“Yes,” he says thoughtfully. “I think they’re fully aware that time is running out for them.”
My eyes drift closed at his words, and before I fall asleep, I can’t help thinking how nothing lasts forever.
The next morning we’re up and out of the cave at dawn. During the night, Manuel gave me more aloe to rub on my feet. He’d let himself sleep for an hour, and then we’d switch back again. I don’t think either of us slept well, but at the very least, nothing with teeth snuck into our cave. We trek uphill, hoping to get high enough to find the spot Manuel’s looking for. It’s the landmark closest to that bridge we need to cross in order to find Paititi.
I drop my pack and stretch my arms up high above me. Manuel bends and scoops up my bag, holds it out for me to take. “Do not put your belongings on the ground.”
Reluctantly, I slip the strap over my shoulders.
“Something nasty might crawl in there,” he explains.
I bounce my pack higher and nod. The last thing I need is for a scorpion to make a new home within my things.
A shimmery glint catches my attention. There’s a small patch of flowers nearly buried by vivid green brush. I stride forward, arrested by the glimmering petals. Manuel follows and falls down into a squat. Using his machete, he gently uncovers the silver flowers. They’re incandescent and glowing, as if made from the finest crystal. My breath catches.
“Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” I reach out to touch the soft petal, but Manuel snatches my wrist.
“What have I told you about touching things?”
“But it’s so pretty,” I protest. “Look, it’s entirely delicate.Imight hurt it.”
“Not that delicate.” He points at the ground with the tip of his blade. “Tell me what you see.”
I bristle at being told what to do, but I drop my gaze to the jungle floor. Underneath the shrub, the ground is covered by an iridescent dusting. It looks dead, frozen, and void of any color. Manuel smells the petals, then drops even closer to the shimmering ground. “The flowers are killing the soil. Look—”
“I see that.” My pleasure turns to outrage. How could something so beautiful destroy the land? “What should we do? Can you uproot it?”
“We shouldn’t touch it.” His expression turns thoughtful, considering. “I wonder if the Illari have seen this? I can’t imagine they’re happy with its presence.”
“What do you mean? It’s not from here?”
“I’ve never seen it before. I think it could’ve been brought to the forest by someone who didn’t care about the consequences. They might’ve simply been careless—but I don’t think so. My gut tells me this flower is hard to come by.”
I nod approvingly. “So it stands to reason that whoever got ahold of it knew what it could do.”
“Exactly.”
What kind of stranger would bring something so destructive into the jungle? And for what purpose? A sudden thought makes me gasp. I reach out and grasp Manuel’s arm. To my surprise, he doesn’t flinch. Instead he encourages me with a small smile. “What is it?”
“I understand why the Illari haven’t killed us yet.”
He raises a brow.
“What if they think you brought the flower?”
Manuel tilts his head to the side. “Even more reason to do me in, wouldn’t you think?”
I shake my head. “Not if they want to learn where you got the flower, and what you’re planning on doing with it. It’s what I’d do. I wouldn’t want to kill the only person who might know how to destroy the flower and reverse the damage.” I clear my throat and realize that I haven’t had anything to drink in hours. “Is there any water?”
He jumps to his feet and searches the area for bamboo. When he returns, he hands me a cup. “You might be right. But that doesn’t explain all those birds dying at the same time.”
“We won’t know for sure until we have an actual conversation with the Illari.”
“Which they may not want to have,” he points out grimly. “They may shoot us on sight.”
But I get the sense that he’s wrong. Otherwise, we’d already be dead. It’s not like two people—who have been mostly lost—are hard to kill.
The Illari are up to something; I canfeelit.
