Page 101 of Moon Chosen

“All right, everyone ready to move on?” Sheena called.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Wilkes said.

Nik bent to his paddle and readied himself as the Steel Bridge loomed before them. It was the bridge that had survived the most fully intact. The only section that was entirely missing was from the center of the thing. Its two towers had fallen sideways, severing one side of it from the other so that dark water lapped around black metal trusses, looking like a diabolical mouth missing front teeth. It made Nik’s skin shiver, but it was the safest bridge to pass, as all he had to do was to keep the kayak centered in the middle of those missing teeth, and they glided easily by the sucking run-offs.

Too soon afterward, they approached the next bridge. It had been near the ruins of the railroad and the building that ten winters before had provided such a wealth of loot that the Tribe still told stories about it. This bridge was completely gone, leaving only thick, square columns of stone above the water, though Nik knew that below were steel girders waiting to hook anything that dared to trespass too far beneath the lapping surface. As they passed between two of the enormous columns and entered the part of the river that was choked by the rusted bodies of ships, Nik felt a prickling of the flesh up and down his spine, as if behind him were the stone guardians of a watery graveyard, waiting only for one small misstep on his part to close and seal their escape route.

Only one remaining bridge still had life above the water—and Nik’s gaze, as if on its own, turned upward to the towers that jutted more than one hundred feet above the river. Attached to the towers were thick steel cables—some had snapped, twisted, and half fallen with the center of the bridge, giving the thing the macabre but graceful look of the skeletal ribs of a dancer who had collapsed centuries before after one too many failed pirouettes.

“Strange that this one’s still white, isn’t it?” Crystal spoke in a hushed voice, as if she was afraid of waking the dead.

“It always looks like bones to me,” Sheena said.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Nik agreed.

“The run-off for this one isn’t too bad, but stay sharp. Just around this next bend is the last bridge and then we get to the site of the find,” Sheena said. “And even though there’s next to nothing much left of the bridge, the run-off is almost as bad as the Triangle. Don’t let the curve of the river draw us too near the bank or we’ll be sucked in.”

“Did you hear that, Wilkes?” Crystal called.

“Got it!” Wilkes replied. “We’re right behind you.”

Nik ignored everything except Sheena’s directions, so he was surprised when Crystal turned around and, with laughing eyes, said, “Okay, okay, we’re past all of it now. You’re going to paddle us all the way to the falls if you don’t slow down.”

“Oh, sorry,” Nik said, trying to relax his white-knuckled grip.

“There! Can you see it?” Crystal called, pointing at a place just above the west bank.

Everyone’s gaze followed Crystal’s finger. Nik spotted the opening easily, but only because there was a flash of brightness that caught his eyes. Once he’d gotten a fix on the glinting light, he could see that it appeared that the vines had imploded, leaving a dark pit in the greenery.

Like a grave, Nik thought, and the crawling beneath his skin returned.

“Nik,” Sheena said, gesturing to the western bank of the river. What wasn’t covered with water-loving scrub and choking vines was rocky and littered with tree debris. “Do you see where those reeds and cattails start?”

“Yeah, I see them.”

“Beach us close to them. The way up to the find is near there.”

Nik propelled them there swiftly. Though he had no desire to crawl into the hole the others were so eager to explore, he did look forward to getting off the river, even if only for a short reprieve. The other five kayaks slid into place beside them, and the canines jumped eagerly off their mats, fully awake and obviously as happy as Nik to be on firm ground again.

“Sheena, good job getting us here safely,” Wilkes said. “When we get back I’m going to propose to the Council that your and Crystal’s nest be the first one built.”

“And I think it should be a two-story nest,” Monroe added. “Especially if your Captain and Grace are going to continue to gift the Tribe with litters.”

Crystal gave a girlish squeal and hugged Sheena, who grinned happily. “We don’t expect that—we’re just doing our part for the Tribe, like the rest of you,” Sheena said.

“But we’ll take the two-story nest!” Crystal added quickly, causing the group to laugh.

“Well, then, let’s get what we need and go home!” Wilkes said. “Weapons up. Especially you, Nik.” He tossed Nik an additional quiver filled with crossbow arrows. “I want everyone else to carry towing ropes. Nik, you keep that bow aimed and those sharp eyes open. Remember, even though Skin Stealers live farther inside the ruins, they do come to the river to fish and forage. Stay alert unless you want one of them to be wearing your skin suit.”

Crystal shuddered delicately. “Just thinking about them disgusts me.”

“Did you see any of them while you and Sheena were on recon?” Nik asked her.

“No, thank the blessed Sun.”

Nik narrowed his eyes and stared up at the hulking clumps of green that rose like gigantic burial mounds, covering the ruined remnants of what once had been tall buildings all along the waterfront.

“Wilkes, did any of you see sign of Skin Stealers when you were heading here?” Nik said, rubbing his forearm where his flesh was prickling like a frigid breeze had just blown across it.