Page 88 of Taking Jenny
But he curled his long fingers around my hand, closing it around the bracelet in my palm. He smiled woefully. “Thanks to you, my daughter is going to live. That’s all I care about.” Hechecked his gauntlet driver and a pained look entered his eyes. “It is time.”
My heartbeat jackhammered in my chest and I walked to the purple ribbon on the ground, indicating the starting line. I glanced back at the man who’d brought me here. “Thank you for your kindness, Frost.”
He bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you for your life, Jenny Hollinger.”
The words struck deeper than I expected, and it was all I could do not to throw up the bile in my stomach. But then a siren wailed, long and shrill, and knowing I had no choice I started my run up the mountain path, adrenaline and fortitude pushing me forward.
I kept my steps as light as possible, my ears peeled for any sound, my eyes wary of every shadow I passed. An ankle twist could end this Illiapol much faster than I intended to. The incline punished me immediately. My thighs started to burn, but I didn’t slow my stride.
Longshot and Discord and Surge had told me a lot of what to expect and what I’d encounter, and those lessons all flew around in my memory at the same time. Learn the slope of the land. Collect small rocks for weapons. Fill anything with water.
That was the first bit of advice I could heed, at least, since I heard moving water nearby. Following the sound, I found a rushing river. After I drank my fill to quench my thirst, I washed out my leather bag, then filled it with water, tying the leather thong securely. It held, watertight. One tiny win for me. I’d need water to survive, and now no matter where the terrain took me, I’d have it with me.
Ahead on the river bank were heavy clutches of trees, so I couldn’t make headway by staying next to it. Back to the path, I started my moonslit run once more. I didn’t hear the animals—couldn’t worry about them. I didn’t see them, either. They couldkill me just as dead as the hunters, but I refused to let that enter my mind. One problem at a time.
When the slope grew even more brutal, I had to slow down to catch my breath. My lungs burned, my calves screamed, and my body begged for rest but I pushed on. A few times, I had to brace myself against the staff, making me even more grateful that I had gone with my instinct instead of the deadlier weapons.Not sure I’ll feel that way in a few hours though.
A flicker of light ahead broke the monotony. I slowed to inspect what it was. A small tent glowed at the side of the path, lit from within by an electric lantern, beckoning to me. I saw a tray of steaming food, some folded blankets, a couple of pillows…everything soft and warm and comforting.
My stomach twisted with hunger and exhaustion already seemed to consume me, considering I’d had no sleep. My tired body wanted nothing more than to crawl inside, eat the meal, and sleep.
I scowled at the tent, remembering Surge’s warnings. “It’s a trap,” I muttered out loud.
Despite my disappointment, I turned and ran right past it.
CHAPTER 26
Tiger
Discord snatched my arm, yanking me back just as I was about to sprint between the trees toward Jenny’s path.
“She cannot know we’re here,” she hissed in a low voice.
I spun around to face her, heat rising up my neck. “Why the hell not?”
“If she knows we’re here, she won’t fight as hard. If she doesn’t fight as hard, the hunters will sense something is wrong. If they know something is wrong—”
“Then we’re all dead,” I finished for her. I sank back onto my heels, feeling helpless and deflated. “I just want her to know she’s not alone out here.”
“You’ll get her killed. You’ll get us killed. Shemustbelieve she’s alone,” Discord said adamantly. “It is the only way to save her. And ourselves.”
My gut told me Discord was right, but my chest ached with the need to reassure Jenny that she wasn’t alone and everything would be alright. But I couldn’t lie to her like that. Not now. Not ever. This was Illiapol, and I didn’t know what was coming. None of us did. And I doubted that any of it would bealrightby the end of the trial.
I exhaled a slow, heavy breath, trying to keep my control from unraveling.
Discord said, “Let’s get the lantern out of the tent.”
“On it.” I dropped to a crouch and stayed low as I crept toward the trap. Jenny hadn’t glanced back, but I moved as if she might because Discord was right about us needing to remain covert.
We had purposefully lit up the tent trap to make its true nature obvious, and I was glad to see that Jenny was too smart to fall for the ruse. As soon as I’d seen it, I’d wanted to destroy the tent, but Discord had stopped me because if I aimed to ruin all their traps, again, the hunters would be suspicious.
Discord joined me, holding my right hand to keep me steady as I leaned into the tent for the lantern. Beneath the propped tent was a pit twice as deep as Jenny’s height. I could have climbed out of it had I fallen in, but that would have taken too much time, and the hunters would not expect Jenny to be able to climb up a pit like that, so they would have known something was amiss. Every thought we had, every move we made required factoring them in, and I resented it all.
The lantern handle was just in my grasp when Discord hissed, “Hurry up!”
“Just a little bit more—got it.” I pulled the lantern back with me and turned it off. It was small enough to fit in my rucksack, alongside all the other supplies they had packed. “We made that trap obvious enough, but do you really think she’s foolish enough to fall for any of them?”
“I am here because I do not believe she is foolish.” Discord’s tone softened a fraction. “Jenny is many things, but foolish is not one of them. However, when we are thirsty, tired, hungry, uncomfortable, or in pain, we tend to make bad choices. Even I am guilty of that myself from time to time, and I know better. So if we make the traps as obvious as possible, hopefully she will continue to avoid them. Let’s go.”
