I huffed. “It might be rotten in the middle. We’ll fall straight into a monster’s gaping maw, landing whole inside its huge belly to be slowly digested by stomach acid along with a flock of shredded birds.”
He cracked up. “Youdohave an overactive imagination.”
“Like I said, it’s very helpful.In keeping me alive.”
“The bridge is perfectly safe. The resort maintains it.”
I narrowed my eyes. At him. At the bridge. At the now-undisturbed water. “Can cyclodiles jump?” I searched the river for signs of impending doom. “Where is that thing? Lying in wait? Licking its chops? Planning something gruesome?”
Grinning, Shade held my hand and tugged me in the direction of obvious disaster. “Cyclodiles can’t jump, but they can run, even if it’s awkward. We’d be safer on the bridge than here, and the far bank is even safer.” He continued toward the jungle walkway that looked like something people had stopped building about a bazillion years ago—for good reason.
Half-heartedly dragging my feet, I eyeballed the whole construction. There were at least six-inch gaps in between each of the planks across the wide, lazily moving river. You had to climb a huge old tree to get onto the bridge and climb down a huge old tree on the other side to get off it. The only way up or down was a freaking rope ladder.
Excitement rose inside me nevertheless. No way was I missing out on this. “Is encouraging guests to face possible death just for fun and resort ambiance?”
“That’s what I’ve always assumed. Really livens the place up.” Shade winked at me, handsome and cocky enough to pull even that off without seeming ridiculous. “But seriously, who would come here if they couldn’t take a little kick of adrenaline?”
“Someone who’s being led around blind and doesn’t know what she’s getting into,” I answered dryly.
Playful challenge charged his expression with little sparks of humor that lit up his brown eyes. “Tess Bailey: the galaxy’s Most Wanted. Can jump into a black hole but won’t cross a river?”
“I didn’t plan on surviving that trip.This one, I rather hope to come out of.”
“And you will.” Shade grabbed the bottom of the rope ladder and gave it a few hard tugs to show me it was sturdy. “See? Nothing wrong with it.”
“Ow!” I slapped an insect from my wrist.Crap. Too late. My sixth itchy red welt of the day rose, puffing into a lump right under a freckle like a bull’s-eye for the next vicious little biter. “Damn it. If I don’t get attacked by a hungry one-eyed reptile or fall off the rickety bridge, I’m probably going to keel over from some weird Reaginine venom.”
Shade’s lips jumped up. He pressed his mouth flat. It popped back up again.
“Don’t laugh,” I muttered. “They’re not eating you—which is totally unfair, by the way.”
“I told you you were tasty.”
I scratched the new bite. “Compliments don’t work on me when they involve bloodsucking whatsits.”
“Scratching makes it worse.” Shade removed my scraping fingers from my wrist. “And I think you’re grumbling so much because you secretly love this.”
I scowled.
“See? It’s obvious,” he said in response to my scrunched-up face.
I hmphed. It was almost a laugh, and Shade knew it. His eyes practically glittered in triumph.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I asked. “There are easier methods than death by bugs, monsters, or hazardous walkways.”
Shade placed both my hands on the rope ladder. “You’re just stalling. You won’t fall off unless you throw yourself over the railing.”
“Well, don’t make idiotic suggestions.”
Giving me a stink eye that barely contained his laughter, Shade gripped the ladder to hold it steady. “If you keep hopping around on the bank and making noise, every predator in the Gano is going to head over, and I’ll be forced to shoot something.”
I grimaced.No thanks. There was enough killing going on here already. We both carried holstered weapons, though, just in case things in the jungle got too crazy. We’d drop them off at the bungalow before meeting with Bridgebane. Guns weren’t permitted in the temples, even for the Dark Watch.
I glanced back in the direction of the house, suddenly overwhelmed by our real reason for being on Reaginine. Not that I’d forgotten for a second, but Shade made it easy to think about other things. “I don’t want to be late for our meeting. Maybe we should just go to the Grand Temple and wait.”
“It’s not technically meeting day yet, and even here, it’s still early. Better to blend in with the bigger crowds later today—like we already decided.”
I nodded. We had a plan and should stick to it. I took a first hesitant step up the rope ladder. Uncle Nate wouldn’t be here yet—or at least not checking his watch for us. Shade was right; we should enjoy our morning. With the Ahern mission looming, who knew if we’d even still be alive ten days from now, or free, or together.
