Reece rakes his fingers through his brown hair. "I think we need a decoy. One of us can lead them the other way while we get Allura to the caves. You know they won't step foot in those because of the curse."
"We're not going in there, either." The veins on Blaise's tattooed neck bulge. "Especially with Allura."
"Blaise." Reece's tone is calm, controlled, and carries authority. "The curses are just legends. You need to calm down."
"Tell that to my brother," Blaise mumbles under his breath, kicking the dirt with the tip of his black boots.
Reece sighs, slipping his gun into the holster that's underneath his grey, hooded jacket. "It's our only shot. If we can make it to the caves, we should be safe until sundown."
Blaise's jaw ticks. "This is the stupidest plan you've ever come up with."
"Do you have a better one?" Reece asks, glaring at him.
"Fine," Blaise grits out through his teeth. "Let's get this fucking show on the road before we end up gutted and left to rot in the sun."
My stomach churns. Gutted? Is that what the Forsaken are going to do to us?
"You want to be the decoy again?" Reece asks Blaise. "It'll keep you out of the caves."
Blaise hesitates, his gaze flitting in my direction. "Maybe I shouldn't this time."
"We'll make sure she's safe." Ryder tightens his hold on my hand and pulls me closer to his side. "We're just as capable of protecting her as you are."
Blaise seems torn but backs away. "I'll lead them south for a while. Then I'll round back and head up the west trail."
Reece nods. "When we get Allura to the station, we'll head back for you."
Without saying a word, Blaise spins around and strides down the trail, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.
Reece hurries off in the opposite direction of Blaise and signals for Ryder and me to follow. "Keep to the side on the rocks so we don't leave tracks," he says, taking long, even strides.
Ryder gives him a thumbs up then tries to offer me a comforting smile. "We'll be okay. We know what we're doing."
Nerves bubble inside me. "But will Blaise be okay by himself?"
Ryder nods. "Blaise is an expert at being the decoy. You don't need to worry about him."
"I know, but ..." I peer at the trail behind me. Blaise is so far away from us now that I can barely make him out amongst the rocks and cliffs. "He seemed so upset."
"He's always upset. Once you've known him for a while, you get used to it." Ryder speeds up to keep pace with Reece's superhuman power walk.
"That thing Blaise said about the caves ... about his brother ..." I stumble to match Ryder's lengthy strides. "What did he mean by it?"
Ryder tenses. "I'm not sure I should tell you right now."
"I'm sorry," I say quickly. "I'm always asking too many questions. I don't know why I do it."
"I didn't mean that I can't tell you." He glances at me from the corner of his eye. "I just don't think now's the best time. I don't want to scare you."
I gulp. It's too late for that.
"So, I was thinking ... When we get back to the station, you could take a few classes," Ryder says, gazing up at the sky.
"Okay, yeah." I think he's trying to distract me from what's going on, and while I'm grateful, my thoughts remain stuck on Blaise. Is he okay? What will happen to him if the Forsaken capture him? "What kinds of classes, though? I don't know very much."
"You know more than most," he insists. "And besides, that's what the classes are for. You'll learn more about the world, the Grim, and maybe you can even take some self-defense and general fighting classes."
"Blaise should just teach her," Reece chimes in. "He's better than all of the instructors."
"Yeah, but he lacks the patience," Ryder points out, maneuvering us around a crack in the trail.
"Well, I guess it would be a good learning experience for him, too, then." Reece glances over his shoulder at us. "He needs to practice his patience and people skills."
Ryder arches his brow. "Do we really want Allura to be the one he practices on?"
Reece studies me, considering. "You know what? I think she might be the perfect person for the job."
"Yeah, maybe," Ryder mumbles, stuffing his free hand into his pocket. "He does seem to like her."
"Yes, he does, which means two things." Reece counts down on his fingers. "One, he'll work extra hard to train her. And two, he won't yell at her."
Ryder shoots him a skeptical look. "You don't think he'll yell at her, huh? I know he likes her and everything, but this is Blaise we're talking about. Remember when he chewed out our instructor for teaching us what he thought was a wrong technique? Or the time he yelled at Rae because he thought she was drawing blood the wrong way? Or the time--"
"I know how Blaise is, Ryder. I don't need a recap." Reece silences him, holding up his hand. "But I don't think he'll yell at Allura. He's shown more patience toward her than with anyone else--well, except for maybe you and me."
"Still ..." Ryder scrubs his hand across his unshaven jaw. "I think we should let Allura decide. She's the one who's going to have to put up with his shit."
Both of them look at me expectantly.
"I don't mind if Blaise trains me," I say quietly. "I'm just glad I get the opportunity to learn."
"She's too nice," Ryder tells Reece. "She doesn't know what she's getting into."
"She'll be fine." Reece waves him off, facing forward again and ending the conversation.
"If you really want to do this thing with Blaise, that's fine," Ryder says to me. "But promise me, if he's mean to you, you'll tell me."
I nod, even though I can't really picture Blaise yelling at me. Sure, he has yelled at other people, but even on the cliff when I could tell my hesitation was frustrating him, he kept his composure. And I'd rather him teach me than a complete stranger. I just hope I'm not a terrible learner.
For the next half an hour or so, we hightail it down the trail, weaving around corners and dodging around rocks blocking the path. Reece stays a few feet ahead of us, his eyes roving the cliffs and the enormous hole skimming the side of the trail. Occasionally, a scream cuts through the air, but the noise dwindles the longer we walk.
"The screams are getting quieter," Ryder hollers up at Reece, wiping the sweat from his brow. "That probably means they're heading away from us and after Blaise."
Poor Blaise. He's probably out there all alone, being hunted by killers. I wish someone could've gone with him.
"Not necessarily. They could've split into groups and went after both of us." Reece halts in front of a sloped cliff carved with various size caves. "It's best if we lay low for a while, maybe wait until dark. It's a full moon tonight, which means they won't hunt."
"They won't hunt during a full moon?" I don't know why, but that seems strange to me.
Ryder shakes his head. "The Forsaken are big on legends, curses, and all that shit. And they believe that, if you hunt during a full moon, the Grim will find you because their abilities are heightened."
My eyes widen. "Is it true?"
"No. It's just a legend that someone probably made up to scare everyone." Ryder brushes his knuckles across my cheeks, causing my eyelashes to flutter. "The Grim are equally as strong day or night, regardless of the moon."
Tell that to whoever started the legend of hybrids. I might be walking proof that some legends are true. A chill slithers down my spine. What other legends could carry some truth to them?
"You said the caves were cursed." I glance up at the caves. There are so many I can't even count them all. "Cursed how, exactly?"
Ryder's mouth compresses into a thin line. "I'd rather not tell you."
"But I kind of want to know what I'm getting into." Not knowing is eating away at me.
Ryder struggles with what to say, his lips parting and closing.
"One of us needs to climb up and make sure they're vacant," Reece announces, stepping beside us.
Relief washes over Ryder. "I can climb
a lot better than you two," he jokes, backing up toward the cliff.
"Just hurry," Reece says. "The longer we're out in the open, the more we're at risk for getting spotted."
Ryder salutes Reece then whirls around and takes off in a mad run toward the cliff. The incline is the perfect angle for him to easily maneuver up, using his hands to keep from slipping down.
"He kind of looks like he's running up a slide," I remark. When Reece doesn't say anything, I glance at him and find him studying me intently. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." He gives a half-shrug. "I just think it's funny you know what a slide is when there's not a lot of them around. Most people don't know what they are."
I swipe away a few beads of sweat trickling down my neckline. "But you do?"
He nods. "Only because there's one at the station. It's the only one I've ever seen. When I first came to the station, Ryder had to show me how to use it."
"Oh." I rack my mind for how I knew, but all I see--or feel, rather --is a blinding pain in my left eye. Wincing, I slip my hand up through the glasses and press my fingers to my eyelid.
"Are you okay?" Reece asks with concern.
"Yeah. My eye just hurts. I think I got some dirt in it or something."
"Let me look at it." He removes my sunglasses and positions them on top of my head.