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The pressure of the earth crushed my bones until I collapsed to my knees beside two awake jewels and one unconscious.
Thick, dank silence.
Heavy, hungry darkness.
And just our shallow breathing for company.
* * * * *
Water.
Icy, salty water lapping at my toes.
“Rachel,” I hissed. “Rachel.”
Patting along Peter’s feverishly hot body, I found Rachel’s hand on his hip.
After the shock of being left behind, the three of us had agreed to rest for an hour and then leave. We’d do whatever it took to wake Peter and help him hobble back home.
Our plan was cruel, and terror whispered that he wouldn’t make it, but…if he slept for an hour, hopefully he’d have the strength to get back to the castle so Dr Belford could heal him.
We’d all agreed to give him the best chance of recovery by sitting in a row and hauling Peter’s dead weight onto our laps to protect him from the wet stone. With his head and shoulders on my legs, his torso on Mollie’s, and his thighs on Rachel’s, we’d done the best we could to stop him from dying any faster than he already was.
“Do you feel that?” I kicked my feet. The faintest splash answered. “Where’s the water coming from?”
Mollie shifted beside me, removing some of her body heat. “Victor did say some of the caves fill up with water at high tide.”
“I’m guessing the tide is coming in.” Rachel sighed and upturned her hand to squeeze mine. She sounded exhausted and deflated and at the edge of her limits.
I blinked, willing the absolute darkness to fade. No glow worms like some of the other caves. No luminescent algae or light sources of any kind. We were blind. Completely and utterly blind and we needed to run.
Rocking Peter on my lap, I stole my hand back from Rachel’s and raked my fingers through his sweat-wet hair. “Peter. Time to wake up, okay? We need to leave.”
We’d been smart.
The game wouldn’t be entirely over, but at least we were one hour closer to dusk. By the time we found our way out, Emerald Bruises would be finished and Victor’s rules firmly back in place.
Giving Peter a few seconds to rally, I looked in Mollie’s direction. “Did you mean what you said, Mollie?” I chewed on rising panic. “You sure you remember the way we came?”
A rustle as she nodded. “I’ve gone through the turns twice with you. I kept track of every direction we took. I can get us out, even without a torch.”
“Mols has a bachelor in quantum physics,” Rachel said with a stronger tone. “She’s beyond smart.”
“Didn’t stop me from being snatched at a party, though, did it?” Mollie huffed. “I know how one particle can be in two locations at the same time, yet I couldn’t see the pill dropped into my drink.”
Rachel continued as if Mollie hadn’t spoken. “Mols and I became friends through our shared love of science. I’m a research chemist turned war chemist, but Mols? She’s on a whole other level. She can get us out. I have no doubt.”
Mollie scoffed. “If I could get my hands on some household cleaning products, I could make a bomb big enough to blow up Victor’s beloved Joyero. Then we’d really be out. We’d be free...”
Even with the tide creeping over my feet.
Even with Peter unconscious and barely alive on my lap…sheer blinding hope found me all over again.
“Wait. You could do that?” I asked on a sharp inhale. “Y-You have those skills?”
“Rachel does too.” Mollie laughed sadly. “Between the two of us, we could destroy this entire island, but…knowledge is worthless without ingredients and action.”
“Speaking of action, I agree with Ily,” Rachel said. “The water is rising quickly. It’s time to go.”
