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I twisted, craning my neck around a tree. “Did you hear that? Sounded like someone called my name.”
“I didn’t hear anything.” Mom held up a branch, waving me forward. “After you.”
I stepped through, entering the small clearing. The door rose before us. Like Mom guessed, it was cracked open.
“Okay, about Alex,” I continued. “If there’s any chance of him forgiving me, I need to come up with the biggest apology. Huge. We’re talking rom-com-level grand gesture. Any—?”
“Aella...”
“Okay, I definitely heard it that time.” I spun around, searching for a bobbing head or rustled branches. “It must be one of my friends. This place didn’t separate us. It threw them in here with me. I can’t leave them.”
“You can’t stay,” Mom said. “I didn’t want to scare you, but this chamber is the most dangerous of them all. This jungle is full of arachnes and what they do to their victims...” She shuddered. “If you know what a spider does to their prey, then you get the general idea.”
Shoot them with paralyzing, liquefying venom, then suck up their insides like soup. My stomach heaved.
“Oh my gods. What kind of sadist thought up this place?”
“It doesn’t matter, because they’re not getting you. Go, Aella.” Mom pulled the door open. “I’ll stay and guide your friends through.”
“But—but I can’t. We’ve waited two years to be together, we’re not separating again.”
Mom kissed my forehead. “I’ve waited two years to be your mother again. To love you. To care for you. To protect you like I should’ve done that night. Good Mom 101: Don’t let your daughter hang around in a jungle full of man-eating spiders the size of a bus.
“Aella, please go. The next chamber is just an empty field. You’ll be safe to wait there. I’ll get your friends. I promise.”
I hesitated. I couldn’t skip off to safety while my friends battled arachnes, but Mom had a rare serious look in her eyes saying she was about to shift fromCool Mommode toI’m Not Going to Tell You Twice Mommode. The mode that defused many a bridezilla and had them meekly apologizing for their tone before the day was done.
“Go through, young lady. Now.”
“Um, okay.” I took a step. A swirling dark hole of nothingness gazed back at me. “I’ll go, but I’m counting to three hundred, and if you’re all not back, I’m coming back in after you.”
“Fair enough.”
“And take this.” I handed her Dad’s knife.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so happy you still have this.” She held it to her chest, smiling softly. “This knife is special, love. Have you figured out how yet?”
“It’s... uh... made of very tough steel?”
She chuckled. “It’s what you need when you need it, and you need it more than me.” Mom handed it back. “Now go.”
The grip on my shoulder was as firm as her tone, guiding me to the entrance. I let her do it, lifting my feet and sinking it into the abyss.
“Three hundred seconds,” I warned, pushing her and the dagger back. “Maybe less. Maybe three if you’re not quick enough, and not at all if you don’t have a weapon to defend yourself.”
She laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”
I stepped through.
“Aella, no!”
My head swung around, and collided with Ionna’s. “Ow!”
She appeared out of nowhere—seizing my collar and snatching me back.
I fell.
“Ahhhh!”
