“Down!” Saoirse shouted, diving low. I followed, the bridge rippling beneath us as another blast grazed the edge of it, destabilizing it.
I looked back—Radicals were sprinting after us.
A third blast struck right behind me. The bridge buckled.
The next one came too fast to think. Another shot, point-blank. The edge of the bridge cracked open beneath our feet.
Saoirse slipped, tumbling sideways with a gasp.
“Got you!” I shouted, throwing out my arm—and with it, a pulse of magic. A ribbon of scarlet darkness coiled from my fingers like a lifeline, wrapping around her waist. She jerked midair, suspended above the abyss, her arms flailing before she managed to grab hold of the strand.
But I didn’t have time to steady myself.
The final bolt struck.
The bridge exploded in a flash of light and force.
I lost my footing.
And I fell.
Plummeting straight toward the pit—straight into the nest of writhing snakes—while my translation still held Saoirse suspended, right out of sight of the Radicals.
“No!” she screamed as the wind tore past my face. The cave swallowed me whole, as I fell through a blur of darkness, pressure, and screaming—hers, mine, maybe both.
I twisted midair, barely managing to control my descent before?—
Wham.
Pain. Rock. My back slammed into something jagged, then another ledge below, and then?—
I landed.
Hard.
Right in the middle of something thatmoved.
A split-second of silence, and then?—
Hissing.Everywhere.
I jerked upright, only to realize my hands were planted onscales. Cold, smooth, slithering over each other like oil. My breath caught.
No. No no no no no.
I scrambled to my feet—bad idea. I slipped again, landing hard on my knee, and this time, something sharp sank into my calf.
“Ah—!” I screamed. “Fuck!”
The pain was white-hot, pulsing like fire through my leg. I swatted blindly, slamming my hand against something long and thick that recoiled with a wet hiss.
I was going to die here. In a fucking snake pit.
Snakes.So many snakes.
“EMMA!” Saoirse’s voice rang out above me. She was still dangling; caught in the tether I’d left behind. She swung gently in the open air, suspended over the crater, but was too far up to see me.
I tried to stand again, this time slower, while I could hear the blood thundering in my ears. My leg buckled. The puncture wound throbbed. Another hiss—closer this time.
