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“Worse.” Peter sighed, tripping. “He’s the Master Jeweler, right? He thinks of us as his uncut gems. The ceremony ensures we sparkle.” He didn’t laugh this time, his horror drowning out his high.
Waving with a heavy, sweat-glittering arm, he pointed deeper into the trees. “Keep going straight. The forest spills onto the beach, and the entrance to the cave system is there. Temple of Facets is the third largest cave, but it leads to others.”
“H-How do you know?” Suri asked.
“’Cause I’ve gone exploring…before he comes back to get me.” Gulping down air, he forced himself to continue, “After the ceremony, I’m tasked with clean-up. Vile Vic doesn’t want his cleaning crew seeing what he gets up to in there, so it falls on me. Not that there’s much left by the time he’s done.” He smirked. “The blood is all gone—drunk by the Masters and—”
“What the actual fuck?” Kirk slammed to a stop and spun to face Peter. “They drink our motherfucking blood now?”
“Says it’s rejuvenating.” Peter almost swooned into a sapling as we skidded to a standstill. He laughed out loud, hobbling on shredded feet. “Did you know we make a chemical in our blood when we’re about to be killed? It gets stronger the more shit-terrified we are. The ritual isn’t about some religious practice but ensuring we’re completely drowning in this chemical. And then…they harvest it. Like a crop.” He laugh-cried. “We’re just expensive vegetables—”
“Harvest it?” Kirk looked like he’d vomit. “What the fuck do you mean, harvest it?”
Peter rubbed his face, smearing blood on his cheek from his hands. “He says it’s a time-reversal tonic. The most expensive commodity on earth—more sought after than gold or diamonds or…”
“I can’t listen to this.” Rachel shook her head and backed up. “I might take the cliff. I can’t…”
“Shit.” Peter put his bloody, oozy hands on his knees and sucked in lungfuls of air. “I didn’t mean to say that.” He groaned under his breath as a couple of tears escaped. “I’m sorry. Just…ignore what I said. Doesn’t matter anyway ’cause we’re getting out.” Sucking back his grief, he stood upright. “We’ll hide in the cave system. We’ll stay hidden until dark, and then…we’ll go to the pier and see if Master K’s boat is docked.”
Kirk grabbed Peter by the shoulders and shook him. “If you weren’t burned to a crisp right now, I’d punch some goddamn sense into you! What the hell are you talking about? A boat? There’s a boat? Why are we standing around talking about blood-drinking psychopaths when we could sail—”
“Boat won’t be there.” Peter’s knees collapsed, leaving Kirk holding him up instead of shaking him.
“Damn, someone help me,” Kirk barked.
Stepping forward, I slung Peter’s arm over my shoulder and took as much of his weight as possible. The moment his cold-sweat slick body stuck to mine, Peter choked on a silent sob, then buried his face into my hair. “Mujhe maaf kar do. Mujhe bohat afsos hai. Mera matlab yeh nahi tha, shaayad mujhe unhen koodne dena chahiye tha. Shaayad hum sabko koodna chahiye.” (I’m sorry. So sorry. I didn’t mean…maybe I should just let them jump. Maybe we should all jump.)
Rachel wrapped an arm around his waist from the other side and gave me a despairing look. “What did he say?”
I swallowed hard, squeezing Peter close. “He says he’s not feeling well and hallucinating. None of what he said is true, but the cave system is close, and we should keep going.”
Both Rachel and Kirk gave me a searching look, not believing me.
Kirk stepped into Peter with a menacing growl. “Tell me why we aren’t running to the pier, Pete. Tell me why you kept all of this to yourself. Tell me why you haven’t told us what the fuck goes on out here.”
Unable to stop tears tracking down his cheeks, Peter looked at Suri hugging herself behind Kirk and sighed. “Ily’s right. I’m bullshitting, man. Making shit up.” He forced a laugh. “Funny, huh?”
“The boat, Pete. Now.”
Pushing me and Rachel off him, Peter staggered forward, kissed Suri on the cheek, then broke into a hobbling run. We all took off after him, our ears straining over the sounds of rustling bracken as he said, “Master K—Kyle—helped Victor burn me. He’s leaving tonight…or was. He’s one of the few who travel here by sea, but Victor doesn’t let them moor for long. The yachts are only docked at the pier for an hour or so before Vic has them towed out and moored a kilometre or so away.”
“So…we swim.”
“Yeah, okay.” Peter scoffed. “Give me a moment, and I’ll summon the dolphins with my perfect whale song. They can tow us.”
“We can swim a kilometre,” Kirk argued, flicking Suri a look. His heart lived in his eyes every time he looked at her. “We have to try.”
“We are trying.” Peter nodded with a sickening sway. “Hide until dark. Wait until Master K goes to leave and his yacht docks. We’ll swarm him in sheer numbers and sail into the sunrise.” He nodded as if it were the perfect plan, either forgetting or ignoring the fact that Victor would be hunting all night, and guards would most likely patrol the pier for this very reason.
But…even as I saw nothing but holes in his plan, the others sucked up hope as if it were their last meal.
Their strides lengthened, our speed increased, and no one said another word as we ran.
Chapter Two
………………………….
Henri
