I looked at Marroc, my thoughts whirling. “There must be another option. Could you do a spell that would help us float down?”
He shook his head.
I pointed at the tree branch beneath me. “But you have plenty of magic—you can drink magic from the tree, right?”
I’ve never memorized a levitation spell.
“So, what other options does that leave us? We can’t climb down the trunk. We can’t climb up the trunk. We could go back out on the branch, but that doesn’t lead anywhere, and even if it did, the wind might blow us off.”
Marroc took a step closer to the edge of the branch, and my heart sped up. He wore a sly smile, eyes twinkling as he held his notebook up to me. I will find a way to come back for you.
“You can’t be serious.”
He sheathed his daggers. Falling… the fastest way to the bottom.
And that gave me an idea.
“Wait!” I shouted, so loud it could wake the dead. “There’s another way.”
I hummed the Rick Roll song under my breath, walking in front of Marroc. We’d carefully made our way back to the leafy section of the tree. I called Skalei to me as I knelt next to one of the leaves.
“Help me hold on to the leaf,” I said.
Marroc arched an eyebrow, looking very doubtful. But still, he gripped the leaf in his massive fist as I began to slice its stem. After I’d cut through, he helped me balance the leaf on a crook of the branch.
I knelt, Skalei in one hand, and pulled the vergr crystal from my pocket. Carefully, I laid it in the center of the leaf. Then, using the edge of Skalei’s blade, I sliced strips from the leaf. I used them to lash the crystal to the leaf.
When I was sure that it was secure, I stood back.
“All right,” I said. “We can release it anytime. Our homemade airplane.”
Marroc arched another quizzical eyebrow—and with that one dubious look, I started to have my doubts. Yes, it was risky. I had no way to control where the leaf drifted. It could get caught up on a lower branch, or wedged in a crack high on the cavern wall. It could even be blown higher by cosmic winds. When I teleported us to it, we could end up appearing in midair. Plummeting to our deaths was a possible scenario.
Before Marroc could hesitate any longer, the air stirred. I instinctively grabbed on to a nearby leaf as a gust shook the branch.
And as the gale blew over us, I watched the leaf with my crystal fall free. It hung for a second as though taking a final look at us, then glided silently into the darkness.
Chapter 25
Marroc
Ali stood by my side. We watched as the leaf drifted off into the shadows.
She had a habit of humming to herself quietly. It had annoyed me at first, but it was starting to grow on me. I found myself wanting to learn things about her. What had led her to become an assassin? How long had she lived in Boston?
And who the fuck was Barthol?
I stopped myself from asking anything. Even if jealousy seared me down to my bones, I’d never allow myself to show it. I had enough pride to hide it.
Also, I couldn’t speak, so asking her questions was awkward. I had only my paper and pen.
I slid my hand into my pocket, my fingers grazing an ancient human musical device. Something had compelled me to bring it with me. I supposed I knew Ali would like it, since she’d seemed so enchanted by the old human world, and by music. I wanted to give it to her, but I’d wait for the right time. When she was relaxed, maybe.
As we waited in the dimness, the air was still. A single ray of green light sifted from above us.
We didn’t know how far it was to the ground or how long it might take for the leaf to reach it. A few minutes? An hour? Most likely, the leaf was already nestled among the roots below. But it was also possible that it still drifted on the strange cosmic winds. If we teleported too early, we might reappear a thousand feet above the ground and immediately plunge to our deaths.
I looked to Ali, but she didn’t look at me. Instead, she stared into the darkness below us. She’d pushed her silver hair behind her ears so that I could see