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I froze.
Mackenna’s body was tossed into the quicksand next to Curry.
What the?—
They fought one another, trying to use the other as leverage to get out, which only caused them to sink faster.
I glanced at Kieran, who shrugged.
“You threw her in there?” I snorted. I was both amused—which bothered me—and disgusted.
“Seems fitting that they die together. They had every intention of doing that to you or worse.” He grinned. “This is what they deserve. No one tries to hurt you and gets away with it.”
My heartbeat quickened. Part of me liked hearing that. What sort of person was I becoming?
“Alina,” Moire rasped as she stood, still leaning against the hedges. “We need to go. We have until sundown, and they didn’t put us in here until half the sun cycle was already past.”
Ugh. The High Court was trying to screw us in every way they could. I hated everything they stood for. Sheathing my sword, I tried to wipe some of the crusted sand from my face, but all that did was get it in my eyes.
“She’s right. Let’s go.” Kieran jerked his head in the direction he’d come from.
That reminded me. “How did you find us?” He’d been let in on the other side, and it seemed suspicious that he’d found us over here.
“We made an alliance.” Kieran sheathed his sword and lifted his chin. “I needed to find you.”
My stomach did a somersault at his words, but I didn’t want him to know how much of an impact he had on me, so I merely nodded. “Okay. Do you have any idea how to get out of here?”
“No. Shall we go that way?” He nodded toward the white mist.
That was still what my gut said, but as I scanned our surroundings, trying to block out Curry’s and Mackenna’s screams, I noticed something. “The branches.” I observed both sides. “Are they all pointing one way?”
It was in the direction Kieran had come from.
The route was subtle, just slightly tilted that way.
“It’s a clue.” Kieran waved a hand back in that direction. “Let’s follow.”
“I’ll follow wherever you go.” Moire placed a hand on her heart as she continued to pant. “As long as you let me.”
I smiled. I didn’t want to think about the next trial, but for this one, the three of us could work together.
We took slow, measured steps, the heat sapping our energy. Kieran stayed next to me, sweat dripping down his face and onto his armor. His cheeks had a hint of pink, proof he was impacted by the heat despite his Winter power.
Screams echoed from other parts of the maze, and a shiver ran down my spine despite the heat. Each noise was a reminder that we weren’t safe and another attack could happen at any moment.
“Are you okay?” Kieran asked, his forehead creased.
I wanted to answer him, but my mouth was so dry that my tongue stuck to the roof, so I nodded.
The edges of his lips tipped downward, but he didn’t say anything else, likely because he realized he couldn’t solve the problem.
As we continued to walk, the path inclined, and the trees vanished. There wasn’t any shade, but the pathway turned to grass instead of dirt, and the kinds of flowers that hung over my bed back at the castle blended into the hedges.
“This area must represent the mountains of the Summer Court.” Moire ran a hand over the pink, blue, purple, and yellow bulbs that reminded me of wildflowers. “Back there, it had to be the ponds with the trees, fog, and quicksand.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. They sure did go through a lot to challenge us. “What else is left?”
She pursed her lips. “Forest.”
