can handle the wood, but I hate digging holes.”
Harvey slapped Nox on the shoulder. “C’mon, I’ll show you where.”
Harvey stopped by one of the other RVs and opened a panel on the lower side. Equipment filled the storage space. He took out two shovels and a pickax and handed them to Nox. “You carry those. I’ll get the posts and post hammer.”
“Posts?”
“We also have to build a spit.”
“I thought we were digging a hole for a pig.”
“We are, but we’ve got three turkeys to roast too.” Metal clanked, and he stood with four T-posts tucked under one arm and a large iron tube with handles in his other hand.
“That’s a lot of food.”
“There’s going to be six betas eating tonight. We’re going to need it.”
“I thought there were five of you?”
“Five of us with Isaiah, you’re with Luca.”