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Trace grunted, throwing his arm out and pushing on Merrick as hard as he could. “It’s the light! It’s a physical force! You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?”
My gaze shifted toward Lachlan, and I almost felt bad. I would’ve thought he’d have the easiest time getting through this challenge, since he was undoubtedly the biggest and strongest of the group. But his size also gave the resistance in the air more to push against, and he seemed even more stuck than the rest of us.
I maneuvered my body so I was almost facing sideways, trying to make myself as thin as possible as I pressed forward.
Motherfucker.
This was ridiculous. The final sprint to the finish line was being done at a snail’s pace.
Trace was trying to use magic to help him go faster, throwing out ropes that latched onto tree trunks ahead of him and using that to pull himself through the resistance in the air. But it seemed to be only partially effective, since his ropes were hampered by whatever magic infused the air too.
Several yards from me, Lachlan had totally ripped off my idea, squeezing sideways like he had when we navigated the narrow tunnel after the cave collapse.
“Cheater!” I called out.
His gaze flicked to me, a grin spreading across his face as he forced his way through the thick air. “Sorry, sweetheart. It’s not cheatin’ to recognize brilliance when I see it.”
Well, when he put it that way…
He was still a dirty cheater, but it was a lot harder to stay mad at him.
“Godsdamn you! I’m gonna be so pissed if you get there before me!”
He chuckled, jerking his chin toward something over my shoulder. “I’d worry more about that fuckhead.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Merrick sneaking up alongside me. He was too far away for me to reach, and I couldn’t afford to waste precious time or energy trying to knock him over or anything. He was using his magic as a sort of shield, pushing it through the thick air ahead of him and clearing a path. It didn’t allow him to go very fast, but at the pace we were moving, a little speed went a long way.
Merrick laughed as I cursed under my breath.
Every muscle in my body burned as we forced our way forward. I was vaguely aware of the sounds of Brielle and Shane behind us—they must’ve recovered from the stunning blows.
So… close.
I could see another shimmering veil ahead of us, like the one we’d passed through earlier. And beyond that, in a clearing, a gem the size of a plum hovered at chest height. The light seemed to be radiating from it, bathing everything around it in a brilliant glow.
My breath heaved in my lungs, and when I finally forced my way through the second barrier, I almost fell over as the resistance in front of me suddenly evaporated.
But I was free.
I could move.
I took off at a dead run, sprinting side by side with Merrick. He glanced over at me, measuring the distance between us, measuring which one of us was closer.
He was.
His longer legs had given him the advantage, and he was nearly a foot ahead of me as we neared the gem, which hung suspended at the core of the radiating light.
Dammit! I hurled myself forward.
He thrust his arm out at the same time I did, his fingertips just centimeters further than mine.
But instead of closing around the gem, his hand closed around empty space.
And my fingers curled around the cool, hard stone.
I dug my feet into the dirt as I gripped the gem, shock radiating through me. But before I could fully register what’d just happened, I felt an intense tug pulling me forward, as if the gem itself were hurling me toward space.
A portal sucked me in, spinning me about wildly in the mid-plane before dumping me onto hard-packed earth with a thud.
