I don’t argue. I close my eyes.
The fire crackles softly.
Jax’s heartbeat is steady against mine in my chest.
Right as sleep claims me, the forest falls silent again.
But I’m already too far gone to wake.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
PHOENIX
The sound of rushing water wakes me.
My head is heavy as I blink my eyes open to see a few patches of blue sky visible through the foliage above me.
I push myself up on my elbows. I’m alone in the furs. The fire next to the furs has died long ago. Jax is not in the camp.
Immediately, I’m alert. I toss the furs off me and rise. When I see Luna and Midnight right where we left them for the night, some of the pressure in my chest eases.
I look around the camp. Jax’s stuff is still here.
“Jax?” I call.
The thick forest and looming waterfall soaks in the word. I approach the water. It’s just as dark as it was last night, and the surface doesn’t ripple as it should. I lean forward. How’s that possible?
That’s when the forest goes silent.
A shiver goes down my back.
As I slowly draw my blades, I reach for Jax through our bond. The connection is there, but it’s…blurry. The moment I try and open the door, it fizzles out into something I can’t grasp.
Immediately, my heart thunders. I can’t sense Jax’s heartbeat.
Oh gods. How’s this possible?
He’s not dead. I don’t know how I know it, but I know he’s alive.
“Jax!” I call again, louder.
Nothing but the looming silence and the rushing water behind me.
Desperate, I do something I usually avoid. I reach for Lorca.
What’s going on here? Do you know?I ask the trickster god.
Silence.
I scoff to myself. The one time I need an answer, Lorca is silent! They loom at the very back of my mind, but refuse to engage.
Well, I guess I’m on my own here. Like always.
From the corner of my eye, there’s movement. My head whips to the side right as a dark figure disappears behind a tree.
Before I know it, my feet are moving and I’m following after them.
Low branches whip at my face, old roots clinging to my feet with each step as I rush after the dark figure.
