But if the castle fae had somehow spotted me cross the bridge, I couldn’t risk leading them to Teine. They’d slaughter everyone who so much as looked at me, let alone helped me.
Branches slapped my arms as I tore through the forest, aiming my sights on the edge of the chasm just through the clearing on my right. Here, no one would be able to spot me. The trees were my shields.
I slowed to a stop at the edge of the chasm. I hadn’t scaled down this section of the rock face before, so plenty of gemstones should be waiting near the top. Without a rope to ensure my safety, I couldn’t risk climbing too far down.
As I stared into the shadowy depths of the chasm, nerves tangled around my gut. This was a very bad idea. I could die trying to get my hands on more gems. But I also wouldn’t be able to protect myself if I turned back now. I’d done this before, I reminded myself. Well over thirty times. Iknewhow to do this. My body was weary, but I was still strong.
After shoving up my sleeves, I gripped the edge of the cliff and eased my legs around the side. They skidded against the rock as I searched for purchase. Heart hammering, I jammed the toe of my boot into a crevice. Thank the light. Carefully, I glanced around at the surface beneath me.
There, another place my feet could grip. I followed the motions, my instincts taking over. Muscles groaning from weeks of no climbing, I inched down the side of the cliff so slowly that an hour must have passed by before I found my first stone.
Sticking my tongue between my teeth, I clung on with one hand while I fumbled for the wooden dagger strapped to my waist. My fingers screamed, my body shaking.
“Light, I wish I had a rope,” I hissed between my teeth, sweat beading on my forehead.
My hand closed around the dagger. Arms shaking, I pressed against the chasm wall. I had to grip the rock face with the edges of my fingers, since the dagger was in the way. It was barely enough to hold me in place.
This was going to be even harder than I’d thought.
“Come on, Tessa. You can do this.” Now, I was talking to myself. The fear was making me a little delirious.
Forcing myself to remain calm, I got to work on the gemstone. It was slow work, prying the thing out with what I had. My old tools were back home, and I couldn’t risk going back for them. But soon, the gemstone popped free and dropped into my hand. I pocketed it and moved on to the next.
I was three gemstones in when an inhuman shriek echoed through the whistling cavern.
I craned my head to glance over my shoulder, my body tense. There, on the opposite side of the chasm, the three pookas who had chased us here were prowling through the mists.
They’d found me.
“Fuck,” I whispered, pocketing the third gemstone and starting to climb. I tipped my head back to gaze up at the top of the chasm. It would take a few minutes to reach it, and the pookas wouldn’t follow me there, but as long as I was in the chasm—
A pooka screamed as it launched off the opposite side and hurled its body through the air. With a rasping breath, I scrabbled up the rock face as fast as I could. It was coming right for me.
The pooka slammed against the rock face a yard farther down. Sweat dripped into my eyes as I stared down at him. His claws punched the rock, stopping him from tumbling into the abyss. And then, slowly, he lifted his head toward me and snarled.
My heart jolted and I scrambled up the cliff. Hand over hand, foot over foot, I moved as fast as my mortal body would allow.
I didn’t know what I would do if it reached me. I wouldn’t be able to fight it off.
Another pooka threw itself off the cliff.
I kept climbing.
This one didn’t fare as well. It missed its mark and fell into the darkness.
The third continued to pace on the opposite side of the cliff while the first chased me up the rock. It was gaining fast. I climbed, closer and closer to the top.
A shadow darkened the sky above as a figure leaned over the side of the chasm’s edge. Midnight, still in his joint eater form, glared down at me with venomous eyes. Smoke curled from where his bark-like skin burned.
“Hurry,” he scraped out in that strange, terrifying voice. Kneeling, he held out a blood-drenched claw. The pooka grabbed my ankle, shrieking, while the third soared from the opposite side, claws outstretched.
It hit the rock, scrabbling up behind us.
I grabbed Midnight’s rough hand and clung on tight while he tried to pull me out of the pooka’s grip.
“Hold on,” he wheezed, planting his feet firmly in the soil. With a roar, he yanked hard.
I reached the edge, body scraping against rock. My elbows dug into the grass as I tried to kick off the pooka. A bone snapped in my ankle, blinding me with pain. I screamed, the sound echoing through the cavern.