Page 69 of Wonder

He turns the corner as I nearly run into him. Face pale, he gestures around us. “Bet whoever came up with this is fun at parties. You alright?”

The screaming begins to quiet.

I nod, wiping at the sweat on my forehead. “Did they put anything in with you?”

He grimaces as we both turn, walking up in a new direction. “Spiders. You?”

“Rats,” I mutter darkly.

The asshole actually snorts. “They can’t be as bad as the ones we found in the kitchen that time—,”

“I don’t want to talk about that, thanks.”

He whistles. “Those red eyes. And that fucking massive onereallyliked you.”

“Shut up.” I shove him. “Have you seen anyone else?”

Aiden shakes his head. “I thought I heard Buck shouting, but I couldn’t find him. Must’ve been on another path.”

Sighing, I roll my shoulders back. “Let’s keep looking.”

“What if they decide to take out some of the competition?”

I’ve already considered it. “I doubt Alyss would be happy if they did.”

Not when she risked herself to save my life less than twenty-four hours ago. “Still. We’ll be cautious.”

I’m not too concerned about them trying to kill us. We’re more than capable of holding our own if they tried.

I wouldn’t mind running into Bruce though.

A couple of rats run past us as we make our way down another identical passage. I stop, ignoring Aiden’s amused snort. “There’s something up there.”

Ahead of us, something on the ground glints in a low light. Aiden tilts his head. “Water?”

He moves to step forward, but I grab his arm. “You seen any rain?”

It covers the whole passage; a dark, shimmering pool. Gingerly, we move closer.

Another rat runs past us. “Look.”

We watch as the rat scurries away, up toward that pool. It stops, before turning and darting into the hedge.

As we come closer, I grimace. “I don’t think that’s a normal fucking puddle.”

Aiden points, and I strain my eyes, barely making out the electrical wires at the side that lean into it. “Think you’re right.”

Sighing, I step back. “We’ll have to go around.”

Behind us, a noise sounds. We both turn to look, staring down the passage.

“Fuck,” Aiden hisses. “Is that wallmoving?”

I fucking hate mazes. The wall of green moves toward us, eating up the space and cutting off our exit route. “It’s going to push us into the damn water!”

Death by electrocution is not one I would choose. Aiden moves to the side, shoving his hand into the hedging and tugging. “We climb. Get past that way.”

The wall is moving faster. “Go!”