"Maybe I -" I started again, but before I could say another word, Bex grabbed my arm.
"Cam, listen!"
The forest was dark and still. Only the faintest hint of stars and moonlight shone through the dense canopy of trees.
I felt someone poke me, and I turned to look at Bex, who raised one finger, as if to say, listen closer. And then I heard it: a distant rumble, low and steady, drifting through the trees.
Zach started walking, and the four of us followed until the leaves overhead began to hin, and we were back under the open sky. Soon, we were staring over the side of a massive cliff, listening to a deafening roar.
" What is that? " Macey yelled, peering over the edge.
Zach didn't even glance at the river that raged beneath us, slicing through the wilderness two hundred feet below.
"That's our ride."
Anyone who's ever driven by the Gallagher Academy can see it standing safely behind its tall stone walls and strong fences. With one glance at the mountains that rose above us and the roaring river that raged below, I realized that the Blackthorne Institute had its own kind of walls. By the time we'd rappelled down the side, persuaded Liz into a flimsy black rubber boat, and pushed into the current, I'd realized that the Gallagher Academy might have the best security money can buy, but what Blackthorne had was priceless.
(Note to self: if you somehow get a real Covert Operations teacher before the end of the semester, this field op should be worth extra credit.)
"Are you sure there's no other way in?" Liz asked. Her eyes were closed, and she was holding her second-favorite laptop, wrapped in a watertight case, as if her life depended on it.
Zach laughed. "Only the ones that sane people would use."
The whitecaps were come faster. My fingers froze around my paddle, and as we crested a massive wave, Liz would have flown free had Bex and I not been there to grab her.
"And what's wrong with being sane?" Macey yelled through chattering teeth over the roar of the water.
Zach smiled and yelled, " Insane means fewer cameras!"
I didn't think it was possible, but in the next second I could have sworn the water started rushing faster. The roar became louder. Through the light of the moon, I could see the water stretching out before us, and then . . . nothing. It was as if the river before us had fallen off the face of the earth.
"Zach . . ." I didn't try to hide the panic in my voice. "Zach, why did the river disappear?"
I asked, already dreading the answer. "Zach!"
And with that, the ground, the water, everything fell out from beneath us and we rushed over the falls. It was like a roller coaster - but faster. And wetter. And far less comfortable as we tumbled through the night sky, waiting for the splash.
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HOW TO BREAK INTO BLACKTHORNE
(A list by Operatives Morgan, Baxter, Sutton, and McHenry)
Step 1. Become slightly crazy.
Step 2. So crazy you actually volunteer to go over a fifty-foot waterfall.
Step 3. Swallow a lot of very cold river water.
Step 4. Cough and gag.
Step 5. Repeat Step 4 until it feels like maybe your lungs aren't inside your body anymore.
Step 6. Remember that a really cute boy is beside you, so try to cough in a far more attractive manner.
Step 7. Be grateful you're still alive.
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