“I see them too.” His lip curled in a snarl. “But I know a cage when I see one.”
I nodded.
I’d nearly lost the effects of the juice—the star jasmine scent was leaching into me. In the distance, I could hear people shouting and running through the woods. They’d reach us soon. Maybe before the giant slug or the other forest beasts.
“Justice?” I looked at him, and he nodded. “I’ll go first. Luvic, can you carry Last? She won’t come otherwise.”
His mouth twisted into a sardonic smile, and then he nodded. He twisted his hand, and suddenly, he was clothed. He twisted his hand again, and I was dressed in the same clothes I’d been wearing earlier.
I gave him a grateful nod. “So me, then Luvic and Last, then Gerald. Justice?”
He nodded. “I’ll bring up the rear.”
The shriek sounded again, but this time, it almost sounded like music. A lovely, angelic serenade.
“Are you sure this is the way out?” Gerald asked.
Justice narrowed his eyes. “Of course she’s sure.”
Luvic bent down and helped Last climb onto his back. “Hold on tight,” he murmured, his mouth a tight line.
Last sighed and dropped her head to his shoulder, wrapping her legs around his middle. “I don’t much like you, but you are pretty. You’re even prettier when you scream.”
Luvic stared at me as if somehow this were my fault.
The star jasmine scent swirled around me, hitting me with a wave of dizzy giddiness. The forest took on a soft, dreamy feel. I felt . . . I looked at Justice and smiled.
He narrowed his eyes, stepped forward, and tilted my chin. “Mari.”
I blinked. “You feel it?”
He looked down at my lips. “Every day. Let’s go home.”
He pushed me toward the tree. It’s funny—when he said “let’s go home,” it sounded like he said “let’s go back to hell.”
I guessed that was what we were doing. Was he afraid of what he knew was coming?
“It won’t turn out like you fear,” I said. “I won’t let it.”
He smiled. Shrugged. “Maybe you don’t have a choice.”
He nudged me again, and I started to climb.
Hand over hand. Up. Up. Grasping limb after limb. Using knots and branches to boost myself higher. My hands were sweating and my arms and legs shaking by the time I reached the top.
When I looked down, a wave of vertigo nearly yanked me from the limb I was balanced on.
“Whoa.” Luvic grabbed me and steadied me. Last still clung to his back, her expression placid and happy. “You all right?”
I nodded. Gerald and Justice weren’t far behind. Far, far below, more than a hundred people were gathered at the base of the tree.
I’d nearly lost all the juice. The people looked as if they were dancing and laughing and having a wonderfully joyous time. They were surrounded by butterflies and flowers and the sweet scent of jasmine.
“You go first,” I said, pointing to the next branch. It was covered in a hazy film, and the leaves looked like the abstract pattern on ugly seventies avocado-green wallpaper.
“Through there?”
“Right.”
