I clung to the rope railing, trying to ignore the dizzying sway ofthe bridge, the sweat slick on my body, and the dank smell of wet earth in the air.
“Take care, now,” he said in a low, deadly voice, remaining too close behind me. “Make sure you watch out for the board with white flecks. It has a long crack. It might give way.” His harsh laugh rang out.
“Are you alright?” Lexie cried.
“Great job,” Bryson called, steady as ever. “Quick thinking, Maddox.”
“Why did you do it?” I asked, my voice shakier than I liked.
“Told you already.” He shouldered around me, taking the lead crossing the bridge. “You’ll die from my hand; no other.”
“Fuck you.”
He ignored me, stomping his feet along the planks, quickly making his way to the other side.
I followed, drilling his spine with my glare. If he thought he could manipulate my mind, he’d soon learn he’d break before me.
I’d made a new enemy. The fates could add his name to the list.
We waited on the other side on scrubby grass strewn with rocks while the others made their way across to join us. After what happened to me, this part of our journey felt anticlimactic, though I imagined Kerralyn, whose face paled and who couldn’t stop trembling even when she stood on solid ground, would disagree.
“This way.” Maddox strode up the gradual grassy incline. He stopped at the top, waiting for us to join him.
The cracked earth ahead of us looked like bone left too long in the sun. Twisted brush sprouted from fissures, its branches gnarled and reaching. Even the wind had abandoned this place.
Desert stretched ahead and on either side of us, stark open areas peppered with dunes of dark brown sand shifting in patterns, moving like this wasteland was breathing.
But beyond that wasteland, buildings glinted in the distance. They called to me with the promise of safety, of rest, of an end to this nightmare.
“I bet we have to go there,” Lexie said, doubt thriving in her voice.
I studied the structures, unease crawling up my spine. Something about their perfection felt wrong. Like they were a trap disguised with salvation. “Maybe.”
With no other option but turning back, we started across the rocky ground, our boots crunching on stones that crumbled at the slightest pressure. The twisted brush snagged at our clothing.
Then we reached the sand.
My first step sank deep. The grains shifted around my boot, sliding away like water. Or like they were trying to drag me down with them. Heat radiated up through my leather soles, making my feet burn, making sweat break out all over my body and renew its slow, torturous trickle down my spine.
“Careful,” I called back, but Derren had already stumbled. I caught his arm as he pitched forward, his weight dragging us both toward a depression that looked like a sinkhole. The sand around the edges appeared darker, wet-looking.
“Thanks,” he breathed, sweat jutting down his temples. He swiped it away. “I feel like the ground wants to swallow us.”
“That’s because it does.” Bryson studied the terrain with a soldier’s eye. “See how the sand ripples? That’s not wind. Something’s moving underneath.”
Lexie slipped next, her feet vanishing up to her ankles before Bryson hauled her back to firmer ground. She yelped as her boots came free, the leather smoking.
“It burned through my socks,” she gasped.
Kerralyn pulled out her journal, frantically sketching the safe path we’d taken. “There’s a pattern,” she said, her mind working even as we picked our way forward. “The solid patches form a line. See? Like stepping stones.”
But even following her map, the crossing remained treacherous. Derren broke through what looked like solid ground and vanished up to his waist before we pulled him out. I had to leap across a gapwhere the sand bubbled, landing hard on my knees on the other side.
Behind us, Maddox followed at a distance. He stepped exactly where I had, his dark eyes fixed on me with calculated interest.
“Checking my work?” I called out to him in a cheery voice.
The corner of his mouth lifted like a blade being drawn. “Just relying on our leader to guide us across.”
