In the half-second while it’s still swinging, I yank myself up on the rope with all my might and launch myself skyward.

The rope slices in two, and for a moment, I’m weightless again. Zora’s knife goes hurtling past my face, slicing me on the cheek on the way down as she drops it.

Time stands still.

And then Zora’s hand clamps around mine.

She lets out a shrill cry, and something pops. My body slams against the side of the chasm, but still she doesn’t let go, holding herself to the stake that once held the weight of the bridge.

I use the last of my strength to climb up her arm. I have to grit my teeth at the sound of her whimpers, but still she doesn’t let go.

When I pull myself onto the ledge, I find I’ve never experienced ground so soft.

And when I listen for the sound of the scorpion hitting the ground to help judge how deep the canyon is below the fog, the sound never comes.

CHAPTER 34

NOX

“I didn’t hear it hit the bottom,” says Zora.

We’re both lying on our backs on the earth. I’m fairly sure both of us are content never to get back up, so long as we can feel solid ground underneath us for the rest of eternity.

“What?”

“I didn’t hear it hit the bottom,” she repeats. “For all we know, it’s just lurking on the edge of the chasm wall waiting to pounce on us.

I don’t bother stifling my groan. “Well, why don’t you take a look and see?”

“What if it’s waiting for me to do that, and as soon as I look over the edge, it plans to chomp off my head?”

I let my head flop over to the side so I can stare at my sister. She’s already staring at me, looking perfectly serious.

“I’m not going near that cliff again,” I say.

“Why not?”

“Because that’s like flirting with death. You don’t survive what we just survived, then go peeking over the edge of a chasm. It’s just asking to have the ground crumble out beneath you.”

She shoots me a glare. “I can’t believe you won’t go check for me.”

“There’s no scorpion waiting just below the edge,” I grumble, covering my eyes with my forearm.

“Then explain to me why I didn’t hear it fall.”

“Because you were shrieking at the pain in your arm and couldn’t hear it over your own screams? Because you were focused on making sure both of us survived, and you can’t pay attention to that many things at once?”

My sister flops dramatically on the ground. “So you admit I risked my life to save you—ripped my chest muscles in half to deliver you from that monster—and you won’t peek over the edge of the chasm so I can have peace of mind?”

We stare each other down for a moment. I can’t believe she just used the word deliver in conversation. I let out a sigh. “Fine.”

She looks a bit too appeased for my liking as I crawl over to the edge.

“Why are you crawling?”

“Because everything hurts.”

When I get to the edge, I hesitate. “You’re sure you didn’t hear it hit the ground?”

“Ha! So you don’t think I’m being paranoid, after all!”

I groan and force myself to look over the edge. To my relief, there’s no lurking scorpion in sight. Just a glittering expanse of fog that I can’t help but think looks more satiated than it did earlier.

“Well?”

“Just like I told you, it’s gone.” I retreat from the edge all the same.

“Then why didn’t I hear it hit the ground?”

I rub my temples. “I can’t say I have the energy to think about that at the moment.”

“But it is noteworthy that I didn’t hear it, right?”

I crane my neck to look over at her. Zora has the smuggest grin I’ve ever seen pasted across her face.

It makes my stomach twist, but not in such an awful way.

“It’s sort of nice,” I say.

She frowns. “What’s nice?”

“You being insufferable. I think I might have missed that.”

Zora blinks, the smug expression vanishing. In an instant, I’m wishing I could swallow the words whole, banish them from existence. But I can’t, and Zora clears her throat as she stands, dusting her britches off.

I scramble to my aching feet, hurrying after her as she strides into the woods. “Please,” I call after her. “Don’t leave. I know you don’t trust me. I know you have every reason not to. But I think…”

“Think what?” She whirls on me. “Think you could help me? It might be true. You might be my brother, but that doesn’t mean you’re here for me. I heard you and Farin talking back at the pit. You’re chasing after a girl you fancy, which is perfectly fine. But don’t act like you’re here on some rescue mission for me.”

I stand stunned, my words caught in my throat. What am I supposed to say to Zora? She doesn’t know the entire story, of course. Doesn’t know that I’ve spent years of my life as a slave trying to buy her freedom.

Then again, it’s my fault she was enslaved in the first place.

Her calves tense, and I ready myself for her to leave me behind, but then she jerks her head agitatedly. “Come on.”

“You want me to come with you?”

She runs her hands through her cropped hair and immediately gasps.