Part 13 (1/2)

I pushed him away from me and started back up the trail, forcing myself to keep a steady pace despite the incline. The rain made the slope slippery, and the higher we climbed, the colder it got until the rain wasn't rain anymore but a snotty slippery slush.

An hour pa.s.sed, and then another, and it seemed that we weren't getting any closer. My legs shook with each step, and even Liam was breathing hard. Two hours, jogging straight up a mountainside, was not something I did on a regular basis.

Worse though, Calliope was slipping, the despair stealing away the fight in her to survive.

I refused to believe that Liam was right. That we wouldn't make it in time.

Hang on, Calli. Just hang on.

There was a pause, like someone taking a breath on the other end of the phone.

And then a bright s.h.i.+ning thread of hope swirled between us. No words, no thoughts, just an emotion so warm and full of life that it took everything I had not to give a fist pump. Ah, f.u.c.k it.

I jammed my fist into the air, then put my head down and powered up the next fifty feet.

”She's alive ... and she knows we're coming.”

”That's great. But we have a problem.” Liam caught up to me and spun me around. Maybe two hundred feet behind us, the ogres had caught up. How the h.e.l.l had they snuck up on us? I'd been Tracking them!

The red-skinned ogre gave me a wave of his fingers and a wink I could see even from that distance.

It took me a second to put two and two together. Of course, certain ogres had magic and if the Lighteaters could mess with my abilities, masking their presence, then likely the ogres could too. And the triplets had known right away what I was and what I could do.

Apparently, my secrets were out.

With a single finger, I waved back.

Laughter rumbled through their group and up to us. We were in trouble. They were too close, and ... .

There was no sound as the Roc curled around the mountain. The ogres froze, stilling their huge bodies. Between a Roc and a horde of ogres, which were we more likely to survive?

”Trust me.” My eyes met Liam's for a brief second, as I plucked a small blade from my boot, then spun and threw it toward the Roc as it drew close, the blade not doing any harm as it caught the beast in the belly.

But it got its attention. Oh, s.h.i.+t did it ever.

The Roc arced toward us, mouth open, wide eyes trained on us without blinking. There was no sound though, no growl, no thunderous roar. Not even a whoosh of wings. If I hadn't been looking at the big b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I wouldn't have known it was there.

”Dodge the teeth, but let it catch us!” I yelped, as we scrambled out of the way, just barely dodging the open mouth.

”Good idea, Rylee!” His sarcasm was not lost on me. Liam grabbed me, pulled me out of the way of one claw. But we couldn't dodge the other. Which was exactly what I was hoping for. Kinda.

The grey-green talons closed around us like a bear trap snapping shut, crus.h.i.+ng us against one another, and clamping on us in a breath-stealing squeeze. With a sudden, ear-shattering screech, the Roc soared back above the mountain. From below, the ogres still didn't move, but I could see the smiles on their faces. They thought we were toast. The Roc's wings moved silently in the falling snow, its body s.h.i.+vering. Three wing beats and we had climbed almost to the top of the mountain.

”Rylee, please tell me this is a part of your plan. That you have a plan.” Liam squirmed against the Roc's claws that held us tight.

I smiled over at him as the top of the mountain drew closer and the Roc began to descend to a depression between two plateaus near the snow-covered peak. The air was thin, cold, and not suited to the Roc's nature.

”Actually, this time I do. I was tired of walking.”

His jaw dropped. ”Are you serious?”

The Roc gave us a squeeze and then it was landing. With a flick of its talons, it sent us tumbling over the thick crust of hot snow ... wait, what the h.e.l.l?

I didn't have time to wonder at the hot mush below us. We had a Roc to deal with. Before I could get to my feet, Liam scrambled to my side and wrapped his arms around my body, holding me to the ground.

”The ogres didn't move and it didn't see them.” Our bodies sunk into the hot mud and I stared, silent and unmoving, at the Roc who tipped its head sideways, not unlike Eve when she was considering something. Two steps toward us, head c.o.c.king again, eyes blinking, the triple eyelids fluttering closed one after another and then opening back up one at a time. Creepy f.u.c.ker.

It let out a screech, three feet from our heads. My eardrums rattled, and it felt like the left one might have popped, but both Liam and I held still. Held our breath. Sunk deeper into the uncomfortable hot mud.

d.a.m.n, this was like some sort of Jura.s.sic Park remake. The big leathery bird held its head there, waiting for us to give ourselves away.

The Roc stepped back, giving up on it meal. Or so I thought.

It strode to the far side of the overheated area and settled down into the mud. But no, it didn't close its eyes. It stared in our direction, eyes wide and again unblinking. Several minutes pa.s.sed, and my ears slowly stopped ringing.

”Liam.” I kept my voice pitched low and soft, and the Roc didn't twitch.

”Yes?”

”Not how I imagined my day going.”

”Really? I expected something along these lines. I'm actually surprised it's mud and not s.h.i.+t we're up to our necks in.”

I shouldn't have found that funny, not with how dire our situation was. Yet there I was, sides shaking, fighting the laughter that bubbled up.

Liam's arms tightened on me. ”Track Calliope.”

I did as he said, and the contact with her threads sobered me like a dash of cold water. She was still hopeful, but the pain coursing through her made her weak, the fear that had slipped away from her was building once more. But close now, she was right below us, inside the mountain and so d.a.m.n close.

Well s.h.i.+t, how the h.e.l.l were we going to get out of this? Sucked down in the mud, I knew that getting out would be hard and would slow us enough that the Roc would have no problem picking us off.

”There's a drop down into a lower level, and the opening is too tight for the Roc,” Liam said. ”I think we can make it.”

He was right. An opening the size of a small car was close enough that potentially we could make it through before the Roc snapped us up.

”Not unless we slow him down.”

Which we could if we gave him something nasty to chew on. A plan, yes a plan, formed quickly. s.h.i.+t, it wasn't perfect, but it was all I had.

”Can you reach either of my swords?”

Under the mud, Liam worked his hand up to one of my swords. ”Yes.”

I reached back through the thick mud and grabbed the other handle. ”We pull them as we stand, and when he gets his mouth close to us-”

”Rylee, you're crazy, you know that?”

”Yeah, I do. But it'll work.” G.o.ds, I hoped that I was right, that it would indeed work.

Liam let out a slow breath. ”I hope you're right.”