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“I don’t see how we can get much more careful than we already are,” Marco said. “Whatever comes, we’ll handle it, princess. She shouldn’t have had to come up herealone.”
No, she shouldn’t have. I bit my lip, but I forced myself to keep walking. The sooner we got to the end of this journey, the sooner I’d know what had happened to her. At least, I sure hoped so. If all it led to was another clue to follow, my dragon fire might come out infrustration.
That end might be coming up even sooner than I’d guessed. The light caught on a bend in the passage. As we came around it, the tug inside me yanked even harder than before. I stumbled, losing my breath. The second I caught my balance, my feet darted forward across the uneven ground, as if pulled from my control. I knew I could rein them in if I’d wanted to—but I didn’treally.
“We’re almost there. It has to be close now,” Isaid.
The guys picked up their pace too. Light twinkled above us. I glanced up, thinking we must have come under another crevice to the outside world. Instead I saw crystalline stalactites glinting overhead, reflecting the artificial glow. A faint vibration emanated off them, quivering into my skin. Making me even moreenergized.
Almost there. Almostthere.
I adjusted my pack’s straps on my shoulders and pushed myself into a lope. That pull was reeling me in as if I were a fish on a line, but I was totally okay with that. I was ready for this trek to bedone.
So it was my fault, really, that I was at the head of our procession at that moment. My fault that it was my feet the ground trembled under. I slowed as an eerie creaking sound resounded through the cave. The rock beneath my feet felt suddenly insubstantial, as if I’d stepped out onto a thinly frozenlake.
And then it cracked, exactly like the ice I’d just beenpicturing.
The ground fractured and started to fall away. My shifter reflexes kicked in not a second too soon. I threw myselfforward.
The creaking rose into a full-bodied groan that reverberated through the cave. The pack dragged at my shoulders. Each time my feet hit the ground, the rock kept crumbling. I scrambled on. There was nothing I could do but run and hope I found a solid spot before I felltoo.
My foot slipped, and I nearly crashed onto my knees. With a yelp, I heaved my body through the air as far as I could manage. I stumbled, caught my balance—and realized the ground hadsteadied.
“Ren!” someone shouted behind me, and someone else said, “She’s okay, let her get her bearings.” I turned cautiously, not quite trusting the stone beneath me yet. My jaw wentslack.
Between me and my alphas, some ten feet of the cave floor had dropped away into a jagged chasm. I was standing just a couple feet from itsedge.
I crept closer to peer into its depths. Nothing but darkness showed below. It was so deep I hadn’t even heard the clatter of the crumbling rock hitting thebottom.
I’dalmost hit that bottom. My stomach knotted. If I’d reacted anyslower...
“Are you all right, Ren?” Nate called tome.
I nodded, still lost forwords.
Marco gave an exasperated chuckle. “Because we really needed more excitement on this trip. All right, I’m not jumping thatwithluggage. Good thing we didn’t pack anythingbreakable.”
He shrugged off his pack and tossed it over the chasm. It landed with a thump. The other guys followed suit. I thought they might strip down to take the leap in their animals forms—possibly I was looking forward to that view—but I guessed shifter strength made the jump not too much of a challenge even in human bodies. Two at a time, they took a running start and sprang across thechasm.
Nate’s brawny body hit the ground near me with a thud, and one last creak carried through the cave. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I studied the edges of the chasm in the dim light as the guys dusted themselvesoff.
“How did that even happen?” I said. “It doesn’t make sense. A big gap like this wouldn’t justappearwith a tiny bit of rock over top. It’s almost like itwas...”
“A trap?” West filled in. “How long did it take you to figure that out,Sparks?”
I glared at him, but Aaron spoke up before my tongue got away from me. “It was definitely purposefully constructed. You said you could feel we’re almost at the place your mother wanted you to reach, Serenity. A place that holds some kind of important power. It’s possible there’s magic protecting that place and the ‘trap’ was meant as a test of worthiness ordetermination.”
“Or it’s possible we’ve got some magical ‘friends’ unhappy we didn’t die of poison,” Marco said. “I’m starting to come around to wolf boy’s point of view, as much as it pains me to admitthat.”
“Is there any way to tell what kind of magic was used?” I asked. Fae orotherwise.
Aaron shook his head. “It would have been beneath the layer of rock, holding it in place. So it fell away at the same time.” He glanced at me. “But we made it past. You kept your head and got yourself out of there. Whatever power your mother wanted you to have, no one’s going to stop you from getting to it, arethey?”
“No,” I said with a fresh burst of resolve. “So let’s get a move on before we have to deal with anythingworse.”
Chapter 9
Nate
