Page 67 of Reign of Light
It’s as if the time that no longer mattered merely an hour ago now flies by. When you have an unlimited amount, haste means nothing, but the moment that disappears, it is everything. We can’t waste another minute.
We can go home. We can leavetonightif we want to.
We were given our choice back, and the buzz of energy in the air makes me feel like the island is watching, waiting to see what we do with it.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Stay here,” Weston says firmly to Sig and Jorn as he grabs my hand and starts walking through the trees, back in the direction we came. “We’ll be right back.”
“Cap, I’m not going anywhere,” Sig says. Her head is still tipped back as she smiles up at the glowing trees, unable to take her eyes off them.
The glow disappears behind us, and the darkness returns as we hurry through the forest. Neither of us speaks. The weight of everything that is about to happen as well as the urgency to get where we are going is too much to focus on words. My mind whirls. The exact thing we’ve been searching for, and everything we thought was taken from us, is within our grasp.
The reality of our restored futures settles in my stomach like a stone in a pond. I’d been learning to accept the way life would be here in the days since Dane disappeared, but now, in this moment,tonight, it could all change.
Again.
We make it to camp quickly and don’t hesitate for a breath before barging through the portal. The night is dark, but it isn’t late enough that everyone would already be in the bunks, especially with no reason to wake up early to search for the healing waters. When I see a large group still settled in the clearing, I feel a small twinge of relief, accompanied by even more anticipation.
“Mara!” I scan the clearing, trying to find her among the faces shadowed by their fire’s glow. A figure stands on the other side of the pit, and I see right away that it’s Mara, with a look of confusion etched on her face.
“Lennox? What’s wrong?”
I dart toward the fire, closing the distance before calling out, “We need the pouch. Now!”
Her eyes flick between us as she hastily approaches. “Why? What’s going on?”
“We’ll explain everything later,” Weston says, stepping beside me. “We need it. Now. Then you need to gather everyone and meet us at the ship.”
Eyes widening, as if she’s already guessed what has happened, her jaw falls open and her head snaps to me.
“You found it?”
“We found it,” I say, tears filling my eyes at the hope that shines back at me in hers.
Without another word, she sprints across the clearing to the ladder, flying up the rungs before charging through camp toward the bunks. I can feel the anxious energy pouring off Weston as he watches her race through the walkway. He’s trying to keep it contained and in control, but I know it is killing him to stand here and wait on someone else.
I wrap my arm around his and lace our fingers together, squeezing tightly. He squeezes back and doesn’t let go, doesn’t lighten up as we wait for Mara to return.
The Voyagers in the clearing have barely noticed we are here. Rylan raises an arm at us in a wave, as if seeing us walk into camp is completely normal. I wave back weakly before sneaking a glance at Weston, watching as the muscle in his jaw works.
“Hey,” I say, trying to sound reassuring as my heart pounds in my chest from both the run here, and the longing to get back to that glowing patch of trees. “Everything will be alright. We found it. It’s not going anywhere.”
“What if it does?” he grumbles back. His eyes stay focused on the wooden pathway above us, waiting to see Mara start on her way back to us.
“You think it’s going to disappear?”
He tears his gaze away and looks down at me. “What if it does? We don’t know how long those flowers will bloom. Do we want to risk missing it?”
Pressure fills my chest as my fingers tingle. The dust disappearing wasn’t something I had considered in the moments since we found it, but Weston is right. I don’t want to take the chance that we’ll miss it and lose our hope once again.
We need to get the pouch and get back there as soon as possible. Mara needs to hurry.
She appears seconds later, sprinting until she hits the platform and kicks the latch so it falls to the ground. When she reaches us, she’s out of breath, panting heavily as she holds her hand out to Weston.
“Here,” she breathes. “Go get it.”
Weston grabs it with his free hand, and gestures to the Voyagers sitting in the clearing. “Get everyone back to the ship. Wait for us there. Tell Veck to gather everyone on deck. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
