I’ve faced the monsters this realm has to offer. They had no problem killing me to survive another day, and now, with their freedom at stake? I’m a dead angel walking.
A howl tears through the air.
It’s close.
“Let’s go,” Riven hisses.
“But we haven’t checked the vantage point yet,” Ciprian whispers. “We don’t know what’s waiting for us down there.”
“No time,” Ali says. “Knowing what’s waiting for us here is bad enough.”
We gather around Riven and grab his wrists as he unwraps thestone and squeezes. The witch's magic does its job and whisks us away, but not before I see a pack of horse-sized hounds churning through the ice toward us. Their baying howls echo through the forest, alerting everyone in the woods to our presence.
The element of surprise is gone.
There’s no choice but to keep going.
We land at the edge of the forest, miles from the tree checkpoint. It’s quiet here. The frantic baying of the hounds is faint, and my shoulders relax. At least we didn’t land in the middle of a bigger mess. If we stay calm and keep moving, we might be fine.
We walk the short distance to the next location in total silence.
I count the trees, starting with the one with a scar raking down its trunk. Nine to the right, my target is thinner than its neighbors. I kneel at the base and brush the ice away until I touch bare rock. Fingers trembling, I dig my nails into the frigid, unforgiving ground and pry the rock loose. Beneath it, exactly as Hyacinth promised, is a leaf-wrapped pebble.
I lift it carefully, making sure not to disturb the covering.
“How are we looking?” I whisper, glancing up to find Alistair and Ciprian wearing matching scowls. They’re staring west, in the direction of the arena.
“Bad news,” Ciprian grunts. “The patrols have changed. They’re spread at completely different intervals now.”
My heart sinks. “Let me guess. One of those new intervals is?—”
“Right on top of the next stone.”
“The backup plan,” I whisper.
Alistair groans. “I hate the backup plan.”
“We don’t have a choice.” Luca’s lip ring is trapped between his teeth, and a muscle in his jaw is ticking like a clock.
“Love the vote of confidence, guys,” Ciprian mutters. “Look pathetic and move as synchronized as possible. I won’t be able to hold it forever.”
My heart beats loudly in my ears, but I don’t try to squash my fear.
Ciprian needs it.
Everyone forms a loose circle around me, and I look at Ciprian and nod. Squeezed in the middle between me and Luca, his black eyes fill with shadows, then his cheekbones sharpen. The scene around us wobbles before stabilizing. Even though I’m expecting it, I blink five or six times instinctively. The illusion shows us tied in a line, shackled to a thick central chain—one that’s littered with dampeners—and held by a smug-looking Riven.
His face warps, then returns to its normal amber mask. I take a deep breath, then peel the leaf off the stone and squeeze.
I really wish plan B didn’t stand for ballsy.
FORTY-TWO
Monster Realm Survival Tip #21:
Your greatest enemy may lurk
behind a friend’s face.
