Page 6

A plume of thick, blue smoke burst from the cylinder.

Gavin shoved me behind him as the rest of us staggered backward, coughing and waving the haze from our faces.

“What is that?” Cass shouted.

“A smoke capsule,” Reid said, stumbling into a statue.

“I don’t have my book of poisons with me, but I’m fairly certain that's a highly toxic compound designed to render us unconscious, allowing the marauders to enter the chamber and slaughter us at will.

Once the toxins dissipate, of course. They'll have to wait for that.” He rubbed his thumb under his chin.

“Unless they have proper face masks. Then the slaughtering will be fairly quick.”

I glared at Reid as the smoke continued to spew.

So much for plenty of time!

Bowen barked the first order, shouting over his shoulder as he darted between the statues. “Search for another way out! Check for hidden panels or strange levers!”

Gavin followed, and together, they heaved against a sarcophagus, likely hoping to uncover a hatch beneath it. Reid joined their search, scanning the altar and muttering to himself, while Cass and I split off toward the perimeter.

The smoke billowed, rising against the low ceiling before diffusing into the thick, stagnant air.

I yanked the collar of my tunic over my nose, coughing into the fabric as I pressed it against my face.

A wave of dizziness crashed through me, and black spots danced at the edges of my vision.

Disoriented, I dragged my hands along the stone wall, feeling my way around the chamber.

“Wait!” Cass grabbed my arm. “Reid was being a jerk about the water. But he was on to something. Look!” She pointed to the vines clinging to a chipped pillar. “I recognize those. In my plant enthusiast circles, they’re called greedy little water suckers.”

“Seriously?” I coughed, bending at the waist. “That seems oddly specific.”

“Well, yeah. I’m still testing out a name. They’ll probably get saddled with some long, unpronounceable title, when mine is clearly more accurate.” She huffed, brushing loose hair from her face. “One of these days, I’ll be famous enough to name my own plant species. Then no one will question it.”

“Cass!”

“Right! Poisonous smoke. Point is, they need a water source. And judging by how overgrown this place is, it has to be steady. If water can come in, it can also go out.”

Cass was right. I'd noticed the sweltering humidity when we entered the chamber. I scanned the floor, following the vines until they led to a massive swath climbing the far wall. It was dense and covered in blooms like an organic tapestry.

“Over there!”

We sprinted to the wall, clawing at the vines. The tangled mass held firm, forcing us to draw our knives and hack through it.

Our movements were shaky, our breaths ragged as we tried not to inhale more smoke. But it was impossible. Each step toward the wall felt like a net cinching tighter. The vines snagged my clothes and twisted around my feet.

Finally, on the other side, we found a thin sheet of water pouring down the wall. Behind the cascade was a dark chute coated in algae. The flow ran steadily into the tunnel's mouth and vanished into the depths.

“We found a way out!” Cass shouted over her shoulder. “But it’s a risk. We don’t know where it leads.”

“It can’t be worse than staying here!” Gavin abandoned the statues and raced toward the chute.

“Unless it’s blocked. Or spits us into a pit of bubbling lava. It’s so hot in here.” I coughed into my sleeve, cursing as the heated air thickened into a toxic haze. “Feels like we’re on the edge of a volcano.”

Gavin dropped a steady hand onto my shoulder as the wall of vines swam in my vision. “I thought you were an optimist.”

I choked out a laugh. “I am being optimistic. Can’t you tell?”

“We don’t have another choice.” Bowen stepped forward, squaring his shoulders.

His gaze passed over us one by one. “This is the best crew I’ve ever worked with.

You’re smart. You’re experienced.” He coughed into his arm.

“And you squabble like feral cats, but you care about each other. That’s impossible to find in our line of work. It’s been a privilege to lead you.”

Gavin scraped a hand over his jaw. “Don’t get sappy on us now, Bowen. That means you think we’re dead.”

Bowen gave a hoarse chuckle. “We’re not dead yet. I got us into this mess, so I’ll go first. I don’t know what’s at the end of the chute... But I have to believe we’ll make it. We’ve come this far.”

He reached his hand into the center of our group.

I swallowed, my throat burning, and exhaled a shaky breath, hoping it wouldn’t be one of my last. I thrust my hand on top of his. Cass followed, then Gavin. Finally, Reid.

“See you all at the bottom.”

My eyes watered from his speech as much as the smoke as Bowen climbed into the chute.

With a firm nod, he released his grip and vanished.

Reid was next, hesitating in the mouth of the tunnel like he was calculating the odds.

Cass got in line behind him. There was a little time before it was my turn, and I still had something I needed to do.

Burying my mouth in the crook of my elbow, I ran to the altar and dug into the satchel at my waist. The room winked in and out of focus, but I forced myself to finish what I’d started.

A few more seconds wouldn’t hurt when I was likely dead either way.

Removing the sea glass from my pouch, I placed it on the altar.

I closed my eyes, remembering my father’s smiling face as he plucked me out of the sand to carry me on his shoulders as we strolled the shoreline.

It was so long ago, yet the gulls sang in my ears and the waves crashed against the sand.

Gavin’s shout forced my eyes open. “Come on, Marin! You’re next. The Slippery Chute of Probable Doom waits for no one.”

“Go ahead! I’m almost done.”

My palm covered the glass as I whispered the blessing. I didn't know if the words truly did anything, but the glass always warmed beneath my hand. It flashed a beam of light, and I smiled, believing the offering had been accepted.

I spun on my heel and staggered toward the chute. It was impossible to see. I breathed through the fabric of my shirt, my mind going fuzzy with each step until I wasn’t sure I was moving anymore.

My knees buckled.

“I’ve got you, Mare.” Gavin’s voice cut through the fog as his arm circled my waist to keep me from landing in the dirt.

“I told you to go!” I shouted, my lungs spasming from the smoke. But I gripped him tighter, grateful he hadn't, and somehow knowing I was foolish to think he would.

Gavin didn’t respond, dragging me closer to the chute. He deposited me at the entrance and helped me climb onto the ledge, then kept a firm hand on my shoulder.

A patch of slimy algae rested under my legs, and a watery mist sprayed into my eyes. Fear, and something that felt a lot like regret, twisted in my stomach. Neither of us played the game; the unspoken words “ if I die” were lodged like a rock inside my throat.

Gavin hesitated, almost as if he had second thoughts about letting go.

“Never say I won’t let you go first.” He squeezed my shoulder and lifted his hand. “I’m right behind you.”

I closed my eyes as I slid forward. Not that it would have mattered, the chute was pitch dark.

My stomach clenched as the angle of the slide intensified, shooting me through the tunnel with terrifying speed.

Water sloshed around me, soaking through my clothes and hair.

The tunnel curved around a bend, followed by another sharp dip.

Then, before I could get my bearings, I was in free fall.

Air rushed past my face, a scream building in my throat until I plunged, feet first, into a deep pool.

Bubbles swirled around my body as I kicked toward the surface. I broke through, gulping in a deep breath, and nearly choked on the steam rising from the pool.

Gavin’s wish had come true. Instead of a pit of razor-tipped spikes, we’d landed in a hot spring.

I laughed, hardly able to believe our luck.

Tilting my head back, I let myself float and found the moon high overhead, bathing the steam-filled grotto in silver.

The scene was beautiful. It was a sultry paradise at the base of the mountain, surrounded on the other side by a jungle full of moss-draped trees and lush ferns.

Gavin was going to love this.

Except when I turned in a full circle, water sloshing around my shoulders, he wasn’t there.

Cass and Reid were playfully splashing each other as they swam toward the shore. Cass got the upper hand and dunked Reid, shouting, “That’s for calling me a plant princess!”

He must have grabbed her foot because she went under next, and they both came up sputtering and grinning like fools.

“Do you see Gavin?” I shouted to Bowen, who stood on a rocky outcropping.

His gaze was fixed on the chute. The world narrowed to one sharp breath as ice spread through my limbs. The seconds stretched, and my heart thumped painfully in my chest. Gavin hadn’t come through. But he’d been there… right behind me.

“We have to do something. We have to help him!” Panic rising, I swirled in the water as if the answer lay in the grotto and not above.

Cass and Reid trudged out of the pool, their laughter fading as they joined Bowen on the rock. A grim silence doused the charm of the grotto as we waited.

And waited.

One minute, into two.

Bowen dropped his head, and Cass gripped Reid’s hand as she pressed her dripping forearm against her trembling lips.

No!

Tears pricked my eyes, and something inside my chest squeezed so hard, I thought it might crack in half.

I couldn't breathe. My thoughts whirled, chaos and denial battling it out, until the tears blurred my vision, and all I wanted to do was sink to the bottom of the pool.

My heart was so heavy, I feared I might.

We have to help. Gavin can’t be gone. I can’t—

A figure dropped into the pool, sinking like a stone, before exploding from the surface. Gavin slicked back his hair, shaking the water from his face as he let out a deep-throated laugh.

“A hot spring?” He batted away the steam, his gaze locking on me as I tread water a few feet away. “You didn’t believe me, but I told you it could happen!”

My breath trembled on an inhale, and I launched myself at him, wrapping my legs around his waist, arms tight around his neck until we nearly sank.

“Whoa, what’s this?” Gavin anchored me, treading water for both of us. “Not that I’m complaining, but—”

“I thought you were dead!” I sniffed and concealed a sob against his shoulder that threatened to burst through like a dam breaking.

“Are you crying?”

“No!” I snapped. “The steam is making my eyes water.”

He chuckled softly, brushing wet hair from my temple.

“I’m not dead, just delayed.” His voice lowered as he shared his secret.

“Don’t tell the others, but I got tangled in a vine and nearly blacked out.

When they ask, though, I'm going to say a masked marauder broke inside, and I had to fight him off with my bare hands. ”

“Wow, Gav. That’s so heroic,” I said, my sarcasm hiding the riveted way I drank in his face, the life in his eyes, and the way he felt molded against my body.

His grin made my pulse jump. “I know. Make sure to put that in your book.”

“You shouldn’t have waited for me,” I whispered.

His grip tightened, and his jaw tensed, the muscles ticking in his throat. “You shouldn’t have asked me to go.”

Steam swirled around us, thickening the air to create a shimmering curtain of heat. The rest of the grotto faded. Water lapped around our shoulders. Moonlight glinted on the rippling surface, turning Gavin’s hair silver.

He splayed his hand across my back, holding me in place as he kept us both above the surface. Our breaths mingled, and when his heavy-lidded gaze dropped to my mouth, I stopped breathing altogether.

“Are the two of you done playing in the grotto?” Bowen shouted, his voice echoing off the rocks.

“Since we’re all alive, I want to stay that way.

Remember the marauders? You know, the guys with machetes and a thirst for vengeance?

Let’s put some distance between us and the chute before they catch up. ”

Right. Escape first. Acting on my rioting emotions—never.

Gavin groaned as I disentangled myself from his arms. “I swear, if the marauders don’t get that man, I might.”

I splashed a stream of bubbling water in his face, still trying to recover from the emotional whiplash.

“He has a point, though. At least we made it out with the treasure and our lives. Plus, you still have your embellished story of survival to tell the others.”

“That’s right.” Gavin winked, following me toward the water’s edge. “It’s going to be smooth sailing from here.”