I sat there heaving for a moment, my body tensed to strike.

His eyes, dark and unreadable, never left my face.

Slowly, I eased off. I knew if he got that sword away from me, I was finished. It was sheer luck that the sand had shifted earlier, providing me an opening to knock him down in the first place.

The circle of boys around me had tightened at my outburst, but none dared get too close.

I dropped his blade and backed away. “I told you I need your help.”

He sat up slowly, watching me like a vulture watches its prey. His attention never left me as he brushed sand off as he stood, then shook his hair out of his eyes and grabbed his sword. His eyes searched mine, no doubt trying to figure out whatever secrets I might hold.

“If you did lead men out here,” he said, “they won’t survive a desert night or a sandstorm.”

“I didn’t lead anyone out here.” I crossed my arms as much to look nonthreatening as to hide how much my hands itched to hold my sword again, to have some barrier between us. I tried not to show that I was watching him while also flitting glances at the boys around us. There were probably at least six I couldn’t see directly behind me. It made my skin crawl.

Cion glared at me several long, hard moments. Everyone was so quiet, you could’ve heard a snake coming from ten dunes away.

Finally, Cion shuffled a few steps back and grabbed my sword from where it had landed. He used the tip to motion me forward. “Inside.”

I looked where he indicated, and all I saw was sand. Then one of the Desert Boys rushed forward and lifted a wooden sheet from the ground. He struggled under the weight of the sand pouring off it. Light emanated from the hole he revealed.

No wonder we could never find them.

“Go,” Cion said.

I ducked inside. The Desert Boys had built their hideout into what had once been a rock formation, maybe even a cave, before sand had covered it over. Different archways led into other lit areas.

“Move.” Cion again tapped the end of my sword into my back once he ducked in behind me.

We ventured through one archway into what could have passed for a sort of hallway, with alcoves jutting off on either side. In one, stacks of goods were piled up to the ceiling. Earthen jars flanked empty cages. Bolts of cloth snuggled against piles of rope. In another alcove, pillows were thrown over the thick rugs that lined the floor.

I tried to memorize the layout in case I needed to escape.

None of the other Desert Boys followed us as Cion forced me down a tunnel so narrow I had to duck. I had no idea where he was leading me or why. My heart thudded in my chest with every step forward. Where could he possibly be taking me? Was he going to help? Did he want me dead? Then why not kill me outside? If he didn’t want to kill me outright, it meant he wanted me to suffer. A pit of snakes? Scorpions? My mind raced at the possibilities as the tunnel opened into a large cavern.