Avery prayed the bridge was strong enough to support them all. Carefully placing her feet in the center of every board, she tried to keep her eyes from the spaces between them, but she found herself gazing into the empty, black pit below. When the bridge groaned, its eerie sound echoed throughout the giant chasm of death.
Although heights had never really bothered her, not being able to see the bottom had her heart jackhammering in her chest. If this kept up, she’d have a heart attack before they escaped the maze.
Without warning, a fierce wind hit the bridge and swung it to the right. Avery shifted her weight to the side and braced her feet apart in a useless attempt to offset the swing as the bridge rose to a near forty-five-degree angle. It remained suspended there for an unnatural amount of time.
Avery held her breath and clenched her bladder as she waited for the bridge to flip over. Talia, still clinging to Reid’s shirt, squeaked and buried her face in his back. Avery wanted to tell her to let him go and grab the ropes before she pulled them both off the bridge, but before she could speak, the bridge started to swing back down.
The air whipped her hair around her face and blew through her torn clothes to lash against her skin. It swung up as high as it had on the other side, but it didn’t hover there. Instead, it settled back into place with an unnatural jolt that rocked her to the side.
“Freaking Regan,” she hissed when she realized he was playing with them.
Isla released a sob and bent down. Her body trembled as her hands remained locked onto the ropes and her head bowed.
“Are you okay?” Sandra asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Isla nodded, but it was still another minute before she rose again. They all stood, waiting to see if something more would happen, but the bridge only swayed a few inches back and forth in the breeze.
When the others started moving again, Avery followed; her knees practically knocked together with every step she took. In front of her, Talia shuffled forward and lifted her face from Reid’s back. She didn’t ease her grip on his shirt and had moved so close to him that barely any space separated them.
Reid tugged at the collar of his shirt cutting into his neck before glancing back at her. “Ease up on the shirt,” he said, and Avery caught the annoyed tone of his voice.
“Oh,” Talia croaked and relaxed her death grip on him.
“I can’t see anything anymore!”
Mario’s shouted words pulled Avery’s attention away from Talia as the thick fog swallowed Mario, Eric, and Karen within it. Isla was slowly evaporating, and for a second Avery feared she would never see them again.
CHAPTER 16
“I hate this,” Talia whispered as the mist enshrouded all of them.
Talia was only a foot in front of Avery, but she had to strain to see her blonde head, and she couldn’t see Reid. Avery blinked against the fog as the mist coated her skin and dampened her clothes until goose bumps broke out on her flesh and her teeth chattered. The fog muffled all sounds, but also made it seem as if noises came from numerous locations at once.
Feeling cut off from her senses and the others, Avery lowered her gaze to her feet. Mist shifted and flowed beneath the boards, blocking out her view of the crater. She couldn’t stop herself from imagining hideous, snake-like monsters beneath them, squirming in anticipation of the bridge breaking and their dinner plunging to them.
Stop it! She scolded herself, but once the image entered her mind, it lodged there until she could almost feel herself sliding down their slimy throats like a raw oyster.
Avery’s head shot up when a crack pierced the fog and Isla cried out.
“Isla!” Sandra screamed. “Isla, hold on!”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Isla shouted.
“What’s going on?” Talia moaned.
The bridge swayed and creaked as the sounds of scuffling feet rebounded off the fog. Avery strained to see what was going on, but all she saw was the white wall of fog surrounding her. Grunts of exertion and then a cry pierced the fog as Eric swore and Reid said something that Avery couldn’t make out.
Unable to stand not being able to see anything anymore, Avery risked releasing the ropes with her right hand and waved it before her as she pictured her hand creating a wind that pushed the fog away. “Wind.”
Drawing on the power of the particles of air, Avery used it to fuel her ability. Her power flowed out of her on a gentle burst of wind that pushed the fog aside. When the mist cleared from the bridge to form a wall on either side of it, Avery spotted Sandra, Eric, Karen, and Reid holding on to Isla as she dangled over open air. Unable to get any closer, Mario hovered over Eric’s shoulder. The board she’d been standing on had snapped, and she’d fallen through. The rope railings bowed beneath her weight enough that Isla dangled up to her waist in the hole and couldn’t get her feet back on the bridge.
Talia still clung to Reid’s shirt as he worked with the others to lift Isla from the hole. When she was free, they slid her onto the bridge and collapsed onto it where they lay in a tumbled heap while they panted for air.
Isla brushed strands of damp hair off her face as she got to her knees and crawled forward to peer into the hole. “That was awful.”
“Are you okay?” Sandra asked.
“Yeah,” Isla said, but her face was pale, and her hands shook as she pushed herself back from the hole.
Isla climbed unsteadily to her feet and gripped one of the ropes when she swayed and nearly collapsed.
“You sure you’re okay?” Eric asked as he cupped her elbow to steady her.
“I’m pretty sure I just shaved some years off my life and sprouted a few gray hairs, but I’m just frigging wonderful,” Isla said.
“I can see the end of the bridge now!” Mario yelled. “It’s about fifty feet away!”
Some of Avery’s tension slid away when she finally saw the end of the bridge; they were so close. She would not let herself think that Regan might have something else planned for them as they continued forward. Cold air rushed up to blow over her when she stepped carefully over the broken board.
“Twenty feet!” Mario called. “Ten!”
A distant rumble that sounded like a wave of thunder started from behind her and the boards beneath her began to vibrate like railroad tracks when a train was coming. Avery suspected something worse than a locomotive was bearing down on them, except there was no way to get off these tracks in time to avoid being hit. Avery clung to the ropes while behind her, the bridge rolled as if a wave were cresting beneath it.
“Run!” Isla screamed. “Mario, RUN!”
Her words broke all of them out of their paralysis, and Mario sprinted forward as the wave flowed under her and pushed her upward. The force of it lifted her off the bridge as it rose ten feet into the air before crashing down with a force that jarred every bone in her body. Her grip on the ropes was the only thing that kept her from being thrown off the bridge.
The bridge rolled upward again, and this time as it hit its apex, a sickening snap filled the air. Avery’s hands clenched around the ropes as, beneath her feet, the boards vanished, and she dangled over the abyss while the bridge swung toward the side of the chasm. The face of the cliff rushed toward her, and she braced for impact.
When the bridge crashed into the wall, the breath was knocked out of her and agony tore through her shoulders as her weight nearly wrenched them from their sockets. The impact caused the bridge to bounce fifteen feet off the cliff and swing back out over the canyon. She refused to look down as wind whipped around her and she half expected the monsters she’d pictured earlier to rise from the abyss and swallow her whole.
Then the bridge crashed against the cliff again before bouncing outward once more and finally settling against the rocks. Avery gazed at the black stones only an inch away from her nose. The tip of another rock poked her belly with every breath she took. Her palms were on fire, and she’d spend the next year picking slivers of rope from them, but at least she’d managed
to maintain her hold.
Lifting her feet, rocks broke off and clattered into the pit as she searched for the gaps between the boards. Finally finding one, she slid her toes between them and lifted herself to take some of the weight off her brutalized shoulders and arms.
She rested her forehead against the wall as she inhaled a shaky breath before tipping her head back to look above her. Talia, Reid, Sandra, Isla, Karen, and Eric hung above her, but she didn’t see any sign of Mario. Tears burned her eyes as she searched for him again, but he didn’t magically appear above her.
No! She gazed into the pit, but if he’d fallen into it, she’d never see him. She hadn’t heard a scream, but would she have heard it over the crash of the bridge and her thundering heart?
When she looked above her again, Mario’s face emerged over the rock wall; he stared at the people dangling beneath him. Avery breathed a sigh when she realized he’d made it to the other side before the bridge broke.
Reid craned his head to look over Talia at her. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” Avery said, though she was about as far from okay as it could get. Everything hurt, and she was dangling over certain death, but she was no worse off than anyone else.
Seemingly not convinced, Reid stared at her for a minute before his attention was drawn back to the others as Mario shouted, “Hold on!”
“Thanks for the advice!” Sandra yelled. “Now get us out of here!”
Mario lay on his stomach and wiggled to the edge of the canyon. “Give me your hand!” he shouted at Eric.
With his toes between the boards, Eric released the rope with one hand and pushed himself up to reach for Mario. Seizing his arm, Mario helped pull him up and drag him to safety. Collapsing on the ground, Eric lay there for a minute before pushing himself up and rolling over to look down at them with Mario. They spoke with each other before gripping the ropes.
“We’re going to pull it up!” Mario yelled.
The bridge crept upward until they tugged Karen over the edge. A few moments later, the bridge started climbing at a faster pace than before.
“I can’t hold on much longer!” Talia cried as they pulled Isla to safety.
An impending sense of urgency descended over Avery as the bridge started rising again. With each person they pulled to safety, the ascent happened a little faster, but Avery had a sinking sensation that it wouldn’t be in time for her. They had to get off this thing. Now.
“My hands hurt,” Talia whimpered.
Avery pushed her feet forward, wedging them more firmly between the boards as Talia dangled over her. “Put your feet in between the boards, Talia!” Avery called to her.
“I can’t find them!” Talia cried.
Twisting, Reid turned to gaze down at them. His eyes filled with terror when the met Avery’s while Talia’s feet kicked at the wall in search of a hole between the boards. He eased his grip on the ropes, removed a foot from between the boards and climbed down. Each of Talia’s kicks broke rocks away from the wall; Avery ducked her head to avoid the debris bouncing off her.
“Take my hand!” Reid yelled at Talia when she began making sounds like a trapped animal about to chew off its foot.
Avery dared to look again and wished she hadn’t. Reid was holding on to the rope with one hand while he kept his feet between the boards and leaned down to extend his other hand to Talia.
“Reid, be careful!” Avery shouted.
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “Talia, take my hand.”
Talia whimpered again, but before she could reach for his hand, she released a startled cry and slid down the rope. Avery gasped when the tiny girl slammed into her, shoving her down and knocking her foothold free. Her shoulders felt like they were going to tear out of their joints as they once again bore the brunt of her weight.
“Avery!” Reid yelled.
He slid another foot down and lunged for Talia’s hand, but he was too far away to grab her. Talia screamed as her feet battered the wall and debris rained down over Avery. She ducked her head and nearly lost her grip when a stone pelted her in the eye. Tears streaming from her wounded eye, Avery kept her head down as the bridge started rocking.
“Stop!” Avery yelled. “Talia, stop moving!”
“I can’t hold on!” she screamed.
“Stop shaking the bridge!” Eric yelled.
Avery’s head jerked up when the bridge slid a few feet back into the canyon, and her mouth went dry when she saw the ropes over her head fraying from scraping against the rocks. With a sense of impending doom, Avery searched for another toehold so she could brace again and concentrate on drawing her powers forth, but she couldn’t find the space in between the boards.
She gave up on finding a toehold when the bridge dropped another foot. Digging within herself, Avery concentrated on an image of the bridge rising over the edge and dumping them all safely on top of the cliff as her power swelled within her. The air crackled as the energy sizzling around her lifted her hair from her shoulders. She felt another’s powers swelling on the currents around her and realized someone else was working to fix this too.
Avery was about to unleash her ability when Talia’s body slid downward, hit her, and knocked her concentration and power out of her. The muscles in Avery’s arms were stretched beyond their normal capacity as Talia’s feet rested on top of her head.
“Avery!” Reid bellowed and scrambled further down the bridge. “Talia, pull yourself up!”
His voice rebounded off the walls as Talia balanced her weight on Avery. The pain in Avery’s wounded palms made holding the ropes more difficult. She tried to find the space between the boards again, but her feet kept connecting with wood. It was as if the space had disappeared, and she couldn’t help but wonder if this was some twisted prank of Regan’s.
Was he trying to kill her? But no, of course not, he wanted her too badly for that, but where the hell was the space between the boards?
Avery struggled to keep her panic at bay. If she gave in to it, she would be doomed, but her chest felt like an elephant was slowly sitting on it.
The air crackled around her as magic pulsed through it. She had no idea whose magic it was, but she hoped they fixed this soon. When the unbearable pain in her shoulders and arms caused her grip to loosen, she slid further down the ropes. Talia’s feet remained planted on Avery’s head as the girl slipped with her. Talia seemed to give up trying to find a toehold and pressed more of her weight down on Avery as she struggled, and failed, to find a space for her feet again.
“No,” Avery whimpered.
“Avery, do not let go!” Reid yelled.
He lunged for Talia again and succeeded in grasping her wrist. When Talia used Avery’s head as a springboard to jump toward Reid, the force of her weight ripped Avery’s grip free of the ropes. She screamed as her hands clawed frantically for the rope, but her fingers closed only on air.
Pinwheeling her arms, Avery made a desperate attempt to stop her descent into the bottomless pit, but she’d never learned how to fly. She tried to draw on her powers before she plunged to the bottom, but her impending death made it impossible to concentrate on anything other than the air whipping around her and the rocks as they whizzed by.
“NO!” Reid bellowed.
She’d fallen beyond where she could see him anymore, but his shout echoed off the walls and followed her into the dark.
CHAPTER 17
The darkness faded away when she plunged into a cavern with sparkling walls before landing in a soft pile. Her breath exploded out as she gazed at the white fluff billowing up around her. She’d expected her descent to end in the breaking of every bone in her body, but nothing inside her snapped like a toothpick.
Lying there, it took her a second to realize the white fluff was feathers as they floated lazily above her and fell to stick to her face. She brushed the tickling annoyances aside before bracing her forearms beneath her and pushing herself up. Her fingers slipped into the downy cushion and prickly q
uills creating the bed that saved her life.
Gazing around, she realized the walls appeared to sparkle because they were lined with thousands of multicolored crystals. Overhead, the hole she plunged through revealed the blackness beyond, but as she watched, it slowly closed, and more crystals wove into the formation.
Light from a brass lamp across the way bounced off the thousands of crystals and the smooth white floor of the cavern. She was alone in the cave, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t last much longer, and she tried to mentally prepare herself for when Regan arrived. Drawing on her dwindling strength, Avery stood and wiped the feathers sticking to her away.
“Did you have a nice fall?” Regan asked from behind her.
Avery casually picked more feathers from her hair and tossed them aside. It probably wasn’t the best idea to keep her back to him, but she didn’t want him to think he bothered her, or that she was frightened of him, even if she was. Plus, she knew not acknowledging him would piss him off, and she would take any small thing she could to get back at him for everything he’d put them through.
When she finished, Avery assumed what she hoped was a bored expression and turned to face him. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his broad chest. The colors of the crystals reflected and danced off his hair while his electric eyes perused her, and a smile curved his mouth.
She’d known he would emerge at some point in the game and thought she’d be prepared to face him. However, she realized she could never be completely prepared as the sight of him still shocked her senses. As much as she hated him, the ethereal perfection of his looks stole her breath.
The Maze (The Coven, Book 2) Page 9
