“Not far. I’m just always prepared.” She strides ahead of me. “This way.”
We climb a craggy rise and emerge at the top with a perfect view of the lagoon. Once again, I’m floored by the violet water. It’s a deeper purple in some parts, and bright lilac where the sun touches it. That same sun warms my face as I gaze down at the lagoon. It’s like something out of an Old Era fairy tale.
“Come on, let’s go,” she says. “The water’s like a hot bath. You need to run your hand through it.”
I hesitate, because at least sixty percent of me still doesn’t trust this gesture of hers.
“I always fill a little vial of it for my son,” Evlynne explains. “He thinks it’s magic, too.” She gestures for me to go first. “I’m right behind you. There’s not enough room for two on this path.”
She’s not wrong. I can barely squeeze my way down. I’m halfway to the water when I realize the only footsteps I’m hearing are my own.
Evlynne isn’t behind me.
I spin around, staring at the empty path. “Evlynne?” I call out.
No response.
Fuck.
I start running, kicking up pebbles as I scramble back to the top of the hill. I hear the hum of helicopter rotors and tip my head back in time to see Evlynne flying away. The rotors stir up clouds of dirt and grass as she makes her escape, leaving me alone on the ridge.
“Evlynne!” I shout at the sky,trembling with anger.
The bitch stranded me.
I got played.
Chapter 31
“Evlynne!”
I shout her name again, but the engine drowns out my voice. When I switch to telepathy, I’m almost surprised when she lets me link.
“What the fuck! Get back here!”I scream into her mind.
“Sorry, got called back to base.”
“Get back here, you bitch.”
“No need to be nasty,”she mocks.
“What is this? Payback because your friends are warming up to me and Xavier? This is beyond juvenile, Evlynne.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not a bad hike down. You could probably do it in half a day, make it back before nightfall. Oh, and I left you a little present to help you on your journey. You’re welcome.”
Her glee is fucking obnoxious. I want to punch her in the goddamn throat.
“Come. Back. Here.”I’m so mad, spitting mad, that I can barely get the words out.
The helicopter grows smaller and smaller in the distance, and for a moment I wish I had my rifle so I could try to shoot it out of the fucking sky—
No, I realize. I can’t shoot it. But thereissomething I can do.
In a desperate mental scramble, I harness the gold as fast as I can. It’s second nature now. The next step is where I run into trouble, especially now, when my emotions are volatile and burning like jet fuel through my blood. I’m not guiding the current. I’m acting like a sledgehammer again, something Hawkins always warns me against.
“Turn around,” I command between gritted teeth, but just when I feel myself slipping into Evlynne’s mind, the leash I’m trying to create between us snaps like a rubber band.
I’m frustrated as the chopper fades from my view, disappearing into the clouds. Hawkins said it’s impossible to incite remotely, and I can’t reestablish the link unless we’re sharing the same space.
