“You can barely walk,” Daniel shot back. “Accept my help for once. I’m not going to hit on your girl.”
His girl. I stupidly enjoyed the sound of that, and Lexen didn’t deny it. In fact it sounded like he mumbled “Better not” under his breath. Which made that enjoyment even greater.
Daniel leapt again, stumbling but managing not to drop me when we reached the next section. “You don’t have to carry me,” I protested, embarrassed to be such a burden. “No one has to carry me.”
Daniel just laughed. “Lexen told me about gym class, as did some of my other House of Imperial classmates. This is safer.”
Before I could inform him that all of the gossiping Daelighters could kiss my ass, a dark shadow splashed out of the water to our right, and in a move which should have been impossible, Daniel bent backward in some sort ofMatrixshit and a huge blue thing sailed right past. I caught a glimpse of a million razor-sharp teeth, pointed nose, and huge bulbous eyes, before it splashed into the water again.
“Hang on,” Daniel told me, turning to Lexen. “We’re going to make three jumps in a row. That should get us out of here. You ready?”
“I’ll still have more than enough energy to kick your ass when we get there, Dan. Don’t forget that,” Lexen shot back.
Daniel grinned, jumped and landed with ease. His feet were on the ground for a split-second and then he was jumping again. Each leap was minimum six feet long. There was no way in any world I could have made them on my own. When we reached the edge of the water, Daniel took a flying leap that sent us right over that step and down into the land below – the next level of the justices. I had an immediate flashback to my long fall into trees from the incubation level; screams ripped from my throat before I could stop them. My eyes were squeezed shut tightly because I really didn’t want to see my death coming at me.
Daniel landed with a soft thud, jostling me only the smallest amount, before he set me down on shaky legs. Blinking a few times, I waited for my heart rate to settle. Lexen was mid-jump down the hundred-yard drop. He also landed gently, barely even making a thud. What in all that is holy? Both of the boys had landed like it was a three foot drop.
I narrowed my eyes, looking between the two of them. “So … on Earth I’m athletically challenged. Here I’m what, the equivalent of a rock?”
Lexen just shook his head at me. “You’re doing pretty good for a rock. And don’t forget, a rock is the power which keeps both of our worlds functioning.”
I grinned. That was a nice way to look at it. I could really get used to non-asshole Lexen.
Focusing my attention out into this last level of the Cascading Justices, I let out a long, exaggerated breath. “I couldreallyuse some good news. What is this level?”
Turning back, I caught Daniel and Lexen’s grimaces.
“Well,” the Darken Daelighter said. “This is the level of desires.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
How could a land of desires be something hard or dangerous? Their expressions indicated they thought this was worse than the previous six lands.
“I see that look on your face,” Daniel started, “and I promise you’re wrong. This land will give you a ghost of everything you crave in life, the deepest hopes you hold in your heart. You will waste away chasing after something, only to find that it is not real, that you’ve been pouring your hopes and dreams, your literal soul into a façade.”
Lexen let out a ragged huff. “I think we should rest for a little while. We’re in the section between again and I can feel an ease on my energy. I need all the strength I can to resist … especially with—” He cut himself off, but with the way he was staring at me, there was no doubt in my mind what he’d been about to say.
I looked again, across what looked like a beautiful snow-filled field. “What’s with the snow?” I asked, wondering if that had something to do with desires. I had personally always found snow to be magical, but I knew for a fact not everyone felt that way.
“We don’t see the same thing as you,” Daniel told me. “This land shifts to each individual fantasy. The basic layout is the same, but I’m not a fan of snow, so I don’t see that.”
He didn’t say what his land was, and no doubt it was quite a personal thing to ask that, so I didn’t.
“I see snow,” Lexen said, drawing my full attention. “Winter is my favorite season. I have fire and ice in my veins, but like Qenita, ice is where my heart lies.”
Obsidian eyes flashed with white light. I could barely stop myself from touching him. The draw was getting stronger, especially since we had both acknowledged our feelings. Since we had kissed.
“I’ll keep watch if you two want to rest,” Daniel said, interrupting my fiery thoughts. “I’m the least battered and bruised.”
I’d gotten quite good at ignoring the low aching throb in my injured shoulder. But as soon as Daniel mentioned it, the pain seemed to surge out with force. Together with my many other scrapes and my overwhelming hunger … I was not feeling my best.
“A rest would be good,” I murmured.
Daniel nodded. “I can give you an hour, no more. The council might have detained Laous, but he will figure out a way to come after us. We do not want to be in the justices when that happens.”
Hell no we didn’t.
Lexen held out a hand to me and I found myself smiling as I fitted my palm to his, our fingers interlacing. “Come on, badass little human. Let’s get some sleep.”
