Yield the Night (19 page)

Miysis and one of his men drew their swords. Positioning themselves as close as they could without getting tangled in the tendrils too, they raised their blades, and on some silent signal, simultaneously slashed down. The blades sliced through the roots.

Ash pulled at the same time, heaving her away from the tree. A few roots clung on tenaciously, trying to drag her back. Miysis quickly cut them. Piper staggered, abruptly free. Ash helped her straighten, then began plucking the severed roots off her. She looked down, saw they were still moving, and had to choke down a horrified squeal.

Miysis sheathed his sword and started pulling roots off her back.

“Get them all,” he said. “They can take days to die.”

Hands shaking, she stood with her arms out while the two daemons plucked all the roots off her. While Miysis was untangling a dozen from her hair, she untucked her shirt and reached under it to pull some out of her bra. Ugh. She was never going near a tree in the Overworld again.

“I think that’s all of them,” Ash said, flinging the last one into the grass. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “What the hell was that? Why did the tree tangle me up?”

“It wraps up anything that touches it.” Miysis shrugged. “Dead things make good fertilizer.”

She looked at him, then at the tree, eyes wide with horror.

“Well done,” Seiya mocked, appearing behind Ash. “Jumping right into the tree. Are you suicidal?”

“This huge dizzy spell hit me,” Piper said defensively. “I didn’t mean to stumble into the tree. I didn’t even know which way was up or down.”

“A side effect of the rune spider venom,” Miysis said. “You’ll likely have recurring periods of dizziness for the rest of the day.”

“I’m fine now.” She shot Seiya a nasty glare. “We can keep going.”

They started out again, returning to the same order. This time, Ash stayed right behind her, nearly stepping on her heels. The path narrowed and grew steeper as they descended deeper into the valley. Luckily, as there was no room to detour, no more trees hung over the path. On her right was a steep slope, nothing but grass and small, struggling plants. A foot beyond the edge of the trail on her left was a straight plunge into the raging river.

The sound of the water grew louder and louder until it was a ceaseless roar. Piper trudged after Lyre, her steps heavy. What she wouldn’t give for a ten-minute break. Not that there was anywhere to stop. The adrenaline from the tree incident had left her legs shaking, but dizziness no longer threatened her balance.

Ahead of them, the mountain filled their path, curving across the river. Water boiled and frothed where it met the barricade of rock. The water had carved a small pool and the current violently swirled inside it. She could just make out the mouth of the cave where the water funneled in. The river fought the inevitable, the current whirling and crashing among the rocks as though trying to claw its way back upstream.

She didn’t have a clue how Miysis intended to get them across. The path they were following meandered lower and lower down the mountainside as they approached the insurmountable obstacle of the sheer cliff blocking their way forward. She followed Lyre as they filed down the path toward the cliff face. The trail dipped until the raging current was only a dozen yards below.

They were nearly at the end of the path before Piper saw how they would be crossing. Etched into the side of the mountain was a narrow trail—little more than a crumbling ledge—that crossed the face of the cliff a few yards above the mouth of the cave. They were going to cross
there
? On that tiny ledge?

When they reached the end of the trail, Miysis turned back to face the rest of the line. The mountain rose behind him, casting its shadow across the entire valley.

“Be careful here,” he shouted over the roar of the water. “The rocks are wet and slippery. Single-file. Take your time.”

Piper turned to Ash. “Wouldn’t it be safer to fly across this part?”

He shook his head. “Not this close to the water. Dropping glamour now would be like a beacon to the ryujin.”

She swallowed hard.

“The ledge isn’t as narrow as it appears from here.” He took her shoulders and turned her back toward the cliff where Miysis had started across. He walked normally; he didn’t have to sidle along with his back pressed to the stone wall.

“See?” Ash said in her ear. He squeezed her shoulders. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay,” she said. No one else was freaking out. She would be fine.

Pushing her shoulders back, she followed after Lyre. The rocky path turned smoothly to join the ledge. She stopped to watch Lyre take his first few steps. It wasn’t that bad. The path was almost a foot and a half wide. Easy, right?

Glancing at Ash to make sure he was right behind her, she stepped onto the ledge. Resisting the urge to press her back to the cliff wall, she kept one hand on the rocky surface for balance and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She kept her eyes on Lyre, who was several steps ahead of her and by all appearances unconcerned by the fifteen-foot drop to the raging waters below. She could probably survive dropping fifteen feet onto rock, but no one could survive that river.

Halfway there, she relaxed a little. Directly below her was the mouth of the cave. Weird suction noises pierced the roar of the water as it splashed against the opening. She glanced down, awed by the power of the water as it tore in swirling spirals around the small pool before vanishing beneath the mountain.

And that’s when the dizziness hit.

The world spun. She didn’t know which way was up or down. Her balance vanished and she pitched forward with no idea where the cliff was—or the drop to the deadly waters below.

Ash’s hands clamped around her waist and he yanked her back into him. On his other side, Seiya grabbed his arm, making sure he was firmly balanced as he steadied Piper. She pressed a hand to her head, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Her heart pounded. That had been close. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and found the world was steady again.

“Thanks,” she said.

Ash’s grip loosened. “Let’s get you to the other side. Take it slow.”

She cautiously stepped away from him. He kept one hand lightly on her waist as he followed directly behind her. She kept her eyes off the river and watched the ledge. Mist sprayed her face, carried by the breeze, and settled on the glittering, blue-streaked rocks in a slippery sheen. Lyre waited a few steps ahead for her to catch up before continuing toward safety. Ten feet to go.

She stepped again, and with a sudden crack of breaking rock, the ledge crumbled.

Seemingly in slow motion, she pitched sideways as the rock vanished from under her left foot, her sudden motion tearing her out of Ash’s grip. Her eyes met his as she fell backward with nothing but air below her. Her mouth opened to scream.

Ash lunged for her, reaching out over empty space to grab her outstretched hand. Seiya grasped his other arm to keep him from falling over the ledge.

Ash’s hand swung toward hers. She could see the perfect trajectory as though someone had drawn a diagram over the scene: her hand swinging toward his, his arching down toward hers. His hand would close securely around her wrist, her grip locking around his in turn. In the slow motion bubble of time in her head, relief swept through her.

And then Seiya yanked Ash back from the ledge.

Horror filled his eyes. His fingertips brushed hers as their hands swept past each other’s.

Her bubble of slowed time popped and her scream filled her ears as she plunged into the icy river.

CHAPTER
14

I
F
P
IPER
had been lucky, she would have landed in the pool in front of the cave’s entrance and been caught in the swirling current that spun around the bowl. It would have whisked her in a violent circle, spinning her past rocks and shattered bits of trees and other debris that had been beaten to pieces by the current. As dangerous as that would have been, it would have given Ash time to drop his glamour and sweep down on agile wings to pluck her from the water—but if she’d had any luck, she wouldn’t have fallen in the first place.

She hit the water, plunged beneath its surface, and was instantly sucked into the cave.

Pitch darkness swallowed her. The current was like a giant beast all around her, throwing her one way, tossing her another. She spun in the freezing water, tumbling over and over as it whipped her around. Her head broke the surface and she gasped a panicked breath before the river pulled her down again.

Pain exploded through her thigh when she hit the first rock. The water dragged her along as it raced recklessly through the winding, night-black cave. The second rock broke her arm. A scream burst out of her, echoing off the cave walls before the current dragged her under and water filled her lungs.

Spinning, tumbling. Her head popped above the surface and she fought to keep it there as she hacked up water and gasped for air. Her stomach swooped as she was dropped over a small waterfall and pushed down to the riverbed. The current grabbed her again, whipping her downstream. Another rock, the same arm crushed. She nearly blacked out.

Another drop. Faster and faster. More rocks. Pain everywhere, chest burning. Water in her mouth, in her lungs.

She jerked to an agonizing stop.

Water pounded against her back, trying to beat her back into motion. She hacked and coughed, fighting to breathe as she clutched at the object that had stopped her. Her sword. It had caught crosswise between two rocks, too long to fit between them. She hung on to it despite the pain, the sheath digging into her hips as the water fought to push her through the gap.

She couldn’t see anything. There was no light. No sound but rushing, roaring water. She had no idea how far the current had carried her.

No one could save her. The cave system was over a mile long. No one could get in the entrance without sacrificing themselves to the river as well. Even if she could get on top of one of the rocks, there was no way out.

No way out but to ride the current for a mile until she reached the other end.

“No,” she wept, the roar of the water swallowing her voice. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let the water take her again and—

Her sword slipped on the slick rock and she plunged back into the current.

It whipped her into motion. She hit another rock. Agony exploded in her hip. Another drop over a small waterfall. Swirling, tearing water. Burning pain in her chest. Water in her lungs, mouth, stomach, eyes. Freezing cold. Her limbs had gone numb.

She spun and spun. It went on forever. Every time it seemed as though she would surely drown as the water summersaulted her beneath the surface, spinning and whirling, the current would push her back up at the last second and she would gasp in a few precious breaths before another current pulled her down, another rock smashed her body, or another waterfall plunged her into its depths.

Whirling, spinning, tumbling. And then, suddenly, sunlight blasted her face. The echoing roar of the water in the caves changed as fresh air swept into her lungs. The swirling current smoothed, rushing forward in a straight path. No more rocks. No more deadly twists and turns or boiling, frothing currents.

She was out of the cave. Somehow her head was above water. Rocky shores sped by on either side. She tried to move her limbs, to swim for the shore, but her arms and legs wouldn’t work. Numb from the icy mountain water, she couldn’t feel them. She spun slowly, not understanding why she wasn’t sinking.

As she turned in the racing water, she saw it. Ahead of her. Closing fast.

The horizon.

The river ended at nothing.

And then she heard it—the waterfall. It must be Two Dragon Falls.

The water rushed toward the cliff, carrying her helplessly along with it. She couldn’t escape. She could barely keep her head up. The current spun her in another circle, turning her away from the terrifying sight that awaited her. The mountain rose behind her. Somewhere on the other side, Ash and the others were probably heading back to the ley line. They had no reason to continue their journey without her.

She stared at a black blot in the sky for several seconds.

Wings.

Black wings pumping fast. The spot grew larger. Impossible. Ash? It had to be him. Then she remembered the leather strap around her wrist, the buckle infused with Ash’s tracking spell. He’d flown
over
the mountain to find her—probably expecting to pull her battered body from the cave’s exit.

Instead, he would be fishing her broken body from the bottom of the waterfall.

He shot toward her. The river carried her toward the cliff. She tried again to kick her legs but dull pain met her efforts. The current continued to spin her, turning her again to face the fast-approaching drop. The water picked up speed. The roar filled her ears, filled her head. Ash was too far. Whatever lingering willpower had kept her head above water finally failed her. She slipped beneath the surface, sinking into icy darkness.

Ash plunged into the water and his arms closed around her. He heaved her up. Her face broke the surface. They swirled together in the river. The edge was right there. Ash couldn’t take flight from the water. He clutched her to him as the world turned to roaring white.

They plunged over the edge.

Ash’s arms crushed her. Freezing air hit her soaked clothing as they free fell alongside the plummeting water. Then Ash’s wings opened, catching the air, and they were soaring away from the waterfall.

She hung in his arms with no will to move. He was safe. He hadn’t died with her. She was so happy he was safe.

Cliff walls disappeared. Ash descended toward the valley floor—toward the forest of blue-green things. He swept into the first clear spot, a little opening beside a quiet pool off the main flow of the channel. He landed and immediately knelt to lay her gently on the soft moss. He shimmered back into glamour, his wings disappearing.

“Piper?” he said hoarsely. His chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath. “Piper?”