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I’m sure my legs are actually shaking. Sweat is beading on my back. I’m not brave. I’m weak and scared.
“Julie, you can do this.”
I close my eyes, but that only makes me feel dizzy, like I’m going to tip off the path. I grab at the rock face and shake my head. There has to be another way. Can’t he turn around and put his front to the rocks?
Tears flood my eyes so I can’t see anything, then they trickle over my cheeks.
Michael growls like he’s pissed that I can’t do the simplest of things, which only makes me cry harder.
“Julie.” Despite the growl, his voice is gentle. His hand squeezes mine. “You are the bravest person I know. No one else would make deals with monsters and hold on to hope like you. This is just a little path, up a little hill. Tail is at the top, and the view will be amazing. You’ll be able to see where we are heading.” He keeps talking in that soft, gravelly voice.
He’s making shit up. All I’ve been doing is trying to survive. Getting home is something different. Something much harder. I’m failing at the first climb, and there is a much worse one to go.
I sniff, but I’m doing that whole ugly cry thing. My eyes will be puffy and red, making me look even more of a mess. This is madness. I’m not going to be able to do it. I’ll end up turning into a monster and forgetting who I am.
Michael’s grip on my hand tightens, and he pulls me close. I think for a moment he means to hug me, then his other hand is on my waist, and he yanks me around to the other side.
I let out a yelp as for a moment I’m dangling in the air. The robe flutters around me and I feel the notebook slide out of the pocket.
No!But all that comes out is a bark.
Then my feet are on the path and I’m safe. Below us the notebook bounces down the rocks. Michael swears. And all I can do is watch with my mouth open in horror. It might have revealed nothing about Under, but it might have helped me get to know Tail better.
Then the notebook stops as though suspended in midair and is skewered on a very long claw. Talon.
I draw in a shaky breath.
Michael exhales. “Nice catch.”
“Be glad it was only the book and not Julie,” Talon calls.
I put my hand over my heart and for a moment I can feel his claws sink through me, killing me, as he tries to save me. I’m not sure which is worse, bleeding out in his arms, or cracking my skull.
Michael swaps hands so he still has hold of me. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
I glare at him, not that he can see because I’m on his blind side, and sniff. Yeah, sure not too bad at all if I don’t count the fact. He dangled me over the side of a cliff and now I need to lead the way up the path.
We should wait, then Talon can lead.
Michael gives me a nudge.
Talon is trying to pull the book off his claw with his other hand, but the claws are in the way. He goes still as if thinking. “Don’t wait for me. I’ll catch up in a moment.”
I use my free hand to wipe my cheeks, like that will help me see better.
“You don’t want to be doing this in the dark,” Michael adds. “It will help if you look up, not down.”
Right.I take a couple of breaths, which do nothing to make me feel calmer and with my back pressed against the rocks, I edge up the path one small step at a time. The robe catches on the rocks like it wants to hold me back. I’m tempted to glance down to ask how Talon is going. What if he can’t get the book off and he’s stuck there?
Tail won’t care if we leave Talon behind, but I do. He is my voice. And I’m curious about how long he has been here, and how he held onto his memories when Under wants to steal them one by one.
The path seems to creep upward forever. And when we are at the top, what then? Do we have to climb down on the other side? That is a problem for later. I need to break things down into a single step.
So that’s what I do.
I slide my foot over the dirt and rocks, then drag my other one to meet it.
There, I’m a little closer to getting this over with. I keep doing that small shuffle, with my eyes looking ahead at where I want to be. Michael’s tension thrums through me, like he wants to urge me to go faster, but knows that if he does, I may stop altogether—and he’s not wrong.
