Page 68

“What the—”

“Bear, it’s okay,” Alex soothed, knowing the rapidly dying light offered his human eyes even less of a view than her increasingly limited vision. “Try not to panic, but we’re dangling above a creek that has some kind of creature swimming it. The Jarnocks plan to offer us up as its dinner, so we need to get out of here before they return.”

Bear remained silent from the shock of her hurried explanation, but then he exploded. “‘It’s okay’?” he repeated in a yell. “How isanyof this ‘okay’, Alex?”

“Shhhh!” she hushed him. “Let’s not invite them back early, yeah?”

She watched as Bear took three visibly large breaths to get himself together.

“Right,” he said, much calmer now. “What are our options?”

That was the Bear she needed, and she sent him a smile of gratitude.

“From what I can tell, we don’t have many,” Alex said.

“Well, the obvious one is the one we want to avoid,” Bear said.

“Being consumed by a jungle deity is not on my bucket list,” Alex agreed wholeheartedly. “What’s next?”

“I take it you can’t use A’enara to cut us down without us falling into the water?”

Shaking her head, then regretting the motion from the additional spike of blood pressure it prompted, she said, “Already thought of that. The creek is narrow, but even if we swing first, we still won’t land on the bank.”

“What are we even hanging from?” Bear asked, trying to get a good look up at their feet. “What are these vines attached to?”

“We’re strung between some branches, but they’re way,wayhigh up,” Alex said, squinting up into the trees and not seeing an end to the vines. “Are you thinking—should we try climbing?”

“If it’s our only chance to get out of here, then—”

A new voice cut in, one that caused Alex to jerk with shock, both because it was unexpected, and because it was familiar.

“You don’t have enough time to climb. The Jarnocks are already on their way to prepare you for the sacrifice.”

“Hunter?” Bear’s disbelief was clear in his voice as the SAS teacher stepped out onto the bank.

“We have less than five minutes before they arrive, so listen carefully,” Hunter said, his tone urgent. “Alex, when I tell you, cut Bear free first then follow him straight down into the water. I’ll offer a distraction to Kaku, but you’ll only have seconds to swim your way to the bank before he’ll realise there’s something better on offer. Once you’re back on land, be prepared to run, because the Jarnocks will be relentless in their pursuit.”

Without waiting for Alex or Bear to agree, Hunter continued, “It’ll be hard enough swimming with your feet still bound, so do something about your hands before you enter the water. I’ll be back in a minute, and you’ll need to be ready.”

He vanished into the jungle, prompting Alex to release her grip on Bear, swinging wildly back and forth as a result. It was necessary, though, in order to free her hands, so that when she was semi-stationary again she was able to summon A’enara without skewering him. Even with her reaching towards Bear and him reaching towards her, she could barely get the blade between his bound wrists, but shejustmanaged, freeing him and ignoring the stab of guilt she felt when he hissed as the flames brushed his flesh. A few burns were easy enough to fix up later. Them dying, not so much.

Without being able to reach far enough over to hand the hilt of A’enara to Bear—since there was no way he’d be able to grip the flaming edge of the blade—Alex’s only option was to place the weapon in her mouth and saw her own hands along it. While the flames didn’t burn her, the blade was still sharp, and in releasing herself, she added a few more cuts to her collection. She didn’t waste time sending an apology to Niyx—she just hoped he had the presence of mind to hide his mirrored wounds before Aven or anyone else noticed.

“What do you suppose Hunter meant about offering Kaku a distraction?” Bear asked, rubbing his wrists and attempting to look around from his limited upside-down viewpoint.

Before Alex could say she had no idea, there was a rustling sound further along the creek bank and Hunter reappeared, dragging something behind him. It was some kind of animal, larger than a dog but smaller than a horse. And it was also very dead.

“Are you two ready?” Hunter called.

Realising he intended to draw Kaku’s attention with another food source, Alex felt slightly sick to her stomach. But better the already dead beast than her and Bear.

“One second,” she called back, and she swung her way over to latch onto Bear again. Once she was gripping him, she said, “This will be awkward, but it’s the only way I can reach your feet. Sorry in advance.” She then proceeded to climb her way up his body, turning right-way up as she did so, and feeling her head spin when the blood instantly drained back downwards.

When she was in position with A’enara at the ready, she called back to Hunter that she was ready.

“Wait for my mark,” the instructor said, and he moved behind the animal, shoving it off the bank and down into the creek.

Alex shuddered when the murky water shifted and the spiky fin swept out again as Kaku, having been waiting motionless directly beneath her and Bear, took off towards his free meal.