Page 134 of Deadfall

“You think something is in there?” Angel asked.

No one answered him. I crouched near the edge and watched the water. It didn’t look dangerous. It was only black because of how dark it was, and the depth didn’t look like anything to be concerned about either. But, this forest was a nasty bit of sorcery and had secrets that lingered beneath the visible surfaces, so I couldn’t be completely confident. I stood and grabbed a long branch from the bank. I stuck it into the water where I was going to step and prodded the rocky bottom in search of any hidden threats. When nothing happened, I went to take the first step, but Seven grabbed the branch and stopped me.

“I’ll go first,” he said.

We didn’t have time to argue, so I handed him the branch. Seven carefully waded into the water. The depth dropped as he neared the middle until it was up to his knees. He thrust the branch forward. Safe. He took another step. He brought the branch down again, and the water surged. A snap of wood and Seven wrestled the stick back. He held it up. It had been severed about a foot from the bottom.

“Jesus,” he muttered. “Only step where I’ve cleared.”

We followed after him. When I reached the trap, I gestured for everyone to go ahead. I reached my hands down into the water and felt around. My fingers brushed cold metal.

Griffin stopped next to me. “What are you doing?”

“I’m resetting it.”

He didn’t look happy about that, but I’d already found the mechanism and set my foot down on it. I made sure to get proper leverage and slowly depressed the trap. With meticulous care, I reset it through feel. I’d reset hundreds of these during my time in the forest with Sacha, and he’d made sure I could do it in the dark and under stressful circumstances. I never thought it would come in handy, but apparently I was wrong. I finished up and slowly waded to the bank where the others waited.

“Hopefully it catches one of them,” I said. “Let’s go.”

The landscape dipped and visibility slowly deteriorated, as we walked into a mist that thickened the further we walked. We slowed to a crawl as I practically had to be on my hands and knees to watch for tripwires and pit falls. Luckily, the traps were fewer and farther between now. I wondered why, until I noticed the greenish-tint to the mist.

I turned to see if it was affecting Griffin, but he seemed okay. He’d pulled his cloth face covering up over his nose and mouth, and while I didn’t think that would help in the long run, it might slow things down.

I continued on until the mist grew so heavy, I could feel its wetness coat my lungs. I turned to check on Griffin again only to see he’d stopped. He stood staring off into the trees. At first it looked like he was checking our flank, but there was a glassy glint to his eyes.

“Seven,” I said.

“Shit,” Seven muttered.

He backtracked to Griffin. “You good, man?”

Griffin slowly turned his head to Seven and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

At some point, I was back in front with Angel. I studied the ground carefully—it looked like there might be a tripwire under the leaves, but before I could check, I heard Seven behind me.

“Gabriel!” Seven barked.

We both turned and saw that Griffin had stopped again. He was completely still and his eyes were fixed on something to our left, but when I looked in that direction, I couldn’t see anything. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked…vulnerable. Like heartbreak and longing—all wrapped up into grief that bled across his face. Whatever he saw was from the depths of a wound he obviously had tried to bury deep. That’s when I noticed the green mist that swirled around his ankles and reflected in his eyes.

“Fuck. I think he’s hallucinating,” I muttered.

The faint echoes of voices reached us, muted and dampened as they were, I knew Mahoney’s men were closing in.

62

GABRIEL

“Gabriel.” I barely heard Seven when he put his hand on my shoulder. “We need to move, brother.”

I let him guide me back in the direction the group was headed, but I kept glancing out through the trees. Something was out there. At first, I dismissed it. I knew it was the fog. The green tint gave away the imminent disaster, but I thought if I just focused on the present, I could overcome it. Whatever was out there was just a trick of the poison. Maybe even a trick of the light. Nothing more. It certainly wasn’t anything I needed to focus on.

But, the fog grew thicker. I felt it with each inhale as it coated my lungs and twisted through my nose and mouth. It clung to me, thick and noxious, all while having no smell at all except the dampness of the earth. I didn’t want to breathe, but I grew lightheaded trying to keep my breaths short.

Everything stayed the same, until I realized my steps were uneven. I’d fallen to the back of the group again. Hadn’t I just been in front with Emersyn?

The shadows moved in my periphery. I didn’t want to acknowledge it. But, then I saw it again. And this time, I couldn’t help it. I looked.

Motionless among the trees was a figure. My heart stopped. No. I knew it wasn’t possible, but my brain didn’t want to listen to reason. My vision narrowed until all I saw was her. She stood maybe thirty yards away, mist swirled around her feet. Long hair, caught between brown and blond clung to her cheeks. Familiar green eyes and those dimples—