Page 49 of Run of Ruin

She looked up at me, eyes wet. “That day, I swore I’d never be caught like that again. If there’s something to know about someone, I will find it. I will see it.”

I reached up and cupped her cheek, thumb brushing away the tears. To hell with what Zaffir said, I trusted Briar at this moment. I knew she was telling me the truth. I knew this was raw honesty. This was her story, and she felt comfortable enough to share it with me.

“Thank you for telling me,” I whispered.

She leaned into my touch just slightly. “Thank you for listening.”

A few hours later we were packed up and back on the trail. Briar had been modest when she mentioned that she and Thorne were comfortable in the woods. Watching them move through the trees, navigate the terrain, and hunt with the precision of seasoned experts, I almost felt like a useless third wheel. They moved like they were part of the wilderness, not just in it, and I was just trying to keep up.

“Not that way,” I called, as Thorne began to track down a hill to the northeast.

“Praxis is that way, love,” Thorne replied, his voice calm and unbothered, as though it was a simple correction.

“Yes, but at the base of this hill is a lake,” I said, pointing. “And we’re not going to be able to swim it.”

Both of them stopped, blinking at me in unison.

“Can you hear the water or something?” Briar asked, lifting an ear, trying to catch whatever it was I was hearing.

I shook my head. “No, I saw it.”

The two of them exchanged a puzzled glance.

“When I was falling from the plane,” I explained, shrugging like it was nothing.

“That was three days ago,” Briar said, her voice tinged with disbelief.

“And you were falling from a plane…” Thorne added, as if he was still processing it. “Are you sure?” he asked, genuinely shocked, but not accusatory.

“Yeah, I’m positive,” I replied, not bothering to explain the details of my fall. They didn’t need to know everything.

There was a long pause where I wasn't sure if they would believe me or trust me. I didn’t totally blame them, if I was wrong, I’d be taking them hours out of the way. “Lead the way, love,” Thorne said with a smile, a sense of ease in his voice that made me relax a little. It felt really good to know that they trusted me.

I turned us due north, guiding us down the hill. We’d reach the northern edge of the lake, then follow it along the shore for a few hours, cutting east once we were past it. It felt strange to be the one leading, especially after watching them both navigate so expertly.

A few hours later, we spilled out onto lower ground just north of the large, uncrossable lake.

“Damn, Hollis,” Briar said, her voice low as she whistled. “You just saved us hours of backtracking.”

“Other muscles, I guess,” I said with a grin, glancing at her. She met my smile, and the warmth in her expression made me feel something flutter inside my chest.

“Alright, how’d you do that?” Thorne asked, meeting my gaze with an excited spark in his eyes. “How’d you rememberthe lake? We’re probably seventy miles away from the drop site at this point.”

I hesitated, then took a breath, reaching up to switch off my camera.

They followed suit, their cameras clicking off with a quiet sense of solidarity. It felt like a weight had lifted. No longer were we under the gaze of the cameras, with the world watching our every move.

I promised myself I’d keep my little ‘superpower’ to myself so I didn’t make myself a target. But somewhere between being chased by a bobcat and this moment, I grew to trust these two, and I found that I wanted to tell them.

“My memory is... really good,” I said, keeping it simple, even though I knew the truth was more complicated.

“Good…” Thorne repeated, furrowing his brow.

“Like eidetic?” Briar asked, her gaze sharp and inquisitive.

I nodded.

“That’s wicked,” Thorne exclaimed, clapping his hands together with a grin. “So what, you just saw the lake and remembered where it was?”

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