At least fifty soldiers stand on the other side of the open cavern, but my eyes land on the golden-haired one in front.Eryk.
This is my last chance at redemption. The gods have given me a choice. Go back with Eryk or stay with the rebels. Become a rebel myself.
Eryk will believe me. He will take me back to Spoikos, and I can speak with the queen. I can explain things.
But if what the rebels believe is true, then she is the reason for the curse. She would lock me up or turn me to stone. I would be of no use to anyone. Staying alive and free is my priority.
Eryk stares, sword in hand, as recognition dawns. “Keep the girl alive!” he yells, as the soldiers move around the outer edges of the cave, closing us in. The only path still open is the one to the gardens.
And my mind is made up.
“I have an idea,” I whisper, putting my dagger away. “It’s insane, but I think it’s our only option.”
Raiden’s look of shock would feel so fucking good if we weren’t about to do what I’m planning for us to do.
I allow fear to fuel me, keeping pace with the sound of my heartbeat, as I sprint to the path, and Raiden follows. The first few holes we reach are small, and we clear them easily, but halfway up, we hit a gaping space that I don’t think I can jump.
Raiden goes first, throwing himself off the edge, arms and legs propelling him across effortlessly, as if he’s flying.
When he lands, he climbs down and reaches a hand across the chasm.
“You can do this. Jump!” he yells to me, and I take a few steps back. I have three options: die at the hands of the soldiers behind me, die by breaking my neck when I fall down this fucking hole, or die because I trusted this asshole of a rebel who has done nothing but make my life more difficult from the moment I met him.
Gods forgive me. I don’t bother whispering it. Who knows if they’re even listening anymore.
The soldiers are closing in behind me, and I do not have time to think. I launch myself directly at Raiden, and time stands still. My stomach rolls within me as I try to push my body just a little bit farther.
And then I’m falling. I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to see where my body will land when my soul is released into the after.
I hit so hard against him that the wind is knocked from my chest. His arm cements around my waist, and I look up into his face to find him grinning.
He hauls us smoothly back onto the path, and we sprint to the end, leaving the soldiers to contemplate their own way across.
“What now?” Raiden asks, closing the garden door behind us and placing the large piece of wood across it, locking us in.
This is the part of the plan I didn’t think all the way through. My eyes wander to the open edge of the space, where I know an angry, black ocean waits to swallow me up.
Raiden lets out a small chuckle. “Do you even know how to swim?”
I shake my head, only slightly.
“You’re not a sea snake, then?” he jokes, and I find him just as infuriating as ever.
“I didn’t see you coming up with a particularly good idea!” I shout at him over the sound of the crashing waves and blood pumping in my ears.
We stand at the edge, looking down into the swirling darkness. He grabs my hand, and I am jolted once more by his touch.
“Together?” he asks, just as something hits the door behind us with such force it cracks down the center.
I nod, and he begins counting, “Three … two … one!”
We are free-falling into nothing. We fall for so long, I think it will never end. I expect to be enveloped by an icy, angry grave.
But we never reach the water.
Raiden
"WHAT THE HELL was that?” Arina asks after heaving the contents of her stomach over the ramp leading up to the ship. I rub a gentle circle on her back, but don’t have time to explain my magic to her at the moment.
