Something Wilder

“God damn, I slept good.” When he lifted his shirt to scratch his stomach, Leo noticed the way Nicole and Lily paused to watch and felt a hot swell of irritation in his gut. Bradley walked toward one of the larger sandstone ledges, propping a boot on the lip of a steep crevice, fists to hips as he surveyed the vista. “I feel alive out here. My heart is racing, my blood pumping.”

Terry joined them a few minutes later, looking only marginally better than Leo felt. “I have a few suggestions for routes today,” he said, picking up an apple.

“We’ve got it taken care of, Terry,” Lily told him, ignoring his disappointment. “Get your tents packed and ready to go after breakfast. It’s gonna be a long day.”

* * *

She hadn’t been kidding. The heat of the day had sapped the riders of any remaining enthusiasm by the time they finally reached camp. Ace’s shadow stretched long across the ground, distorted by piñon pine and scraggly patches of juniper that thrived there in the arid soil.

They secured the horses, then all gathered a safe distance from the edge of the mesa overlooking the vast canyon below.

“Jesus Christ, that’s far down,” Bradley said, attempting to see over the sheer drop-off. He lifted a hand to his forehead. “I’m dizzy just looking at it. Where are we again?”

“Maze Overlook. And careful,” Lily warned with an outstretched arm. “If you fall, you die.”

Obediently, Bradley stepped back.

Leo studied the section of canyon in the distance far below, with its intricate, serpentine formations. “It doesn’t look real.”

“It really doesn’t,” Lily agreed. “Can you believe that was all done by rainwater searching for the sea?”

“That makes me a little sad,” Walter said.

Leo had never wished he could fly, but he did just then. There was something about the canyon that made him want to explore, to swoop from the top of one red rock pillar to another and down into the literal maze of intersecting slots. It was both exquisite and sinister.

“We’re not going down there, are we?” Walt asked.

“No way,” Terry said. “You pussies wouldn’t last a day out there.”

Walter stared at him. “Have you done it?”

Terry held out his arms as if this should be obvious. “Dude.”

“Do you ever take people down there?” Leo asked Lily.

She reached into her pocket for her ever-present lip sunscreen, and it would take red-hot pokers to drag his eyes away while she applied it. “Sure, but only experienced hikers, and only certain areas. The backcountry is really remote. Some people go in by river or in high-clearance four-wheel drives, but roads only get you so far and you have to do the rest on foot.” She pressed her lips together, spreading the balm. Leo swallowed heavily, ripping his gaze away.

Bradley let out a quiet laugh beside him, nudged him in the ribs. “You okay there?”

“You could do it one day, Walt,” Nicole said. “You’d need a good guide, but it’s not impossible. Look at you and Dynamite. Bet you never thought you’d be out here riding like a real cowboy, either.”

Walter was still anxiously studying the Maze.

Lily turned back to a stretch of dirt behind them. “We’re going to set up camp over there. But first.” She turned to a supply crate that had been left ahead and dug inside, pulling out a small wooden box. “While Nic and I feed and water the horses, I want you to work on this together. You’re gonna need what’s inside here if you want to eat.”

Walt stared at the tiny box in her hand. “Our dinner is in there?”

Terry rolled his eyes. “Yes, Walter, she’s planning to feed us pellets that expand into real food in our stomachs.”

“Cool,” Walt murmured, excited.

Leo tipped Walt’s hat over his eyes. “I think she means there’s a key or something inside.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Without looking at him, Lily handed Leo the box. “The key to tonight’s dinner box is in here. But it’s pretty tricky, so get to work.”

Bradley already looked smug. “I don’t want to disappoint you, Lily, but that slide puzzle the other day was just the tip of the iceberg. Our Leo here can figure out anything.”

“I’ve locked myself out of my apartment four times, and Leo always got me in,” Walter agreed.

Leo straightened, heating self-consciously under Lily’s quiet focus. “You should see me play Tetris,” he joked awkwardly.

Her brows rose in amusement. “I bet it’s fascinating.”

“Riveting.” A tender green vine of infatuation wound its way through his ribs and squeezed. He swiped absently at his chest, as if he could bat it away. Lily was gorgeous and whip-smart and even more capable than she’d been all those years ago, but he knew better than anyone that their lives were puzzle pieces cut from two different pictures.

But as she let her gaze linger on him for a beat longer, the vine squeezed again, harder now.