Mariana had said she didn’t know how long it would be until the engine blew. It could be minutes. But they wouldn’t have minutes. He was right behind her.
“Not until you’re safe!” Mariana called.
“I’m almost there!” Claire called. She could see the light above. “Just do it! Please!”
She heard him, directly behind her.
“Claire, flatten,” Reyva ordered.
She flattened herself against the rock face. She felt the whoosh of wind as a rock sailed down past her, then another. She heard athunkand a grunt—one had hit the wild man.
Gritting her teeth, she kept climbing. The sun above her was broader now. She saw the silhouettes of Reyva’s and Mariana’s heads.
“Start it!” Claire called.
They couldn’t wait any longer. The fuel vapor had to build up. A minute or more. She’d either make it in a minute... or he’d have caught her. Either way, there was no time left.
She heard the roar of the motor starting.
Her arms and legs ached so badly they shook, but she didn’t slow. Her hand shot up into the air, and she felt one of her friends grab it. With Reyva’s help, she scrambled up, crawling out of the hole as fast as she could. She turned and saw the dead man’s hand reach out of the hole.
“Mariana!”
“It’s running,” Mariana said. She pushed the engine closer to the mouth of the cave. Both of them scurried around to join her, and they shoved the engine toward the hole, then directly over it, blocking it.
Then they began to run.
They almost made it.
Behind them, the engine exploded.
Twenty-Seven
Claire blinked her eyes open. Blue swirled with green as her vision resolved itself: sky and trees. The trees seemed to be reaching to pierce the blue. She realized she was lying on her back. She didn’t remember lying down. Her ears were ringing. She tried to listen for birds, but she heard nothing but a roaring like the sound of the sea.
No sea, she thought.A lake.
A lake house.
The Lake House.
She remembered it, burned down. All her memories rushed back, and she sat up quickly. She knew who she was, where she was, but not what had happened after she’d blacked out—the engine had blown, but had it caused a cave-in? Was the spirit trapped? Were her friends okay? “Reyva? Mariana?”
“Here,” Reyva croaked.
Her voice sounded far away, as if underwater. Claire tapped her ears, as if that would clear them. She squeezed her eyes shut and then open again.
The first thing she saw was Reyva next to her, curled in a Caround her arm. Claire crawled to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Then: “I’m not sure. But I don’t think anything new is broken. You?”
“I think I’m okay.” She raised her voice louder. “Mariana?”
Reyva joined her, calling, “Mariana?”
Rocks were everywhere, and a skinny tree had fallen. Everything looked different, askew. Holding her breath, she turned slowly to face the mouth of the cave... and she saw that the mound of boulders had collapsed in on itself. “I think we did it,” Claire said, hushed.
The cave was buried.
