“Well, I wasn’t going to come out here in my sleep clothes. That would be?—”
“Highly unprofessional,” I finished, giving her a wink.
“Right. So what are we doing?”
“Something fun.”
“You’re not going to explain?”
“Nope.” I scanned the camp around us. “First, I need something to light our path.”
Cerise straightened and a little gasp escaped her, as if she was excited. “I have just the thing.” She disappeared back into her tent, returning with a white stone. “It’s a luxumstone.” She beamed, handing it over. “Just rub it between your hands and it’ll provide us light.”
I couldn’t help my smile. “I know what a luxumstone is, sunshine. Why are you suddenly acting like a child who found a secret stash of their parents’ candy?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re just a tad enthusiastic about this rock.”
“Oh.” She gave me a sheepish grin. “Well, the day before we left, Emberly was teasing me that I overpacked and we didn’t need these ‘extra items’ because they would be provided to us.”
I chuckled. “Ah. I see. And now you’re doing a little happy dance in your head because you proved her wrong.”
Her smile grew. “Exactly. First the tea—you know, the tea that helped with my spider bite—and now this. There is no such thing as overpacking. I was just prepared.”
I couldn’t look away from her. The glee on her face was contagious and the next thing I knew, I found myself grinning along with her. “Well, then make sure you gloat to Emberly about it tomorrow.”
“Oh, I plan on it. Now what?”
I rubbed the luxumstone between my palms and it began to glow. “Be quiet so we don’t wake the others,” I whispered, leadingher to one of the research tents and handing her a net. I grabbed a specimen container and net for myself before waving for her to follow me.
“Are we catching something?” she asked.
“Shh…”
I silently led her into the jungle, stepping over debris and fallen trees. The rain from earlier today had ceased, leaving sparkling drops of water on the leaves glittering in the light like crystals.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You’ll see.”
“Liam, I don’t like surprises.”
“That tracks.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Miss ‘stick to the schedule, I must get my eight hours of sleep, I organize everything’ doesn’t like surprises? That’s not…surprising,” I teased.
“Are you saying I can’t be spontaneous?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Well, you’re wrong. Let’s do this. Let’s go on an adventure. I love surprises and not knowing what’s around the corner. It’s great fun.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
Cerise rolled her eyes as we continued on. After another twenty minutes of walking, we reached a small grove of trees. Deep green vines climbed the trunks and branches, glowing blue flowers growing along them. Hundreds of bioluminescent noxious stoneflies, about an inch long, flitted between the blooms and throughout the clearing, bringing a magical touch to the jungle.