Yes, but I will find you.
Don’t. Finish your business. When I get down from here, I’ll call Gabriel.
Ari quickly shut down the connection before he could quiz her for details. She had no intention of dragging him from the negotiations unless there was no other choice. If she didn’t find a way down by tomorrow night…well, that would be a different matter.
She kept herself awake and reasonably warm for the remainder of the night by stamping her feet, drumming her heels, and waving her arms. And by contemplating ways of taking revenge against the witch coven. When early dawn streaked the sky, she began to search for a way off her sky-hung prison.
Two hours later she squatted on the edge looking down for the hundredth time. The only sign of other life she’d seen was a pair of vultures checking her out on their morning search for food.
The overhead sun beat down, and sweat began to trickle between her breasts. Without water, she’d be in trouble within hours. She had to get off this perch before heat and dehydration took their toll and the birds were back picking her bones.
She scooted down on her belly and reached a hand over the side, feeling the wall. Grainy, but more solid than the top. She peered over. There were potential handholds for maybe the first twenty feet. She really didn’t have a decent perspective to see much after that. If she didn’t find additional places where her hands or feet could catch a small ledge or crack, the slide all the way to the bottom would be quick—way too quick. Even with her constitution, she’d be injured. Just how badly was impossible to calculate. Ari took a deep breath and blew it out. Whatever the cost, she couldn’t wait any longer.
She took off her socks and stuffed them with her knife, derringer, and pouch. She hoped to minimize the risk of losing her weapons or landing on the knife. And the pouch held vital healing potions and pain spells she’d need, if she survived. She tied the socks together and threw them over the edge, watching as they hurtled to the bottom. Hell, that was quicker than expected. Only seconds. If she went that fast, she’d never survive. Of course, it would all be over anyway, if she didn’t hug the wall. Falling backward would be fatal.
She put her sneakers back on, took a deep breath, and eased her legs over the edge.
The first ten feet weren’t so bad. Then more of the sandstone began to crumble under her fingers. She slipped once, caught herself, and hung there panting, more from nerves than exertion. She took a quick glance down. A good-size projection was now about ten feet below her. She pressed against the wall and let her body begin to slide, only breathing again when she wrapped her arms around the projection. Looking down this time, Ari saw nothing to break her fall for the next thirty feet or so. Too far. By the time she got there, momentum would make a stop unlikely.
She had to try.
Forcing her fingers to let go, she began to slide again. Faster than before. Her shirt pulled free and the rocks scraped her stomach, grabbed at her bra, but she hardly felt the savage rips at her skin. Her fingers reached for the rocky protuberance, caught, interrupting the force of momentum, then the pull of her weight yanked her free. Gravity dragged her toward the bottom at an ever-increasing speed. Twice more she found a surface irregularity that slowed her for an instant, but it wasn’t enough, and the ground rushed up to meet her.
For the second time in twenty-four hours Ari woke to discomfort. Not cold this time. Her body ached—everywhere. She lay still, taking inventory. Her head throbbed; her skin stung from a mass of raw abrasions and bleeding gouges. She wiggled her fingers and toes and finally opened her eyes. She lay on her left side on the sand and rolled to her back, thankful that many of her parts appeared to be working. Others she wasn’t so sure about. Her left hip was shooting pain down her leg.
Lifting her head to look for her socks, Ari’s focus spun for a moment. When her head cleared, she wiped aside a trickle of blood threatening to drip into her eye and spotted the socks about twenty feet away. Between here and there a snake was coiled, watching her. Brown with dark diamond markings, like a rattlesnake. She slid her gaze to the reptile’s tail.
“Well, I don’t see any rattles, my serpent friend. I hope that means you’re not deadly.” As she eased into a sitting position, Ari desperately tried to remember everything she’d heard in her venom classes. Her ribs threatened to revolt from her movement, but faced with a potential reptilian threat, most of her scrapes and bruises didn’t seem important. “I won’t bother you, if you stay away from me. But those are my socks over there, and I need them.”
The snake continued to stare at her.
Ari scooted forward, gasping at the pain in her hip. No way she could stand. Not until she used those potions, and they wouldn’t be easy to get to. Detouring around the snake seemed an impossibility in her present state. Crawling even an extra inch was more than her battered body was willing to contemplate.
“Shoo.” Ari slapped her palm on the sand in hopes of scaring the creature away. She regretted it instantly as pain reminded her of the punctures, the ripped fingernails, and raw flesh.
The snake’s tongue flicked out.
How could she reason with a snake? Ari picked up a handful of sand and tossed it. The snake reacted instantly and slithered away. Its tail quickly disappearing between two rocks.
Buoyed by this small victory, Ari half-crawled, half-squirmed forward. Inch by inch she made progress. A half hour passed before she reached her socks and their much-needed magical contents. By that time, Ari was in serious pain. She used both healing potions and one of the pain potions before the throbbing began to ease. She kept one in reserve…in case.
Once she could think beyond her injuries, Ari rested on one elbow while she assessed the situation. She needed water, shelter, and sleep to speed the healing. Looking at the desert, the small, sparse brush, and the sandstone formations around her, her first two requirements seemed unlikely to materialize. As far as she could tell, she and the snake were the only inhabitants of the arid landscape, plus an undetermined number of scorpions, spiders, and lizards. She didn’t even see a cactus, a potential source to quench her thirst.
Ari ran her tongue over her parched lips. If she knew where she was, somehow it would seem better. Arizona, Wyoming, Utah? Was she even in the United States or on the American continent?
She pulled her cell phone out to try it again, but the screen was crushed. It wouldn’t even power on. She dropped it and scoured the area for at least token shelter. If she could get some or all of her body out of the direct sunlight, she’d conserve whatever moisture her body had. Once evening came, if she wasn’t healed enough to find her way back to civilization, she’d try to make telepathic contact with Andreas. Maybe he’d send someone to bring her a bottle of water.
She crawled to the nearest sandstone formation and curled her body into the meager shade it provided. She slept fitfully for no more than two hours. The sun was still high overhead. Her mouth felt like sawdust and her lips were chapped, but overall, she felt a little better. The potions were working, and her body was starting to heal. Water was now her biggest concern.
Using the solidity of the sandstone wall to push herself up, she made it to her feet. Her leg could take some weight now, and she began to hobble among the formations. If the area could support the scrub brush, there should be cactus too. She stumbled twice, her hip complaining about the activity, but she found a prickly pear after a fifteen-minute search. She used her dagger to peel it, then sucked and chewed on the cactus fruit. As the moisture trickled down her throat, Ari swallowed in relief.
Renewed by the liquid from the cactus, she climbed to higher ground. In the distance she saw what looked like a ridge of small trees. It was the most promising destination, and she set out in that direction. Thirst and a fatigue in muscles not yet recovered kept her steps slow. It took most of the waning afternoon, and when she arrived, the small trees turned out to be nothing but bushes. Their sparse shade was better than nothing. Her face flushed and head throbbing, she sank to the ground, too weary to walk farther. Ari crawled under a bush, and surrendering to exhaustion, she fell asleep.
She dreamed of snakes and spiders.
A familiar voice said her name, the creatures skittered away, and strong arms lifted her. When she felt the warmth of his magic, she realized she was no longer dreaming.
“Where are we?” It seemed important to know.
“Utah.”
“I knew you’d find me,” she murmured into Andreas’s shirt.
“Did you now?”
Chapter Fifteen
After what Ari considered an unnecessary trip to the Moab Regional ER for X-rays and IV fluids, she was finally settled against the bed pillows when Andreas’s private jet took off from the local airport around ten o’clock that night. She and her weary body had never appreciated the flying stateroom more. She turned her head to peek at Andreas. Couldn’t beat the personal service anywhere.
He slipped an arm around her and offered another bottle of water.
“No, no, enough,” she said, laughing. “Another drop, and I’ll float away. Besides, you’re supposed to be telling me about Toronto. I’ve been patient, haven’t I?”
“Is that what you call it?” Andreas pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, trailing his cool fingers across her bruised face. “I doubt if the doctor would call it that. You seemed most anxious to get away from him.”
She shrugged, knowing he was right about her eagerness to leave the hospital. After all, wasn’t that where people went to die?
“What could he do? He treats humans, not witches.”
“The X-rays made me feel better, knowing your broken ribs and other injuries were healing on their own. Now I know I don’t have to rush you to the Otherworld healers.”
She waved a careless hand. “You could have listened to me. But don’t change the subject. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me about Ursula. So, give.”
He looked away. “I do not know exactly what happened. I left before everything was decided.”
