“Wait—” I reached out to grab her, but it was already too late.
Something snapped, and the forest floor moved. They weren’t roots but ropes. It was one of the traps Qian’s men had set up.
A net whipped up around us and took our feet from under us, dragging us into the air.
17
Amador crashedintome as the net yanked us into the air, tangling us up and dangling us twenty feet above the jungle floor. We swung back and forth in the trap with no way of getting down.
Amador thrashed next to me, and her elbow knocked into my head. I couldn’t hit her out of revenge. My arms were wedged behind my back, and one of my legs was crunched up underneath me.
“Help!” Amador screamed, her shrill voice echoing through the jungle. “HELP!”
“No one can hear us. We’re too far from the house.”
“Someone has to come! They have to know we’re trapped!”
“Are you done screaming?”
“I am not staying trapped here with you! What if there are more wakwaks out there?” She squirmed, and her elbow hit me in the head again. I was tempted to bite her, but what good would that do?
Amador kept screaming for help until her voice gave out. I didn’t know how long we’d been stuck here, but I’d already started losing feeling in my fingers. All I could see was the jungle floor.I had no idea what time it was or how long we had until the sun would set. I tried my best not to panic, but dread was starting to creep its way into me after Amador’s voice cracked for the fiftieth time, and still no one came looking for us.
“It’s no use,” Amador cried. Her voice was rough, and I heard desperation there. All I could see was the side of her face that was scrunched up against the net. “I can’t believe I’m stuck with you.”
“It’s not my definition of a party, either.” If I really had seen Yara Liliana, I doubted a ghost could be of much help anyway.
We fell into silence, listening to the sounds of the jungle returning. Birds and bugs flew around us, no doubt checking out what had happened but doing ultimately nothing to help our situation. All we could do was wait for someone to notice we’d gone missing.
“Can’t you use your power to get us out of here?” Amador asked.
I ground my teeth together and tried to move my arms, but it was useless. I couldn’t use my magic anyway, even if my hands were free. Amador seemed to get that, too, because she groaned and rolled her eyes.
“You do it, then,” I snapped.
Amador clicked her tongue and didn’t say anything. “Nix will notice we’re not back, and she’ll help us.”
Nix probably had her nose buried in a book by now. “When it starts getting dark, sure, but then it’ll be too late.”
“Why? Is the monster going to come get us? Are we going to be bait laid out on a silver platter?” Her fear made her voice pitch into a shriek.
“Nothing’s going to eat you,” I said. “We just have to get down.”
“Why do you sound so sure?”
“Because I just…know.”
“Well, I don’t want to die here with you!”
“You’re not going to die. Just shut up for a moment so I can think.”
Amador had the sense to stop talking, at least. But I couldn’t think about anything that would help. All that went through my head was the slow passage of the sun across the sky. If we didn’t get out of here, Amador really could be in trouble. Even though I hated her, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from hurting her if I turned.
The net swung gently back and forth, making me slightly sick, and I could tell Amador was getting uncomfortable, too, because she kept shifting around. At least she was quiet now.
“Lucas will come for me,” she said. “I know he will.”
A twinge of anger made my eye twitch. I tried to take a calming breath, but I knew it came out more like a hiss.
