Page 81 of Poison Sun

Maybe.

But I don’t think so.

“The wind’s what?” he asks, and I can see in his expression that if I tell him the truth, it’ll break him.

So, I reach for him, taking his hand in mine.

“It’s nothing,” I manage, although I don’t know why I expect him to believe me, given how unconvincing I sound. “It’s probably just an animal, or the valley playing tricks. After all, we’re in the Valley of the Vanished. Weird stuff happens here.”

Blaze studies me, his expression a mix of skepticism and concern.

Finally, he nods, letting it go.

“We should keep moving,” he says, and there’s a weight to his words that tells me this conversation isn’t over.

“Into the valley?” I ask, releasing his hand.

“Yes. Into the valley.”

And so, we continue onward.

We don’t get far before the sun is replaced by a darkening sky that covers its light completely. The air grows colder, a chill that seeps into my bones, and the clouds swirl, converging into a storm that appears out of nowhere.

Thunder rumbles overhead.

“That doesn’t sound good,” I say, and then lightning forks across the sky, illuminating the valley in brief, stark flashes.

A bolt of it strikes the ground in the center, frying the grass beneath it. Another one does the same, slightly closer to us this time.

“Run!” Blaze says, and he grabs my hand, pulling me back to where we came.

We don’t get far before smacking into an invisible wall.

No.

I push against it, pounding it, but it’s no use.

We’re stuck.

There’s nowhere else for us to go but through the storm.

Morgan

The rain’s pelting us now, each drop stinging like tiny needles.

“Are you sure you can’t fire travel with both of us?” Blaze asks. “Bring us to the opposite side of the valley?”

I hesitate, thinking.

“I’ve only ever done it alone,” I tell him. “Adding another person could… well, I don’t know what it could do. Drain my magic? Leave you here alone? Hurt you?”

“Your magic is strong.” He takes my hands and squeezes them, as if giving me strength. “And if you end up on the other side of the valley, you can just come back, and we can try something else.”

I glance across the valley. The storm is intensifying, lightning streaking across the sky like the veins of the gods, and it makes my stomach fill with dread.

Do it, the wind seems to call out to me. Fire travel with him. Hurt him. Turn him to ash. Kill him to save yourself.

It doesn’t matter that it’s basically impossible to kill a witch with fire, since it’s the element we control. Fear travels up to my throat anyway, and it takes everything in me to swallow it down. Fear for Blaze’s safety, and because this magic is invading my mind, forcing me to consider injuring this man who I’m growing to care about more than I thought possible in such a short timeframe.

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