Page 32 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
We were accelerating. Fast.
I closed my eyes, clenching my hands and legs and every muscle in my body until I was a solid, unmoving thing.
Then we were airborne.
The wind we were creating, rushing past us, was deafening. I tried to suck in a breath and instantly had it knocked out of me. Instead of rocketing toward the sky on Kieran’s momentum alone, it now felt like we were being jerked up by a giant’s hand. Although I was beyond forming an actual thought, some part of me understood that this was the Springing Spell kicking in.
We slammed down on top of the wall, and Kieran stumbled a few steps before righting us. I hadn’t even processed until we landed that his arms, rather than being outstretched to steady us, were wrapped tightly across my back and hips.
In the distance, I heard the smacking of the soles of shoes against concrete. Nya. When the sound disappeared, I knew she had jumped.
Forty feet. Less than that, at this point. Under forty feet, and we were going to be following Nya down the other side.
“Almost there!”
Kieran’s enthusiasm did nothing to soothe me. A deep, primal kind of terror formed in my gut. It had me unintentionally loosening my grip around his neck as my vision swam. I flailed desperately for a handhold, my palms connecting with his deltoids and grabbing on for dear life.
“Careful,” he barked. He jerked my hands from his arms and wrapped them around his neck again.
The rebuke in his tone was so sharp that it snapped me out of my suffering for a moment. “What—”
The words fell away as he tightened his grip around me, bracing us.
I tilted my nose upward slightly, just enough that I could look over Kieran’s shoulder and see Cyllene receding in the distance. Then the ground went out from under us.
It felt like we were falling to our deaths.
All my senses went dark.
At some point, I had the vague awareness of something pushing against us, slowing us.
Then everything went dark again.
I couldn’t say how much time had passed when I became aware of an itchy, burning sensation against my cheek.
I lifted my head. Dark, twisting shapes came into focus. Grass. Tall grass, smashed down by my weight. And Kieran’s.
Kieran was flat on his back, and I was draped over him, my head hanging over his shoulder. I pushed up on tremoring arms to look at him.
Other than tousled hair, he appeared perfectly normal. His expression must have mirrored my own. Wide eyes searched my face to confirm that everything was as it should be.
“Feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I turned my head and vomited.
Kieran maneuvered me off him just in time.
“There it is,” he said sympathetically, barely hiding his amusement.
I would have said something witty back if I wasn’t busy emptying my stomach.
My ponytail disappeared behind me with a gentle tug. A large hand rubbed circles across my back. “There, there.” Kieran’s voice held a barely stifled laugh.
Crunching footfalls sounded behind us.
“Damn.” Nya’s voice. I heard the shuffling of her sifting through her backpack, then the sound of liquid splashing on the grass. Wet fabric pressed against the back of my neck. “The water’s not cold, but hopefully this helps.”
Tears were streaming down my face, but I was dry heaving now at least.
