Page 35 of Ruthless Fae
“How much longer?” Becca moaned as the sun began to sink.
Vaughn sniffed the air. “We’re almost there.”
He was right. I could smell the salty sea air trickling in through the branches. The call of gulls echoed over our footsteps. A few more minutes and we broke through the trees to catch a glimpse of the sea below us.
The water was blue, flecked with caps of white as the waves washed into shore. The sea birds whirled in the twilight air, cawing to one another before plummeting into the surf to catch their dinner.
Speaking of dinner, we hadn’t eaten all day and had no food waiting for us in the cave. It reminded me of some of those lean days when I’d first come to the island. Only, this time no one would come with MRE packages.
I made a mental note to figure out the food and water situation as soon as we reached safety.
“We should stay out of sight,” Vaughn said as if cueing in on my thoughts. “An entrance to the caves is right down there.” He pointed to a jagged rock edge in the distance. I could see the dark entrance at the bottom, but how would anyone get there without wings? Maybe there was a path.
Being out in the open was too big of a risk, so we hunkered in the trees as the sun set and darkness descended. The darker it got, the more worried I became about how the others might get into these caves without falling to their deaths or stumbling on some sort of creature while scuttling around in the dark. But I didn’t ask Vaughn for fear of scaring the others.
As soon as night had fallen, I got everyone up again. “We should go. The sooner we’re in there the better.”
With only a few grumbles, we followed Vaughn to the edge of the cliff. I waited for him to point out where we might climb down, but he just stood on the edge and gazed over. “Who wants to go first?”
“First for what?” I asked, stepping forward. As I peered over, there was no path visible, only a sheer wall of rock that dropped approximately forty feet into dark water.
“We have to jump,” he said.
“What?!” Becca shouted.
“Jump?” Ronnie took several steps backward.
Vaughn sighed. “The only people who come here are werewolves, and they don’t fear the jump. I thought maybe one or two of you might be brave enough, but if not, maybe Tally you could help get them down?”
I glanced at him as if he was crazy. “I can’t carry another person who weighs as much as I do. I might be able to slow our fall, but we’d definitely end up in the water and you know how well it goes when my wings get wet.”
Vaughn frowned. “Then we have to jump. Everyone who’s done it has survived.”
“But they’re all werewolves!” Ronnie said, flapping his arms in panic.
I rubbed my head with my hands. “Maybe there’s another way.”
But as I said that, the sound of engines reached my ears. When I turned around, headlights appeared along the grassy area beside the cliff face. Either the patrol had found us or would soon.
“We have to go,” I said whirling around. “We have to jump now. It’ll be okay.” I tried to look reassuring, but it didn’t seem to help. Ronnie was hyperventilating, and Becca kept sayingno, no, noover and over again.
Vaughn grabbed Ronnie by the shoulders. “Listen to me. You can do this. It’s just like one of your outdoorsman badges. You need to jump with your feet straight down, cross your legs at the ankles, and put your arms over your chest like this.” Vaughn demonstrated. “Got it?”
Ronnie, still very pale, nodded.
“When you’re in the water, spread your arms and legs out like a starfish. Then kick and dig upward. You’ll be okay. I’ll go first and help you.” The two locked eyes for a moment and Ronnie nodded.
“I can do this,” he said, puffing out his breath. “I can do this.”
Becca scrunched up her face. “Forget it. I’m out.” With two waves of her hand, a tingle of magic filled the air, and Becca disappeared.
“What the…?” Vaughn said as we stared at the spot where she used to be.
She could teleport herself? Since when?
The engines churned closer, the hungry headlights eating up dirt as they approached.
“No time,” I said. “Go.”
