Page 66 of The Great and Terrible

You know what? Yeah, okay, I’d wear the dumb hat. I wasn’t wicked or a witch, but I did have power within. Look at my resume. Survived a world-changing tornado. Attended public beheadings. Negotiated with a water maiden. Escaped a human stable. Helped raze a cannibal gang’s village. Raised a runt rabdog without dying. Faced a rebel army without flinching. I could do anything, even navigate the series of quicksand groves we entered. Yawn.

Maybe I understood Jasher a bit better, too. He no longer struck me as an unfeeling robot but a living, breathing man making the best of a bad situation. His bravery knew no bounds.

Our group did little talking at first. I think we’d all revealed more of ourselves than we’d meant to today. Plus, I couldn’t help but expect the next wave of danger as we slugged up a hill, splattered with drying sand. I held my hat in place, on the lookout for rebels.

Jasher stopped dead in his tracks when we came to—what in the world? I bumped into his back, and he reached around to catch and steady me.

The girls stopped behind us and gasped. “A lion pride,” Patch whispered.

“With winged monkeys,” Leona croaked.

“These are the creatures you feared?” I whispered fiercely.

“Shhh,” the others demanded at once, and each meant business.

The ten “lions” were the size of housecats, lazing beneath shade trees. Buzzing around them, laughing hysterically, were winged monkeys only a little bigger than Tinkerbell.

We tiptoed away, as quietly as possible. Only when wewere a good distance away did my companions sigh with relief. I wouldn’t ask what the creatures could have done to us. I didn’t want to know.

I focused my attention elsewhere. “I think we should discuss the Guardian’s reward.”

A muscle jumped in Jasher’s jaw. “Don’t worry. I don’t need it.”

“Good, because she’s already promised it to us,” Patch said.

“No one is turning her in.” A succinct warning. “I’ll be speaking with him first.”

Still protecting me. I petted his back in thanks. “I want you guys to turn me in. You deserve a reward, too. Maybe something for your brothers.” And there it was, the perfect opening to bring up the man who died beneath the chapel. Whether or not the victim was his brother, he’d want to check. Heshouldcheck, just in case.

“We’ll do it my way or not at all.”

Uh-oh. He’d used his no arguments tone.

Nervous perspiration dampened my palms. How much would he hate me for waiting so long to confess? “I need to speak with you the next time we’re alone.” Forget the consequences. Better to do the right thing. “It’s about something that happened the day I got here.”

He helped me over a fallen tree, frowned, and gave me a stiff nod.

There. Now I couldn’t not confess.

As we motored around smaller pits of quicksand pits, a pleasant heat uncoiled in the center of my chest, drawing me in another direction. I rubbed my sternum, confused.

When we cleared the grime, Jasher led us to the left, following Dead Man’s Pass. But the tug. It strengthened exponentially, urging me to go right.

“This way,” I said, waving him to the opposite route. “Please.”

He glanced at my hand, and I realized I was twisting the ring. The forever key. Something else we needed to discuss.

“You are sure?” he asked, brow arched.

“I am.”

With a nod, he headed in the direction of my choosing. I stayed close with Patch and Leona lagging behind a bit.

“Isn’t the City of Lux that way?” The redhead pointed to the course Jasher originally wished to travel.

“If my internal compass is correct, yes!” Leona dragged her feet, as if they’d gotten too heavy to lift. “We shouldn’t detour.”

In no scenario did I think mentioning the forever key was a wise move. Then, I didn’t need to answer. Between one step and the next, an invisible curtain fell from the atmosphere, and a breathtaking oasis came into view. The tugging in my chest ceased. I’d reached the desired destination.

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