Page 32 of Explorer's Revenge
I’ve always been lucky.
I should probably be mortified, but I wasn’t embarrassed when I waxed my balls in high school on a dare to ask out Missy Collins, so I certainly won’t start now.
“Rick!” The yells draw nearer, and I don’t want them to find me on my back. Wilder will freak and try to pull us out of here. He was attacked by a jaguar, fine, but I fall down a hill and that’s a no go.
With a groan, I rub my sore ass and sit up, looking around as the others make their way through the thick foliage to find me. Trees surround me on most sides, so I peer through the closest one to find them, only to freeze at the sight before me.
Holy shit!
The jungle opens up into a clearing below, and even from here, I can tell what it is—an abandoned city.
Lost . . .
“We found it!” I shout as I climb to my knees, ignoring their concern and especially Wilder, who is scanning me as he kneels by my side. “Wilder!” I grab his chin and tilt him around until he sees it too. “Look, this has to be it.”
“I fucking found it!” I whoop. “It’s all skill, baby!”
“More like all klutz, baby,” Logan scoffs. “Glad you didn’t die though.”
“You think that’s really it?” Way whispers as we huddle around the opening I created and stare down.
It’s deep inside a crater, but there are crudely carved steps leading down toward it on each side. Buildings are carved into the stone walls in a random pattern. It’s ancient and rough, but it’s a city. There even appear to be paths or roads of some kind, but it’s a strange layout, like circles leading inwards, growing tighter and tighter.
“It has to be,” Wilder confirms, but then he looks me over. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Focus on that, brother. We did it.” I grin, and he finally relaxes enough to aim one back at me.
“We did.”
“And we beat Carter,” Logan says. “Win-win.”
“What was that, morons?” We all whirl around to see a figure waving at us on the steps leading down. “It took you long enough. Are you going to lie there all day, or are you going to come see what I found while you were sleeping?”
“Motherfucker,” Wilder shouts, and her laughter fills the air.
I guess Aiy was right—she deserves it.
Maeve Carter found the lost city of Apear.
It’s all hers.
TWENTY-THREE
WILDER
After making sure Rick really is okay, we push through the foliage, walk across the rocky terrain, and descend the steps Maeve Carter is trekking back down—no doubt after hearing Rick yell.
They are steep as hell and uneven, so I go first, taking a couple at a time before turning around to check on my team. Holding out my hand, I help them down and then continue, moving slowly so we don’t fall. Bits crumble away as we walk and tumble into the crater below.
The jungle must have hidden this from aerial view. No wonder it was lost. If we hadn’t stumbled into it, we probably never would have found it.
By the time we are halfway down, the buildings start to appear. They are crude but beautifully built with open windows and doors, which allow us to peek inside.
The houses are empty, but they look as if people were just here one day and gone the next. The steps get steeper the farther we go, but I finally reach the last one and step out onto dusty gray rock. Maeve is peeling an apple with a sharp blade, leaning against one of the houses in the shade as she waits for us.
“About time,” she mumbles around a bite before wiping her knife off and putting it away. “I thought I was going to have to go back and leave a map for you,” she scoffs. “How did you find it?”
“I sort of . . . stumbled into it,” Rick replies, blushing.
