Wicked Rebellion (Darkwater Reformatory Book 3) Page 18

  Rising to my feet, I shoved aside a pesky vine trying to delicately wrap itself around my neck. No hanging today, thanks.

  Striding forward, I drifted near the dark area where light from above did not reach, seeking something that would give me a clue I could use to get out of here. Or a test I could take that would get me out of here. We hadn’t speculated about what might happen if we left the test before we completed the task, though that was the loose plan: escape and go to the parallel world where we could remove our tennas and find a way off the island.

  As for Bixby’s threatened detonation, we’d worry about that once we’d escaped this test.

  In the catacombs, not completing a test and moving forward meant death. But Titan and Bixby had chased us. Had he died from the fall? We speculated he was a prop created by Bixby to drive us in the direction she needed us to go—toward the dragons.

  I circled the outside of the room, keeping within the light and on the sand. Beyond, huge slabs of brown granite speckled with gold, a muddy sky filled with stars, covered the ground. After I walked completely around the perimeter and found no way out of the sink hole, I stopped in front of the frog still sitting on the shore.

  “What now?” I asked. “I don’t see a hole in the ground I’ll conveniently fall through or a wall with a puzzle to solve. Are we going to hang out here forever?”

  Two days. Two days. The realization gnawed on my spine.

  The frog turned and hopped toward the edge of the room, moving into the shadows. With its dark skin, I could barely keep track of it, but I suspected I had to follow.

  I moved up the beach, my footsteps soundless on the soft sand. Behind me, something splashed in the pond, but when I turned, I found nothing but water lapping outward in a circle. Had that been a fish?

  My intuition told me everything in this test had a purpose. How would the splash—or what made the splash—be used against me?

  The room gave me no answers.

  Hurrying after the frog, I stepped beyond the reach of the natural light, and cool air sunk through my skin, reaching for my bones. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my waist.

  “Are you there, frog?” I whispered. Fear dragged down my spine. I didn’t like being in the dark. In a normal life? Sure. Not here, within a magical trial. Where was the way out? Or had we been mistaken? Maybe there was no way off the island other than by finishing the tests then begging Bixby to let us go. The odds of her releasing us had dropped during our last confrontation. The only way she’d let us go is if she could get something in return: our dragons.

  To make this work, we were going to have to be creative.

  A croak from ahead directed me to the frog. I’d started moving forward when another splash from the pond sent me spinning in that direction.

  The frog floated in the water, staring at me. “How did you get there?”

  Or was there more than one frog? To be sure, I ignored the floater and stepped closer to the cave’s wall, where I didn’t find the frog but did spy a pattern on the wall resembling something a kid might scrawl in white chalk.

  * * *

  O X O

  * * *

  I doubted anyone was suggesting hugs and kisses. Reaching out, I traced the patterns, but all I got for my efforts was white dust on my fingertip. I wiped it off on my pants, but my fingers stuck to the fabric, and I had to tug to get them off.

  “This is stupid,” I said, my frustration lifting my voice higher. “Tell me what I have to do to get through this test.”

  The frog croaked again.

  Returning to the shore, I stood on the edge as small waves eased back and forth by my feet, watching as the frog did the backstroke, floating around as if there wasn’t anything else to do today but swim.

  And maybe swimming would give me avenues I could pursue outside of hugging and kissing the frog. I splashed into the water, and then up to my waist. Pushing off, I flopped on my belly, aiming for the frog floating in the middle.

  I’d only stroked a few paces before vines plunged from the ceiling, grabbing me and lifting me up out of the water.

  As they secured their hold around my body, pinning my arms in place, I shot toward the stone ceiling.

  Rushing toward the roof, I braced myself for impact.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  With my arms bound to my sides, I couldn’t break the vines’ chokehold around my neck.

  As my vision darkened and the world closed in on me, I bucked and kicked, useless moves, but all I could do to break free.

  Hurtling toward the roof, I spied what appeared to be a mouth—complete with lips and fangs—opening in the ceiling to the side of the circular opening.

  I’d be eaten if I couldn’t figure this out.

  The mouth widened and gnashed its fangs, hungry to taste my flesh.

  I wiggled around and stuffed my hand into my pocket. The tiny trowel wouldn’t be better than a spoon against a hungry shark, but it was the only “weapon” I possessed. My fingers latched onto it, and I pulled it out. It grew to full size as I was dragged closer to the mouth, and I held it out in front of my belly, the only defense I could muster.

  As I was propelled toward the mouth, I maneuvered my body around so the trowel would hit first. Inside, I wailed. How in the hell was a gardening tool going to help me?

  I smacked sideways against the mouth and was grateful I was bigger than the opening. The vines yanked and tugged, trying to shift me around so I could be sucked inside. I tried to do something with the trowel but pinned as I was, I couldn’t poke the stony lips.

  I kept thinking about the “writing” O X O on the wall and wondered if it related to this puzzle and how it could be applied to the mouth. The kisses were obvious but how could smooching stone lips get me through a test? With my arms bound, I couldn’t hug anything. And the trowel was useless—thanks, Dad.

  The vines dropped me a few feet then lifted me again, slamming me against the stone wall. I smacked my head and stars flitted across my vision. At this rate, I’d be knocked out soon and solving this puzzle would no longer be an option.

  Smack. I was hauled against the stone.

  The mouth widened, revealing a gaping hole.

  Dropped again, I was slammed back up against the mouth.

  When I was lowered again, I decided to try a different tactic. As I was hauled toward the ceiling, I tucked my legs up and curled forward, making myself as small as possible.

  I shot into the mouth, and the lips closed behind me, locking me inside a small, wet, dark hole. The vines released me, and I tumbled onto a squishy, pillow-like surface, too close to a tongue for my comfort.

  Where was a flashlight when you needed one?

  Turning, I inspected this side of the mouth, but couldn’t find the opening. I fumed, but what could I do? This must be part of the test. Would I find a use for O X O or was that something meant to lead me astray?

  I knew one thing. I wasn’t kissing anything inside this cave creature.

  In the back of the mini-cave—I refused to think of it as a mouth, I located a tunnel leading downward. Did this test involve getting digested? If so, I had no idea how that would challenge me outside of surviving the process.

  And I also had no idea how I’d find a way out of the test. I might need to complete this one and then look for escape in the next.

  Damn Bixby.

  And damn Duvoe. Sometimes, it felt like I’d never escape Darkwater. And I so desperately needed to. Tension coiled inside me in a spring, ready to pop. Fleur… I couldn’t let the Master Seeker kill her.

  “This way,” someone called, I swore from inside the tunnel.

  I cupped my face and lifted my voice. “Brodin?”

  Brodin?…Brodin?…Brodin? My voice bounced back at me.

  Stepping forward, I approached the entrance to the tunnel. Dark, dark, and more dark awaited me. And drippy slime coated the walls. This was too much like a throat.

  But the mouth had closed. This must be the test
. I had no choice but to continue. I stepped downward. My foot slipped out from underneath me, and I smacked on my butt. I tumbled forward, jarring my shoulder and hip hard enough I groaned.

  Rolling, I picked up speed, taking hits all over my body.

  I landed hard on my belly, knocking the wind from my lungs. Unable to breath or think, I could only twitch my finger. I moved my foot. Groaning, I rose onto my hands and looked around.

  Light bloomed ahead of me, and Brodin emerged from the darkness with Jacey, Rohnan, and Kylie behind him.

  “There you are,” he said.

  “Wherever here is.” I climbed to my feet and brushed off my clothing but there was no getting rid of the goo.

  “It’s some sort of cave system,” Kylie said.

  “With a mouth,” I pointed out. “You’re sure we’re not in a creature’s belly?”

  Jacey shrugged. “Even if we are, there’s not much we can do about it.”

  “Have we all had the same experience?” I studied their faces. “You were kidnapped by frogs—”

  “Who looked like our stones,” Kylie said.

  True. Mine had been brown.

  “And then we were dragged through a hole, nearly drowning in the process, and emerged in a sinkhole where vines sucked us up and into a mouth,” Kylie said.

  “Yeah,” Jacey and Rohnan said together.

  “What do we do next?” I asked. “How are we going to get out of here?”

  “As for the test, no idea,” Brodin said, coming over to stand with me.

  “Have you tried shifting into your Eerie? You were able to go to the middle world to retrieve Kylie during that test in the catacombs. Maybe we’re making this more complicated than we need to.”

  “It’s a good idea but remember, even if I can shift us all out of here, we’re still wearing our tennas.”

  Which would blow us up the second we found a way to remove them, if Bixby was to be believed.

  “What if she’s lying?” I said. “Maybe we’ll remove them, and nothing will happen. We won’t have magic, but there must be something we can do here.” I didn’t need magic to save my sister. I’d find my grandfather and he’d help. I just had to get off the island.

  “Are you willing to test that theory?” Kylie said. “I’m not. I’m here for the challenges because they give me a chance to get free.”

  “Bixby will never release you,” Jacey said.

  Kylie’s chin lifted. “I have to try. But I’m not willing to test exploding tennas.”

  “You don’t have to,” Jacey said, joining me with Rohnan behind her. “You could stay here.”

  The four of us faced Kylie but she only pinched her hands together and cringed.

  “If you try that route, you don’t need me,” she said.

  “Do we?” Jacey asked. “How far does the quad—”

  Rohnan cleared his throat. “Quint. We’re a quint.”

  “You know I wasn’t intentionally excluding you.” She smiled and leaned into his side. “The point is, if we run, we probably don’t all need to go.”

  “I could stay and cover for you,” Kylie said eagerly.

  “You’d do that?” I asked.

  “Sure, I would. You may think I’m the bad guy here, but you’re losing focus.” A grim expression stole across her face. “Don’t forget who the real villain is. The one directing us all.”

  “Bixby,” I said in disgust. “To get out of here, we’re going to have to kill her.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “For Bixby,” I said. “I’m willing to consider murder.”

  “I think all of us are,” Rohnan said dryly.

  “Do any of you know much about the tennas?” I asked as we walked through a big, round tunnel with segments that reminded me too much of intestines. As long as the footing remained dry, I could pretend I was in a Darkwater tunnel. The best kind: one that would lead us to the next trap.

  “All I know,” Rohnan said with a nudge of his head toward Kylie leading the way. “Is that she’s not wearing one.”

  That was right.

  “Kylie,” I called out, stopping.

  She turned and came back to join us. “Yeah?” Reservation ruled her voice. But then, she was ready to take the fall for us and remain here to face Bixby if we found a way to escape. I’d feel reserved, too.

  “Tell me again. Why aren’t you wearing tennas?”

  “I’ve never had them. Remember? I’m part nymph.”

  “What does that have to do with it?” I asked.

  When she was Akimi, she jumped into the Reformatory Challenge with us, but she hadn’t been a prisoner of Darkwater as far as I knew.

  “Nymphs are impervious to most magic outside their own,” Rohnan said.

  “That’s why she’s using your sister,” I said, having an ah-ha moment. “She can’t manipulate you with magic.”

  “Other than the blood bond she said she agreed to,” Jacey said. “You did make a blood bond, didn’t you?”

  Kylie pinched her lips together with her teeth, either because she was unable to answer due to the bond or because she chose not to reply. Pressing her wouldn’t do any good.

  She sighed. “This was a choice. I joined the team willingly.”

  “To get more dragons,” Jacey said, tapping her chin.

  “We’ve been through this before,” Kylie said. “I get it. You hate me for what I’ve done even though I had no choice.”

  “I…don’t actually hate you,” I said. “We all mess up every now and then.”

  “What?” She took a step backward, banging into the rough wall behind her.

  “I said we all make mistakes.” A colossal one on her part, but who was I to bitch about what she did? I foolishly pursued my father to the point someone died. Sure, the Master Seeker might have killed her anyway, but who knows? If it had happened on a different day or time, there might have been a different outcome. She could be alive. Brodin would have a mother.

  “Too many people have been hurt already,” I said. “I don’t want to keep battling with you.” I held out my arms.

  “You…” Kylie shook her head, and her eyes shimmered. She morphed into Akimi and bowed. “I am grateful to you, Tria. I cannot tell you what your forgiveness means, but I hope to soon show you.”

  My doubts of her true identity were swept aside. “I didn’t think you could control the change from Kylie to Akimi.”

  “Without forgiveness, I couldn’t.”

  “You’re saying something bigger is going on here?” Jacey said. “You were entrapped by…I don’t know. A spell?”

  “Mostly.” She smiled at Jacey.

  “Tell us what this means,” Rohnan said.

  “I cannot, but soon…” She dipped forward. “Soon, I will show you.”

  It was clear we weren’t getting any more information from her, but I welcomed my old friend. I missed Akimi. I studied her face but didn’t see any resemblance. “Are you still Kylie?”

  Akimi bowed. “I am both, but this is my preferred form.”

  “Back to my earlier thought.” Jacey turned to Brodin. “Akimi wears no tennas.”

  “We established that,” she said.

  I still had a hard time reconciling Kylie and Akimi. I doubted we’d ever be close again. But we were no longer enemies and someday, we might be friends. I could live with that. After all, the future Kylie/Akimi had given me back my core magic.

  Brodin stepped closer to Akimi. “You weren’t able to do magic inside the catacombs, but if our theory is correct, that’s part of the bad Reformatory, and these tests are part of the parallel, good side. Because, if you can pull in power, I have an idea.”

  “I don’t know,” she said, her face pinched. “I was sent back to the prison the last time I reached the Reformatory.”

  “Where your magic worked again,” I said.

  “Only when I was outside the building. When I was Kylie and inside, I could not host power.”

  “Was the outside…?” I
smacked my forehead. “Do you think that’s also part of the parallel world? Meaning—”

  “Bixby only controls the bad part of the prison and Reformatory,” Brodin finished. “Assuming all this is true.”

  “Yes!” Jacey rocked forward on her toes. “There has to be a key here.”

  “If I could use power here,” Kylie said. “I could use my magic to help us get free. If I could get off the island, I could find my sister and save her. Then I wouldn’t be forced to go after more dragons.”

  We all nodded.

  “What should I do?” she said.

  “How about you start with breaking these things?” Rohnan asked, holding up his arms.

  “Do we dare?” Brodin asked.

  “If I didn’t want us to remove the tennas, I’d tell us we’d explode when we did it,” I said.

  Jacey’s worried glance darted to Rohnan. “We could die if we’re wrong.”

  “Are we any better off here?” I asked. “Bixby isn’t going to release us. She said that. She’ll toss in one test after another until we don’t make it through. We’re just a game to her. Entertainment.”

  “Let me try to break the tenna magic,” Akimi said. She stepped closer to Rohnan and closed her eyes. Her hum, rich and pure, filled the air.

  But when she opened her eyes, Rohnan’s tennas remained locked in place.

  Akimi’s branches drooped. “It is not working.”

  “I have another idea,” Brodin said. “We know the tennas won’t work on a nymph, and that’s why Bixby didn’t use them on you. Can you slide a bunch of small branches between my skin and a tenna? Maybe if the device loses contact with me, something exciting will happen.”

  “You’ll explode,” I said with a grimace.

  “I’ll risk it,” he said. “We need to know because, if it works, we’re free.”

  “And we can leave this test and cross the island, because we’ll have magic to fight off the fae creatures,” Jacey said. She grinned at me. “We can use your Seeker skills to escape after that.”