but my foothold skidded, and dirt rained down. I landed on my ass but bounced right back onto my feet and jumped at the packed earth, attempting to claw my way up as the wolves galloped closer. Remo crouched and stretched an arm out. I slapped my palm into his, and he swung me up just as one of the beasts launched itself at where I’d been a second earlier, scuttling like an uncoordinated spider.
I shut my eyes as the force of Remo’s pull had us both tumbling into the hard-packed soil of the platform. The ground shook, and I thought it was from our fall until it shook again and again as lupa after lupa slammed into the dirt wall, trying to reach us. The creatures snarled, the sound bloodcurdling.
I sat up, my head swimming, my blood thrashing. A wolf jumped at the embankment, its curved claws finding purchase on the ledge. For the longest second of my entire life, I thought it would manage to pull itself up. And probably so did Remo, because he shot to his feet and grabbed my arm, almost dislocating my shoulder in the process.
The wolf tumbled onto its haunches but got back up in the blink of an eye and snapped, globs of saliva dripping into the trampled dirt at his feet. The rest of his pack snarled and barked, scratching at the wall as though to bring it down.
Remo still clutched my arm. I was too terrified to shake him off, and he was too transfixed by the predatory beasts to realize he was still holding me. Unless he did realize it and had decided I couldn’t be trusted with my own life.
“My apple,” I said, suddenly realizing I’d dropped it.
Remo breathed hard but glared harder. “Seriously, Amara?”
The wolves growled and prowled and leaped but didn’t manage to reach us. One of them sniffed the fruit, knocking it with its muzzle. The Alpha took interest in it next and shoved its packmate. After a long sniff, the mammoth wolf huffed and turned away.
“If that doesn’t tell you there’s something wrong with it, then I don’t know what will,” Remo said.
“Maybe they’re fruitphobic,” I blurted out because I didn’t want to agree with him.
Remo stared at me, his jaw working.
The Alpha howled, its yellow eyes glowing. Tail and ears still erect, it galloped away, and I thought we were safe. Well, as safe as two powerless fae could be in a supernatural jail. But then the enormous wolf flipped around and sprinted down the tracks, gaining velocity. It was going for the platform at the end of the trench.
My heart held still as the animal lurched into the air, managing to dock the top half of its body. As its massive hindlegs kicked and pushed, Remo yelled, “We need to get to higher ground!”
My heart whizzed, hurtling against my ribs. “The train.”
“The doors are all open.”
“Maybe they close.”
“Maybe they don’t.”
The wolf dragged itself farther onto the platform and then sprang onto its four paws.
“On top, then!” I ripped my arm out of Remo’s hold, then took off toward the conductor car and swung myself inside.
Remo jumped in after me. He tried to shove the door closed but it was stuck. He punched the roof out of frustration.
“Up up up up!” I yelled, climbing out the window and pushing off the ledge to reach the top of the car.
Its rounded shape made scaling it a struggle, and I almost slipped right down onto the tracks where the rest of the pack had congregated, drooling and yapping. Finally, I managed to swing my leg over it. Remo’s head popped out the window and then his torso. He heaved himself out, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. Just as the massive white Alpha sprang into the carriage, Remo tucked his dangling legs up.
My heart rammed into my ribs again. I was about to set a Neverrian record and become the very first faerie to die of a heart attack.
Latching onto the chimney, I scrambled upright, then offered Remo a hand so he could stand too. I didn’t think the proud fae would take it, but his fingers gripped mine, and with my help, he heaved himself up.
The wolf’s huge head popped out of the window. It snarled and barked. When it realized it couldn’t reach us, it reared up. The carriage started to shake, and Remo, who’d been trying to keep some distance between us, circled his arms around the locomotive’s chimney, sandwiching