If he turned back, he wouldn’t get the chance to face whatever this was again. And he suspected this was the key to defeating this trial. If he turned back, it was only a matter of time before he became nothing more than a skeleton, dragging itself across the earth in search of escape.
The bones he’d glimpsed before weren’t an illusion created by a mind rotting from the sun.Thatwas what would become of him if he ran from this sea of sand.
How many dark fae are out there, crawling through the desert, dead but still living an existence far worse than death?
It wasn’t a question he wanted an answer to, and it was a fate he wouldn’t allow to befall him, no matter how thirsty, exhausted, burnt, and pain-filled he was.
The waves were only a hundred yards away now and rising higher before crashing into the sand. The earth quaked more violently, and the shrieking noise drowned out all other sounds.
Cole gathered what little strength remained and ran toward the waves.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The first waveof sand threw him off his feet when it hit him. However, the crushing impact that knocked the wind out of him and cracked a rib was not only filled with pain; it was also welcome.
The pain meant it wasreal.
And if it was real, then maybe it meant he was coming to the end of this trial. And even if it meant death, he would meet the end of this place head-on.
He landed on his ass, and sand plowed up around him as he skidded across it. Before he could regain his feet, a wave buried him. As more waves descended over him, they rolled him and battered him until his bones ached.
Desperate to break out from beneath the punishing weight of the sand, he clawed at it as he sought to break free. Sand burrowed its way into his cracked flesh and dug into him like a mole burrowing into the earth.
It shredded the skin from his body, stripped him to the muscle, and exposed his nerve endings. It worked its way into those endings until every one of them was covered and rubbed at by sand.
Then, from the endless sea of golden brown, a skeletal face emerged. Unlike the skeletons in the tunnel, this one was very much alive as its teeth nearly took off the tip of his nose before the sand tore them apart.
Cole strained to see anything beyond the endless brown, but it was impossible. When another wave crashed over him, he had to close his eyes or risk losing them.
Sand clogged his nostrils and choked his mouth until it shoved its way down his throat. Deprived of oxygen, his lungs burned, but he resisted inhaling until it became impossible to fight the instinct.
With an inhalation that he knew wouldn’t bring any relief but he was unable to stop, he drew sand into his lungs until they felt like balloons about to burst from being stuffed so full.
Despite his inability to breathe, he continued to claw his way toward the surface while the sand worked to bury him. He could only hope he was digging in the right direction and wasn’t working his waydeeperinto the earth.
Using his ability to manipulate the Earth, he pushed the sand away from his palms the best he could, but as he moved it away, more took its place. The relentless weight of it was close to crushing him beneath its punishing onslaught.
Something grabbed his ankle. He almost looked down to see it, but doing so would be completely useless. Until he was free of this mess, he wouldn’t see again.
Judging by the feel of it, one of those skeletal things held his ankle. The waves had caught those things up with him, and they would do everything they could to make sure he didn’t survive.
Cole kicked at the hand digging into his ankle and managed to knock it away as another set of fingers started clawing at his back. Those fingers entangled in his hair and drew his head back. Before he could stop it, teeth sank into his shoulder.
Clenching his jaw against his increasing agony and growing urge to pass out from lack of oxygen, Cole ignored the creature gnawing on him as he struggled toward the surface. He’d had enough of this place, these things, and all thefuckingsand.
Herefusedto die in this place or to have one of thesethingsbring him down. He would not fail here. Between Lexi and his determination to bring the Lord down, he had far too much to live for.
With renewed vigor, he clawed, kicked, and swam his way toward the surface as he continued to use his powers to shove the sand away from him. Just when he was sure hewasdigging his way deeper into the sand instead of out, his hand broke the surface.
For a second, he couldn’t believe it was real, but as his hand twisted above the sea of sand, the sun warmed his fingers. Cole shoved his other hand through and rested his palms on the surface.
With a mighty heave, he pulled himself free of the crushing sand. It poured off his head and fell around him as he collapsed onto the ground and tried to gasp in air. Though sand poured from his mouth, no air passed his lips.
As if he didn’t have enough things keeping him from breathing, bony arms encircled his neck and squeezed. The bones dug into his tendons, but there was no air to choke from him.
Another wave of sand smashed into him, and he toppled back onto the skeletal being. When its teeth clamped harder onto his shoulder, it released a strange, guttural cry that his muscles muffled. Lying on his back, Cole cracked an eye open to discover a wave of sand cresting over him again.
No!
