Page 97 of Remnants
Dane grabs him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him close. “Then turn the other two invisible and go spy. But if I find out you abandon them for any reason or your gift fails us, I’ll beat the shit out of you.” He roughly tosses him back, and Kellan chuckles.
“Not a fan of the cold, Rapunzel?” he teases.
“Who the fuck is?” he snaps, his arms folding against himself again. “The sooner we get this over with, the better.”
Harvey grasps for Reid and Jack, but my shadow shifts out of reach.
“I’ll handle myself,” he says coolly.
I close the distance between us. “Jack…”
He smiles at me, his icy fingers curling my hair behind my ear. “I don’t need his gift to be invisible,” he reminds me. I wonder if it’s a lack of trust that Harvey can do it or that having the three of them stick together so close has him rejecting that plan.
Jackson faces Reid. “I’ll stay on overwatch outside. Keep lookout.”
Reid nods his agreement, then holds his elbow out to Harvey. “Do it.”
Harvey grips Reid’s upper arm, and an invisible curtain sinks over them. Kellan kicks sand where they’d been standing, and it falls back to the ground. They’re gone.
Jackson strides to the cliff, eyeing it for a second before he leaps upward, his gift propelling him higher. His boot lands on a jutted-out rock, and then he jumps again, disappearing into the fog.
Once he’s gone, Dane scoffs. “I wouldn’t trust Harvey to keep me out of sight, either.”
“He’ll be fine,” Aiden remarks, unbothered by any of it. I start walking along the cliffside, heading in the direction of the running water to see what it is. “His first instinct is always to hide, so I don’t see his gift failing. I’m more worried about Reid leaving him behindat the first sign of Tinsley.”
“Where are you off to, beautiful?” Kellan drawls, his long legs catching up to me even at a mild pace.
“Looking for the sound of rushing water.”
I stop abruptly when I see it. A tall, narrow waterfall tumbles from the edge of the cliff, the fog opening around it so I can see all the way to the top. Trees of luscious green line the edge of the cliff, while moss and small bushes creep along the underside where it bumps out.
Following the water down, my eyes catch on something dark behind it. A cave?
Kellan presses his hand against my chest from over my shoulder, stopping me and pulling me against him when he sees I’m headed toward it. “Wait.”
“What is it?” Aiden asks, him and Dane still catching up.
“Caves,” Kellan replies, and I blink, dragging my gaze beyond the cave that captured my attention and finding a slew of others carved at the base of the cliff. Some are so narrow I can’t tell if a body could even fit through them, whereas others are wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Dane stops next to us, then looks at me. “You weren’t about to walk into one of those alone, were you?”
I shrug. “I was just going to take a peek.”
“What if GE uses those for something?” He shivers against the cold, tightening his arms.
“For what? Storage?” I counter. “It’s all the way down here, exposed to the outdoors. I doubt they’d bother putting things in there.And if they do, then better for us to take a look and find out, right?” Turning my head to Aiden, I send him a questioning look at what he thinks.
He rubs his jaw, his gaze focused on the caves. “There’s a slim possibility that Guild members or others could be there as well. It’s worth a look.”
Dane’s face tightens when he loses the discussion, but he doesn’t argue. We all move to the closest cave, walking along the dip and curve of the cliff as the beach carves in, shrinking the closer we get to the caves.
Aiden pulls his phone out and turns the flashlight on, casting the light over the entrance. There’s nothing but rocky sand, wet stone, a few crabs, and sea plants, as if the cave is partially filled with seawater at times. The light barely touches the shadows within, giving us only a couple yards of visibility before it’s swallowed up.
“Kell, keep an eye out. We’ll see if there’s anything further in,” Aiden directs, leading the way.
Dane lifts his hand, the soft white glow of his gift adding another source of light, then offers me the other one. “Hold my hand and stay close.”
I huff, shaking my head even though a tiny smile tugs at my lips, and I take it. “I can’t go far in a cave.”
