Page 14

FOURTEEN

Wren

“Wren, are you sure you’re okay?” Lily’s soft voice pulls me from my dark thoughts and I realize I’m standing by our extinguished campfire staring at the open map in my hands—but not actually seeing it—as she and Ruby talk at me.

“Lee messed with her head,” Ruby mutters.

I look up from not seeing the map and open my mouth to snap at Ruby and Lily and even Viento, who is hovering close by and studying me like I might explode or, worse, burst into tears.

I close my mouth.

They’re right. Talking to Lee did mess with my head. I sigh and mentally shake myself. These are my friends. They believe in me. They trust me. They know I didn’t stab Celeste.

“Sorry.” I send them all a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. “I’ll get my head right. I just…”

Lily puts her arm around me. “You love him and he’s disappointed you pretty badly.”

I swallow a hiccupy sob and whisper, “Yeah.”

“Well, he’s hanging out with my brother and Luke can be a real turd.” Lily squeezes my shoulder before releasing me.

“His father was there, too, and from what Lee’s told me his dad’s an overbearing ass. But Lee’s smart,” Ruby adds. “He’s got to be feeling pressure from a lot of people right now, and not just his dad. Dean Rottingham. Celeste. Even Luke. I still believe he’s on your side. Lee’s loyal. He’s not going to turn his back on you.”

Lily nods enthusiastically and her fire-colored hair bounces around her shoulders. “Yeah, what Ruby said.”

I glance up at my silent Air Elemental. Our eyes meet. He looks away first and I sigh. Viento doesn’t agree with them.

I do not like to see you hurt.

I nod and say softly, “I don’t like to be hurt.” Then I push the conversation with Lee and my mixed-up feelings for him into a little box that I shove away in my mind somewhere close to the other little box that holds my grief for Sam, which is right beside the box that hides the pain of my parents’ deaths. I clear my throat. “Okay, let’s check out this map, for real this time.”

I hold the map up and we study it. There’s a lot more to it now that we’ve gotten past two of the four Elemental tests. The page is almost three-fourths of the way filled. The evening before we’d hiked as far away from the gorge and the awful bridge as the fading light allowed, and camped in the shadow of a huge boulder beside a thin rivulet of water. Ruby’s Elemental gifted us with trout and Lily’s firebird lit a magickal blaze that warmed us all night. Everything had been great. The beautiful luna moth even hung out with us for a while.

And then, as I opened the map, a paper airplane had flown to me and suddenly Lee was here! Well, not actually here . Not in body. The paper plane worked kinda like a FaceTime call.

At first, I’d loved hearing Lee’s voice, seeing his face. I’ve missed him so, so much. But then he fired questions at me and accused Viento of making me stab Celeste . The truth is, Lee sounded more like his horrible father than himself.

You’re not making any sense. This whole thing doesn’t make any sense. His voice echoes from my memory.

I’d realized then that Lee can’t help me because he doesn’t believe me.

“Looks like the terrain changes again today.” Ruby’s voice brings me back to the present.

My eyes find the scarlet thread we’ve followed all this way. It winds around more big boulders like the one we camped by, then up and down a few canyons similar to the ones we climbed before we got to the bridge over the gorge. Eventually the boldly drawn black canyons become squattier, more like ditches lined with scrubby trees. Toward the end of those ditches, just before the land transforms again to forest, is a glistening blue symbol, a single drop of water.

“Water is next.” Ruby smiles. “This one will be easier. Water has been our ally since the beginning.”

I glance up and meet Viento’s amber gaze. He doesn’t have to speak. I know we’re thinking the same thing. We’re traveling with an Air Elemental and the air test almost killed both of us.

As we head out, I lag a little so Ruby and Lily can walk together. Viento hovers beside me.

Are you well?

I sigh and nod. “Yeah, I’m fine. But would you do something for me?”

Anything within my power.

“Oh, this is well within your power. If another one of those paper airplanes shows up, blow it the hell away.”

With pleasure.

The day is bright and sunny, though there’s a brisk wind coming from behind us, a little like it’s pushing us forward. When the sun is directly overhead we stop and eat handfuls of marionberries and leftover grilled fish Lily wrapped carefully in fern fronds. We’re still following the narrow trickle of water that used to be a stream as it winds around canyons that, as the day progresses into afternoon, become shorter and narrower, until we can’t really call them canyons anymore.

“These are definitely ditches.” Ruby stands at the lip of one of them. They grin over their shoulder at Lily and me, and then they race down the ditch and, using the momentum of their super speed to propel them, run up the opposite side. Laughing, Ruby spins around to face us. “Reminds me of a skateboard park I used to go to.”

Lily grins. “I prefer roller skates, but I get what you mean.” She runs down one side and up the other—a lot slower than Ruby, but giggling the whole time. Both look expectantly at me.

I shake off the gloom I’ve felt all day and rush down the bank, then up the opposite side of the ditch. I smile an actual smile as Lily lifts her hand and says, “Slap hands!”

The three of us laugh as we give one another high fives, and I start to feel better. Viento even follows suit, soaring down one side of the ditch and up the other, accompanied by a fun whoosh of wind.

After that we make a game of it. Lily decides we’re going to pretend that ditch racing is a new Olympic sport and the four of us are from different countries competing against one another. Neither Lily nor I can actually compete with Ruby’s athleticism or Viento’s ability to fly, but Lily also decides that she’s judge and commentator and makes up hilarious faults that bring down Ruby’s and Viento’s scores. We’re so into our pretend Olympics that we don’t notice the clouds darkening the sky until the first spatters of rain begin to fall.

We’re all used to the Pacific Northwest drizzle and pay little attention to it, especially since there are a lot of ditches, so many that Lily and I begin to struggle to keep running up and down one after another after another. I breathe a long sigh of relief when the red line that shows us our way stops traversing ditches and instead remains within one that turns to the north.

The rain increases and we hunch our shoulders against it. I’m glad the wind pushes it against our backs instead of pelting our faces, but it doesn’t take long to soak us.

“Is this it?” Lily wipes rain from her face.

“It?” Ruby stops and turns to face Lily and me, who have lagged behind her.

“The water test. Like, is it going to try to waterlog us to death?” Lily frowns and wrings out her soggy hair.

Ruby takes off their hoodie. “Here, trade me for your sweater.” They hold the hoodie out to Lily. “My hair’s a lot shorter than yours and I don’t care if it gets soaked.”

Lily peels out of her wet sweater, gives it to Ruby, and then sighs happily as she puts the hood up and ties it into place. She grins and kisses Ruby quickly. “Sorry I’m being such a baby.”

“It’s not babyish to want to stay dry,” says Ruby.

“I wish we had umbrellas,” I say. “Or at least raincoats. I guess we should be grateful that it’s not a cold rain.”

Ruby studies the terrain. “Wren, do you remember how close to the entrance to the forest the water symbol was on the map?”

“Yeah, it was real close. Near the ends of these ditch things.” I glance up and call, “Hey, Viento, can you see the—” My Air Elemental has disappeared.

Without looking up, Lily asks, “Is he gone?”

Ruby sighs and responds before I can. “Yes. Again. And we know what that means. Stay close to me and get ready for anything.”

The three of us trudge forward. The hard-packed earth under our feet turns to mud as the rain pelts down and the sides of the ditch get steeper. I can’t see much of the land around us. We’re too low, and there are large boulders dotting the ground above, further obscuring our view of whatever we’re walking past.

“I really hope this rain stops or the forest canopy is thick enough to keep it off us tonight,” says Lily as she lifts a foot from the sucking mud and grimaces.

“Don’t worry.” Ruby looks over their shoulder at Lily and smiles. “Once we’re in the forest I’ll build a watertight shelter while you call your firebird for one of those magick campfires again. Then we just need to find a stream for some fresh fish and…” Their words trail off as they stop, causing Lily and me to halt, too.

“What’s wr—” I begin, but Ruby’s raised hand silences me.

“Do you hear that?” Ruby cocks their head, listening intently.

Lily’s brow furrows. “That’s not the engine of a truck, right? There can’t be a road anywhere near us.”

I hear what Lily’s talking about—a distant growl that gets steadily louder.

Ruby’s entire demeanor changes as she shifts into Scorpion Moon soldier mode. “It’s not an engine. It’s water. Out of this ditch! Now!” They jog along the ditch, searching for a way out. The sides of the ditch are about twice our height and the rain has turned them into slick mud. “Lily, here! I’ll boost you up. Then you, Wren.” Ruby makes a basket with their hands. “Put your foot in my hands and reach for those roots.” Above our heads roots from a scrub pine perched precariously near the edge of the ditch stick out like skeletal fingers. A boulder sits beside the tree, looming over it.

“Okay, okay, I can do this.” Lily talks to herself as she lifts her foot but pauses before she puts it in Ruby’s hands. “I’m going to get you all muddy.”

“Lil, sweetie, I’m totally fine with that.”

As they smile intimately at each other, so romantically that they could be filming a scene in next season’s Bridgerton , I look away to give them some privacy. Adrenaline spikes through me. “Ruby! Lily! Look!” Down the ditch, the way we’ve just come, water and debris flood toward us. The ditch is narrow enough that the debris keeps damming it, slowing the water’s progress, but we definitely must get to higher ground before it catches us.

“Go! Now!” Ruby shouts at Lily, who puts her muddy foot in their hands. Ruby lifts and Lily scrambles but can’t quite reach the root. She tumbles back into the mud at Ruby’s feet.

The water surges toward us, building in size and intensity, battering against the sides of the ditch and the debris damming it.

I put my hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Try again. I’ll boost you!”

Ruby nods and, before they basket their fingers again, traces a quick pattern with their hands. Heat builds within me. I direct it to Ruby as Lily steps into the basket. This time when Ruby tosses her, Lily flies up over the lip of the ditch to land in a soggy heap.

“Now you!” Ruby says.

I start to lift my foot, but there’s a terrible tearing sound, like a tree being split in an ice storm. Ruby and I look back down the trail. A huge portion of the ditch has collapsed, breaking the debris dam and sending the deadly torrent straight toward us.

“Hurry, Wren!” Ruby yells above the roaring water as they basket their fingers again.

“I’m not leaving you!” I tell her.

Ruby meets my gaze. They’re perfectly calm. “You have to. If both of us die Lily will be alone.”

“No!” I struggle against panic.

“You have to!” Ruby repeats.

I move to lift my foot into her hands, but I already know it’s too late. We’re not going to make it.