Page 95 of The Wishing Game

"Don't worry about that." Thea waves her hand dismissively. "You'll see when we get there."

Somehow, that's not exactly reassuring. Especially as we'll need to hike up the mountain on foot since no car will take us up the narrow roads.

The journey to Mount Tai is unusually quiet. Cer is busy with a game he found in a magazine, Thea marvels at her new purchases, and Ze is polishing his sword. He's doing what...

I whip my head around, gawking at him.

"You can't do that in public," I hiss in a low voice.

People are already staring at him, some of them with fear in their eyes.

He doesn't reply, continuing to clean his sword with a disinterested expression. The conductor passes by to check our tickets, and although he clearly seems worried about Ze's sword, he doesn't dare voice his concern, merely giving him a reverent nod.

"I can't believe this," I mutter under my breath.

Ze's lips curl up at my annoyance.

We get off at our stop and head to the ticket booth at the base of the mountain. Not surprisingly, there are alotof tourists around, which on one hand, makes me feel a little better about the length of journey we're about to embark on, while on the other, it makes me uneasy because that means more opportunities for the odd trio to get into trouble and attract unwanted attention.

The ascent up the mountain is strenuous. The online guide indicated it would take us around four or five hours to get to the top if we are in good physical condition. Of coursetheyare in perfect shape. Me? Not so much. Which results in me being out of breath only one hour into our hike.

How the hell am I going to last for another four hours?

"Can we please take a short break? I need to catch my breath and drink a sip of water," I say as I huff out loud. Bent at a ninety-degree angle and with my hands on my knees, I do my best to breathe in and out to stabilize myself.

"Humans." Ze bristles.

Thea takes my hand, helping me to a boulder by the side of the road. She hands me the bottle of water and gently pats my back.

I look at the three of them looking entirely unbothered, not one hair out of place, not one drop of sweat on their foreheads.

"How are you guys not tired? My lungs are onfire!"

"They have military training," Thea points out.

"And you? What'syourexplanation?"

"I'm training now?" she answers sheepishly. I shake my head at her non-answer, gulping down some water as I rub circles on my chest. The shoes I'm wearing are not making this any easier. The soles are thin, causing my feet to chafe against the rough terrain. At this rate, I'll end up with blisters all over.

Despite that, however, it only takes looking at Ze's smug expression for me to launch myself to my feet and give them the signal that we can continue.

I need to push myself if I want to be rewarded at the end. I'm not that naïve to not realize that this game will likely sap me of all my strength, both physical and mental. But rewards like that are not given, they are earned. And I need to earn my place among the five who will make it to the end.

Gritting my teeth, I push my body forward, using my determination as fuel.

But every step hurts.

Maybe I should have taken Nikki up on his daily gym trips. Or, maybe, instead of reading while he was working out, I should have also put in some effort.

I trail behind, the distance between me and the others increasing with every step. In spite of my effort, I'm no match for them. Ze is the first, walking with unnatural ease. His spine is straight, his hands behind his back—his usual unbothered stance. Behind him, Cer always keeps a slight distance. I noticed this before, too, and I wonder if this has to do with their ranking in the army. Perhaps it's his way of showing respect to his superior.

Thea alternates between walking, hopping, and running, seemingly having an unlimited supply of energy. She's perpetually excited as she looks around at the scenery, calling my attention to this or that, or dragging Cer along to show him an insect or a plant. If I'm honest, the sceneryisbreathtaking—andbreath-taking. If I didn't feel as though I'm dying, maybe I could enjoy it more.

We're nestled between the mountains as we follow a winding path to the top. I can see our destination on the horizon, but the distance is deceiving, as I'm learning every ten minutes or so when I check our progress. There are hundreds of other people around, maybe thousands. All taking pictures and stopping to admire the natural beauty around. They're not pressed for time as they go at a relaxed pace, valuing the experience itself more than the end goal of reaching the peak.

A sad smile tugs at my lips as I look to my right, at the green expanse of forest shadowed by the gray tips of the mountains. If only Nikki were here... We would take our time on the climb, walking hand in hand, joking, and playing around as we wondered at the beauty of nature. It would be one of our bucket list destinations, and we would revel in the feel of being outside, free and without any worry. He would no longer be weighed down by his anxiety, and there would be no more danger to our lives. We'd simply...be.

Did we ever even have that luxury? Ironic that we had so much money we couldn't have spent it in ten lifetimes, and yet, we never had the most important thing—peace of mind.

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