Chapter 14 #2
“But we have to help,” Effie insisted. “We have to help her; I don’t care if it’s a trap.”
“Who can jump that high without scaling?” Tore asked, looking at Julian and Dakota.
“Me.” I answered immediately. “I can do it.” So could Effie in her new form, but I wasn’t about to remind her of that.
Effie looked up at me with concern, as if reading where my thoughts went. “I should try—”
“I’m doing it,” I said in a harder tone than usual. I couldn’t handle watching her place herself in danger again, not after that damn staircase.
Looking at the others, I warned, “I don’t know why Effie’s kitsune form didn’t affect you, but mine will probably burn your vision, so I would suggest looking away.”
Before I could shift, Effie tugged me down and a surprised noise left my throat as she kissed me hard and then stepped back, determination turning her expression fierce.
It pushed me to step back and shift immediately, wanting to give my kitten exactly what she wanted.
Also, after the intensity of that kiss, I didn’t trust myself to stay in my human form.
The minute I shifted, the woman’s scream rang out again.
Now she was waist-deep in the tarry substance.
Grabbing the diamond from Effie’s hand, I approached the organism, staring up at the distance between myself and the top, knowing I would need to jump over the abyss.
I didn’t think I would sink into its surface right away when I landed, but I tightened my hold on the diamond, not wanting it to be dropped in the process.
Luckily, the woman couldn’t see me, and she was too busy panicking about her own situation to try, so I wasn’t worried about her vision as I circled the organism, stopping when the woman’s back faced me.
Without overthinking it much, I backed up…
and then sprinted forward. I surged forward hard and fast, leaping upwards at the last possible moment and angling my body to hit the very top—right at the exact angle I needed and thankfully making it over the abyss.
I groaned, shifting back as my shoulder hit weird, and I rolled onto the oddly solid surface, one that didn’t match its appearance or the woman’s state of being half buried within it.
“Oh, thank the gods.” The woman stared up at me hopefully as the others opened their eyes and gathered as close as possible.
Kneeling down, I spoke to the woman in what I hoped was a calm voice. “We’re going to try something that’s worked for us before. I need you to hold this diamond and close your eyes, and tell me what it’s trying to tell you.”
“I promise it worked for me!” Effie called out.
The woman let out a shaky breath and took the stone, holding it over her head and trying to calm her breathing.
I watched her intently as she closed her eyes and focused on the diamond.
My brow furrowed as I felt the surface beneath me start to soften just the slightest bit.
I had a feeling that in a minute or so I would start sinking as well.
“What did it say?” Effie called out as the woman’s eyes opened.
“I’m not sure it’s working for me,” she murmured, looking torn and not meeting my gaze.
“What’s it saying?” I asked quietly.
“It’s saying to throw it…down into the abyss. Or to let it sink with me.”
I had to resist the urge to rip it right out of her damn hands. Effie had worked too damn hard for this stone. What if we needed it? What if this was a trap? I could think of a million fucking reasons why this was a bad idea.
“That doesn’t make sense; we need the diamond,” Effie said softly, but my ears picked it up.
“Why don’t I try to free you and bring us down—fuck.”
The tarry surface gave way beneath me, a sense of dread seeping into my chest as my frame sank halfway into it.
The woman’s small squeak of worry had panic filling my bond with Effie, and I tried to take a deep breath, wanting to reassure my mate but knowing I had limited time—seriously limited fucking time—and clearly I wasn’t going to get us down from here in any normal way because this shit was like quicksand.
“Let me see it,” I demanded, holding my hand out.
The woman reached over to place the diamond in my hand she sank further, the tar nearly over her shoulders.
Closing my eyes, I squeezed the diamond hard, willing it to give me another fucking answer—but she wasn’t lying.
Images of throwing it down or letting it sink under the surface played through my head.
This was fucking bullshit.
“Ryder! Just do it! Let it sink underneath.”
“Kitten…”
“Do it, Ryder, trust me!” Effie’s voice was firm, more serious than I’d ever heard it before.
And of course I fucking trusted her.
So I did it. I took the diamond in my hand and thrust it down into the creature, releasing it and letting go of our one hope of making it through this situation alive.
We had just lost the one thing that would help us get through this forest and to the garden.
We had just lost the one thing that would help me give Effie everything she wanted.