Page 5 of Wicked Sea and Sky

Gavin didn’t miss a beat. “I won’t let you. You’ll haunt me, and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

I snorted at his blunt response. The last time we played this game, we were climbing a razor-thin ledge up the side of a mountain. Gavin claimed he wouldn’t let me die because I was carrying our food rations. And the time before that? Because he might get blood on his favorite tunic.

Gavin Blackwood—a ceaseless charmer.

Maneuvering across the bridge was as daunting as I’d feared. Each step threatened to topple me into the pit. The boards swayed and rocked, and I let out a vicious curse when I tilted hard to the right. My pulse pounded in my ears, and the only thing keeping me from plummeting to my death was the rope taut around my waist.

Gavin gripped my hand and hauled me to the other side. “See? The bridge wasn’t so bad. On the peril scale, I give it a three out of ten.” He made quick work untying the knotted rope, then he stowed the coil away in his gear. “Looks like we still have to share the treasure. Fingers crossed you getlucky next time.”

I wiped my sleeve across my brow. If anything, I’d used the last of my luck, crossing that bridge.

“After you, partner.” Gavin gestured toward the shadowy mouth of the tunnel.

Holding up the light, I walked through the opening. “No coin this time?”

“Nah, you take the long, boring tunnels. I don’t even see any bats. We’ll meet up with the others and find the treasure in no time. Then, when we get back to civilization, I’m going to take a hot soak, devour a delicious meal, and sleep for a week.”

“You and your simple pleasures. But the bath sounds nice. Rose scented with lots of bubbles and—”

Gavin jerked me to a stop. “As much as I love listening to all the details of your bubble bath, did you hear that?”

I held my breath, trying to catch whatever he’d heard, but there was nothing besides the faint creak of the bridge settling back into place.

“No. What was it?”

“A rumble.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was probably your stomach.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You’re imagining things.”

He cocked his head, his eyes taking on a faraway look. “That’s true. But I always pictured you covered by apple blossoms in your bath instead of roses.”

“You’re impossible!” I knocked him on the shoulder, wiping the smug look off his face.

And that was when I heard the rumble.

The ground shook.

Rocks rained from the ceiling, pelting me in the head andshoulders. The ropes anchoring the bridge snapped, whipping upward before the entire span plunged into the deep cavity. Ice solidified in my veins as the ledge crumbled, too, collapsing faster and faster, racing straight toward us.

Gavin pushed me hard, his sharp cry forcing me out of my daze.

“Run!”

The ground behind us splintered and cracked. I raced through the tunnel, my breath surging in frantic gasps while I blindly searched for a way out.

There was none.

The cave walls reached high over our heads.

No handholds.

No crevices.

Only a straight shot into the unknown.