Page 93 of A Storm in Every Heart
An uneasy feeling creeps down the back of my neck, and I turn in a circle. All I can see are the outlines of trees and rustling leaves. “They were camped near the river, right? We didn’t walk that far to get away from where Jett was making that fire.”
“I know.” Odessa worries her lip. “It couldn’t have been much more than a quarter of a mile, probably less, but we’ve been walking longer than that and we should be able to see their fire. The trees aren’t that thick.”
A sharp, electric jolt of anxiety surges through my chest, pushing aside every other feeling. Maybe I shouldn’t have left Jett alone with that pirate, but Jett can more than take care of himself, and the pirate is immortal. So what the fuck happened to them?
“Jett!” I shout, feeling somewhat stupid as my voice echoes back at me. Odessa and I pause, holding our breath, waiting for a response, but we’re only met with silence.
“If something attacked them, we would have heard it, right?” Dessa mutters. “Jett! Jett?”
“What! Fuck—ahh!” Jett’s voice rings out through the woods, first sounding startled, then rising with panic in the space of a second.
My heart races as I instinctively sprint toward the noise. I tear through the dense, swampy underbrush, creating muchmore noise than I should, all the while following the direction of Jett’s yells. Odessa jogs after me, her labored breathing nearly as loud in my ears as Jett’s voice.
“Kas?” Jett yells. “Where are you? Help me!”
I skid to a stop, turning in a circle. I can hear him close by, but I can’t see him anywhere.
Dessa catches up, stopping behind me. “Where is he?” she pants.
“I’m here!” Jett’s voice yells from somewhere close by on the right. “Look down. I’m stuck in the fucking mud.”
I turn, scanning the ground, struggling to see anything in the dark. Then, I catch a glint of eyes and I jump a foot in the air, startled.
Jett is sprawled on the ground, his position unchanged from when we last saw him, but now half of his body is swallowed by the thick, sticky mud. His head and most of his chest are still above the surface while his legs seem to have disappeared into the murky depths of the sand, creating the impression that the earth itself is trying to pull him under.
I jog over to him and bend down to see better, sure that the dark is making me hallucinate. Immediately I feel my boots sinking into the ground as well. I swear loudly, and leap back, a wet squelching sound filling the air as I pull my feet free. “What the fuck happened?”
“I don’t know.” Jett grunts as he shifts his shoulders trying to pull himself free. “I was so damn tired I fell asleep. I didn’t even realize this was happening until I woke up and heard you yelling.” He gasps for breath. “Can we talk about this later? Pull me out!”
Dessa falls to her knees on the ground beside Jett and starts trying to push the sand out of the way. She lasts about three seconds before she shrieks and tries to scramble back. “My knees are sinking!”
I grab her by the shoulders and pull her back, both of us tumbling into the swampy underbrush, panting.
“I wish I could fucking see,” I grumble, struggling to my feet and pulling Dessa with me. “It’s so dark that if we try to help and step in the wrong place, we’ll get stuck too.”
“Can you conjure a light?” Dessa asks.
I shake my head, then remember she can’t see me. “No. I mean, I could usually, but I’m spent, and fire isn’t really my strong suit.”
“You’re better with water,” she says, like she’s thinking out loud. “Can you try anyway? I can’t think of how we’re going to get him out if we can’t see what we’re doing.”
I close my eyes, drawing in a breath. It’s not as simple as justtrying.
Magic, like everything else, comes with a price—and usually that price is your energy. I’ve already used an enormous amount of magic today, more than I’ve used at one time since before Dyaspora. I haven’t slept or eaten anything since yesterday, and I lost a lot of blood fighting those pirates.
Still, Jett is practically my brother, and with Odessa asking me with that hopeful note in her voice, I can’t say I won’t even try.
I take another deep breath and sit down on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Jett asks sharply.
“Sitting so if I pass out I won’t fall that far,” I say dryly.
“You’re not serious?” Dessa asks, bending down beside me. “Is that likely?”
I shake my head. “Likely? No. Possible? Yes. Just give me a minute.
“No offense, Kas, but I’m not sure I have a minute,” Jett says, a slightly hysterical note in his voice.
