Page 52 of Wilds of Wonder
“Why don’t you ask him?” I said, gesturing to the creature. “And while you’re at it, maybe offer yourself up for a snack.”
“I get why everyone was annoyed with me and Leoni now.” Driscoll massaged his temples. “You two are like an old married couple.”
We both glared at him, and he raised his hands. “You’re right, I’m staying out of it.”
The stone trembled under our feet, debris rattling around us. We all moved in closer, our shoulders pressing in together.
“What is going on?” Driscoll asked.
The white wolf just sat there on its haunches, like it was waiting for something.
“I think we should run, figure out where we are, and make a plan,” I said quietly. “Something is very, very wrong.”
But before we had a chance to move, a fissure split the stone under us, and then, we were falling.
Chapter Twenty-Six
EMORY
Iwas falling. Again. And once again, I blamed the bone collector. Was this technically his fault? No. But I was angry and needed someone to direct that anger toward. So Maverick it was. In truth, I still hadn’t figured out exactly why I was angry at him. It was a buried wound, one I didn’t want to unearth right now.
Thankfully, this fall wasn’t as long as the previous one.
My body hit the hard, rough ground with a force that rattled my teeth.
“Watch out!” Maverick yelled from somewhere beside me, and just as I blinked, my vision clearing, the stone from above came crashing down over us.
I quickly rolled, the stone pummeling into the ground, blasting apart into thousands of little pieces that rained over us. Dust filled the space, thick and suffocating.
I pulled my tunic up, but the dust still managed to infiltrate my nose, ears, mouth, stinging my eyes and burning my throat.
I tried to make out the forms of the others through the thick dust. “Driscoll?” I asked. “Maverick?”
“I’m here,” Maverick said.
“Present,” Driscoll added glumly. “Oh, and the wolf who maybe, probably, wants to kill us is here too.”
The dust settled over the black shimmery ground, the wolf’s slumped form laying there in the middle of the space. Stones had fallen over it, knocking it unconscious. I scrambled to the creature and lifted the stones off its legs and side.
“What are you doing?” Driscoll asked. “Maybe we don’t help the wolf that tried to eat us.”
“Maybe it’s changed,” I said over my shoulder, petting its matted hair.
“Or maybe you’re delusional,” Driscoll shot back.
“Oh, she’s definitely delusional,” Maverick said.
I finished lifting the rocks off the wolf, then slumped back against the wall, peering up to see the hole we’d fallen through, too high to reach. My magic would be no use, so depleted after how much of it I’d used over the last day.
Driscoll and Maverick sat with their backs against the opposite wall.
“I don’t suppose you can grow a vine to get us out of here?” I asked.
“No.” Driscoll gave me a pointed look. “I’m afraid I used up the last of my magic trying to save your two sorry asses.”
“Right.” I tugged at the ends of my hair. “So we wait until our magic strengthens again, and then we can escape.”
“Or maybe it won’t return.” Maverick spread out his arms. “We have no idea what this place might do to our powers. Look what it did to everything else here.”
