“I don’t know,” Cody said. “I think he’s waiting for everyone to be conscious.”
I sighed. “Did you hear what he said earlier? Did anyone fall? Surely, he didn’t mean that.”
Cody shook his head. “I’m not sure. I did see someone slip, but I didn’t look down. I don’t know what happened.”
I stared at him, my lips parted. Narrowing my eyes, I searched for Everson. Instead, I saw a young woman watching me. When we made eye contact, she rose and approached us.
“I saw what you did,” she said.
My brows lifted. “What?”
“I saw you save her,” she said, pointing at Isabella. “That was incredible.”
“Oh,” I muttered, shifting awkwardly.
Cody looked at me.
“There’s no physical way you should’ve been able to lift her like that,” she continued. “It’s not mathematically possible. This place is doing something to us.”
Her words unsettled me as much as the cold sting in the air.
“I don’t know,” I said, desperate to make sense of it all. “I think that’s the point of all of this—to push us beyond our limits. Yesterday, I couldn’t have done it. But in a life-or-death situation, you become capable of things you weren’t before.”
She stared at me in silence for a moment.
We both knew that was bullshit, but we dropped it anyway.
“I’m Skylar,” she said.
I mustered a tight-lipped smile. “Anna.”
Cody dramatically waved his hand in the air, glancing between the two of us. “I’m Cody. Nice to meet you. I didn’t save anyone, but I’m here too.”
I flashed a smirk but quickly shifted as I noticed someone behind him.
“Look,” I said. “Everson’s here.”
Isabella stirred, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
“I feel like I slept on a cloud,” she said, stretching.
Cody looked at the rocky terrain and cast me a perturbed look.
“Wish we all shared your sentiment,” he said.
Everson made his way around the fire, taking note of everyone who made it up the cliff. Everyone fell silent and stood as he came to a stop. My body was screaming for me to stay put, but I forced myself to my feet.
“Looks like everyone had a chance to recuperate,” he said.
Someone snorted. Everson’s glare could have cut stone. After a tense pause, he moved on.
“Your body is adjusting and growing stronger every minute,” he said, his words annunciated like a military leader rallying his troops. “These tasks may seem unfair but skipping them would be a far crueler fate.”
Crueler? How? I almost froze to death, then nearly fell off a cliff. But, yeah, sure, letting me in would’ve been crueler. Whatever.
The guy from before, the one called Eli who had challenged Everson, was mirroring my thoughts in his expression. He was about to say something when the dark-haired girl with the long braid punched him in the bicep.
He flinched, shooting her an irritable look.
