“Now, believe it.”
She wanted to believe Mariana—after all, here was someone who had seen her fully, at her lowest low.Maybe I can believe, she thought.At least a little.“If we survive this...,” Claire began.
“Don’t say ‘if,’” Mariana said.
But Claire said, “Ifwe survive this... how do you think it’ll change us?” She knew that was thinking ahead too much, but she couldn’t help worrying about it. Now that theyknewpure evil existed and the dead could walk, what was this going to do to her nightmares? How was she going to move forward, knowing that such things existed in the world?
They maneuvered the engine around a tree and over a fallen log before Mariana answered. “I don’t think it will. Not inessence. I think it will just make usmoreof who we are—which, as I said and you said, like, a minute ago, is awesome and amazing. And you should say ‘whenwe survive’ because I’m not giving up on us, ever.”
Before Claire could come to any conclusion about how any of that made her feel, they’d reached the cave. They laid the engine down and shook out their arms. She stretched her arms across her chest.
“So how do we set it off?” Claire asked.
“Just like a lawn mower. You pull the starter cord, and it’ll work,” Mariana said. “The vapor should build up on its own. With an engine this old and with no water to cool it... it should be quick, but as I said, I have no idea. And I should warn you that it’s entirely possible it won’t explode at all.”
“It will explode,” Claire said.
“You sound unusually certain.”
Itwasunusual of her to feel so certain. But... Mariana had rigged the engine. “You did it. I trust you.” Claire didn’t have an explanation beyond that.
Mariana took Claire’s hand, laced her fingers in hers, and squeezed. “All my life... everyone’s underestimated me. My parents. Teachers. Even friends and cousins. They haven’tseenme. But you trust me with your life.”
Claire squeezed back. “You’re trusting me with yours.”
“Absolutely.”
Once they’d positioned the engine near the mouth of the cave, they piled loose branches on top of it to obscure it from view.“Ready to trick the Devil?” Mariana asked.
Claire peered into the hole. “I imagine that’s not a sentence you ever thought you’d say.”
“Nope.” She handed Claire the spool of wire. “But then I didn’t know what to expect from this summer. Couldn’t have predicted that I’d meet you and Reyva. You know, I think on the whole that balances out a confrontation with ancient evil.”
“Does it, though?”
Mariana grinned. “Well, almost.” Then her grin faded. “I hope she’s okay.”
“Me too,” Claire said.
Both of them gazed at the forest around them. Claire wondered if Reyva was still trailing the dead man or if he was chasing her. And she wondered if Jack was okay, hidden in the alcove. She didn’t think the dead man had found him, but that didn’t mean he was safe.
Better do this quick, Claire thought.She won’t be able to run forever.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Claire unspooled the wire and took out her Swiss Army knife. Trying not to think about Reyva or the dead man or anything but the task at hand, she measured out lengths of wire and made slipknots the way that Jack had taught her.
She listened and was reassured to hear birds singing in the trees. Surely if Reyva and the dead man were near, they’d quiet.We have time, she thought.We can do this. If we’re fast.
As Claire worked, Mariana began trying to obscure their tracks around the cave. It wasn’t possible, though, to unbreakbranches or uncrumple ferns. Without looking up from her wire, Claire said, “It’s okay if we’ve left a trail. He’s supposed to know I’m down in the cave.”
“You sure?” Mariana asked.
She wasn’t sure, but she did know that Reyva was out there, risking herself for them with every second, and they had no idea how much time they had left. Not much, she suspected. She needed to set the snares, and Mariana needed to hide. “I’m sure,” Claire lied.
Mariana stared at her for a moment before saying, “You have a tell when you lie.”
She hadn’t known that. Did she blink? Or dart her eyes sideways? “What’s my tell?”
“You say words that I know Claire would never say,” Mariana said. “Like ‘I’m sure.’ Or ‘I’m not worried.’ Or ‘It’ll all be fine.’”
