“We honor him,” Bryson said. “Same as we did with Fara. We give him what respect we can, and we carry his memory forward.”
The silence stretched taut before we started gathering what we’d need.
Branches. Broad leaves still green and supple. Fragrant flowers Kerralyn identified as blushbyre in her usual, academic way. We covered Jaxon the way we would’ve done Fara, and it felt personal. Jaxon had been the happy part of our little group, always joking or laughing to break tension. Always fidgeting with that leather bracelet when he was scared.
My hands shook as I placed a cluster of purple wildflowers near his head.
When we finished, Bryson stood at Jaxon’s feet. “Jaxon was a good soul. Kind. Gentle. I’ll miss his smile, his humor, and the way he could find something to laugh about even when things looked tough.” His voice roughened. “He was the light in this tunnel. We’ll carry his memory with us.”
Maddox remained kneeling beside his brother, his eyes never leaving my face. Something soft flickered in his gaze, though only for an instant. Regret, maybe. It vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by cold fire.
We moved a short distance away and ate some of Kerralyn’s food. The dried fruit and nuts tasted bitter. I felt Maddox’s glare like a blade between my shoulder blades. The others tried to carry on a normal conversation, if hushed, but it felt forced.
“The honey,” Kerralyn said. She collected pieces of the broken comb, wrapping them in cloth. “Jaxon said to make sure we took this. It’s… It’s actually quite valuable, not just as food. It has medicinal properties as well.”
Leave it to Kerralyn to find a scientific angle even in grief.
“Which way?” Derren asked when we’d finished. I could tell he was trying to bring back some normalcy, but even he looked strained.
“I think we should go this way.” Bryson waved to a trail I’d missed, a narrow, overgrown thing that led deeper into the jungle.
“Looks good.” I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.
As we started walking, the jungle compressed around us. Thick vines hung like curtains, forcing us to duck and weave. Broad leaves the size of boulders slapped at our faces and arms, leaving sticky residue that attracted biting insects. The path grew narrower with each step, branches along the sides snagging our clothes and hair.
When I glanced back, the path had disappeared, already reclaimed by the jungle. Or closed off to remove any chance of going back.
“Does anyone else feel like we’re being herded?” Lexie muttered, ducking under a low branch that seemed to have moved since Derren passed beneath it.
Admitting it wouldn’t help morale, and our morale was thin enough already.
“What if we never find the end?” Derren asked.
No one answered.
We walked for hours through the suffocating green maze. My leather tunic stuck to my torso. Thorns caught at my sleeves and pants. And the numerous bee stings itched and throbbed.
My arm felt better, but that seemed like an insignificant thing after what had happened.
The heavy scent of damp earth and sweat clung to us, mingling with the sour tang of crushed leaves.
“This jungle’s playing tricks with us,” Derren said.
Lexie grunted. “It never ends. We’re going to walk until we drop and then…”
I was grateful she didn’t finish. It was hard enough to keep pushing myself, to keep walking and not to drop to my knees and fall forward. Only the thought of the jungle quickly growing over me kept me moving.
And the creature that killed Fara.
Directly behind me, Maddox’s steady breathing rang out. He was acting too controlled, too careful, when he’d always held a hint of recklessness. This was the sound of someone holding onto their temper by the thinnest of threads.
If he had a knife, he’d put it between my shoulder blades without hesitation.
The thought sent ice down my spine, but I couldn’t shake it loose. The way he looked at me now, the cold calculation in his eyes… This was the look of someone planning violence.
A few short weeks ago, I’d been a princess. Most would consider my life luxurious, and it wasn’t as ifIwas being forced to drink the poisoned wine. Now I was trying to lead a group of desperate people through a deadly jungle while watching my back for threats from one of us.
Finally, the crushing vegetation began to thin. Light filtered through the canopy, making the world feel cleaner. Brighter. More natural.
