Page 119 of Mud

And it might have been the silliest thought possible considering the circumstances, but the idea that Taland had seen me like this, sweaty and dirty and bloody…

Ugh.

The vulcera purred again, then moved around me toward the same direction we were headed earlier.

“Is the finish line that way?” I wondered as I followed her. She didn’t give me an answer, but within just a couple of minutes, we reached the end of the thick branch we were walking on.

“Whoa,” I breathed, looking out at the darkness ahead of us, at the other branches surrounding us, up and down and to the sides.

Fuck, the Tree of Abundance really wasjust a tree, a huge tree with so many branches and so many leaves and lights, and we were so high up that I was dizzy even when I had enough space underneath my feet to move freely.

But from here, I could see the night sky over us. From here, I could almost see the tips of the walls that surrounded the playground of the Iris Roe, though not quite.

And from here, I could see the twinkling lights somewhere below, off the edges of the branches that curved up for a few inches, and at the tip held a lightbulb flower that burned a green the same hue as the vulcera’s eyes.

“What now?” I asked, and I got my answer from the other players.

Theyjumped.

At first, I noticed the woman with some kind of a bird on her shoulder—must have been her familiar. She was about four branches above me, and she was standing at the very tip, too, right where the vulcera insisted I follow her.

Then the woman just spread her arms to the sides and jumped straight into the darkness.

She disappeared so fast from my view that I barely breathed as I watched—and then another jumped, too. He was just a level below me at the tip of a branch that extended farther out than mine, and a dog-like creature was in front of him with wings on his back. It could have been a sinnin—puppies with wings they couldn’t use to actually fly and who shed them as they grew up; or maybe a Japanese hainu—I couldn’t be too sure. But the winged dog jumped first, and he didn’t spread his wings. The player wearing blue leathers from head to toe jumped right after him into the abyss.

No,I wanted to say. There’s no way in any hell that I would jump off that branch willingly—but then I looked at the vulcera.

I looked at her, saw the deep green of her eyes, and I understood. She wanted me to jump with her, and she promised me that I would be safe, that there was nothing to worry about here. I could trust her.

No idea what the hell had gotten into me, but I understood that the fall would be part of the game, just likesearching those blood puddles had been. I needed to fall in order to complete the level—and this time, the vulcera was going to come with me.

I smiled for whatever reason. I smiled and went closer to her, toward the tip of that branch that would barely fit both my feet, to that flower that burned so brightly atop the curved tip, the lights below, so distant, that made me think of a city at night.

“Let’s do it,” I said, and I sounded more confident than I thought I would.

She didn’t need to be told twice. The vulcera jumped without waiting to see if I’d follow—she wasn’t worried in the least.

I closed my eyes, held my breath, spread my arms just like that woman had done, and I jumped with her without an ounce of fear inside me.

Chapter 25

Rosabel La Rouge

Present day

I heard the sound first.

It was like I’d gone downtown for drinks with the twins, or with Erid.Beforeshe tried to kill me, that is. It was that same sound—of a lot of people, of silverware and glasses clanking, of music, of laughter and chatter. Just a night out in one of the busier streets downtown, lined with bars and pubs and restaurants for the people to enjoy their Friday nights. A city, just like it had looked from up there on that branch.

Then I thought to open my eyes, and I saw the fast-approaching ground.

I screamed a second before I made impact, but at least my instincts still worked, so I’d had the good sense to wrap my arms around my head. Like that, I rolled and rolled downward on the grass, and the world kept on spinning, and I couldn’t stop or slow down at all.

Until I hit something as hard as rock with my hip, and the pain nearly made me scream again.

Fuck me, I couldn’t even heal myself. I couldn’t ease my pain or close wounds like other players would be able to do. Icouldn’tkeep falling and hitting hard stuff with my body—I needed this body to get the end of this!

Grunting in pain, I pushed myself to sit up as fast as possible because I still had no idea where I was and what was around me, or if someone was coming to kill me.

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