Chapter 74

Cecilia

I moved closer to the edge, careful to stay well back from the drop-off. The wind was stronger here, tugging at my hair and clothes, and I could hear the distant rush of water.

"Can we get down there?" Alice asked.

God, how could Alice have such a crazy idea?

Sarah shook her head. "Not safely. The walls are too steep, and the river's moving too fast. People have tried and gotten hurt." She glanced at her watch. "We should start heading back anyway. It's almost noon, and the heat's going to get brutal."

Alice looked disappointed but nodded. "Okay. But can we take a break first? I'm exhausted."

"There's a spot just over there," Sarah said, pointing to a cluster of rocks that would provide some shade. "We can rest for a bit."

We settled onto the rocks, passing around water bottles and energy bars. Alice immediately sprawled out, her arm over her eyes, and I could hear her breathing start to even out almost immediately.

"She's going to sleep," I said.

"Let her," Sarah said. "The desert takes it out of you if you're not used to it."

I pulled out my own phone and took a few photos—the canyon, the endless sky, Alice passed out on the rocks like she'd been defeated by nature itself.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while longer.

Eventually Sarah stood, stretching. "We should get moving. Still a long walk back."

I nudged Alice, who groaned and sat up, squinting at me like I'd personally offended her. "Already?"

"Already," I confirmed. "Come on. You can sleep when we get back."

The walk back was slower, all of us feeling the effects of the heat and the exertion. Alice dragged behind, her earlier enthusiasm replaced by grim determination, and even Sarah looked a bit worn.

We were about halfway back when Alice suddenly perked up, pointing. "Is that the cliff again?"

We'd somehow circled around, coming at the canyon from a different angle, and we were much closer to the edge than I was comfortable with.

"Sarah?" I said, my voice sharp with concern.

"It's fine," Sarah said, but she was frowning, scanning the area. "Just stay back from the edge. The ground's not as stable here."

Alice, of course, immediately moved closer.

"Alice," I said. "Don't."

"I just want to see," she said, leaning forward.

And then the ground shifted.

It happened so fast I barely had time to process—the sand and rock under Alice's feet suddenly giving way, crumbling like it had been waiting for an excuse. She let out a startled yelp, her arms windmilling as she started to slide backward.

"Alice!" I lunged forward, my hand closing around her wrist just as she went over the edge.

The momentum pulled me forward, my body slamming into the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I could feel myself sliding, could feel the edge crumbling under my weight, and for one terrifying moment I thought we were both going over.

Then Sarah was there, her hands grabbing the back of my shirt, her weight anchoring me.

"Pull!" she shouted.

I pulled, my muscles screaming in protest, and slowly hauled Alice back up over the edge. She collapsed onto solid ground, gasping and shaking, and I rolled onto my back, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might explode.

"What the fuck," Alice managed. "What the actual fuck."

"Are you okay?" I sat up, my hands shaking as I checked her over. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she said, but her voice was thin. "Just—oh my god, Ceci. I almost—"

"But you didn't," I said firmly, pulling her into a hug. "You're okay. We're okay."

Sarah was staring at the edge where Alice had been standing, her expression grim. "We need to move. Now. This whole section is unstable."

We scrambled to our feet and started backing away from the cliff, and that's when I heard it—a low, ominous rumble that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"Run," Sarah said, her voice sharp. "Now!"

We ran.

The ground was shaking now, rocks and sand sliding beneath our feet, and I could hear the roar of something massive giving way behind us. I grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her forward, both of us stumbling over loose rock, Sarah shouting directions ahead of us.

Then the ledge beneath my left foot simply wasn't there anymore.

One second I was running. The next, the ground gave way in a cascade of crumbling sandstone, and I was falling. I heard Alice scream my name, and then the cold hit me like a wall.

The river. Arthur—

Arthur

I'm not a superstitious person. I don't believe in premonitions or gut feelings or any of that. But now there was something sitting in my chest that felt like a stone, heavy and cold.

"You're not even listening," Max said.

"Sorry, what?"

"Secondary diagnostic. You or me?"

"You do it." I pushed back from the console. "I need some air."

Carter followed me into the hallway, his expression doing that thing it did when he was trying to decide whether to say something. He decided to say it. "You okay?"

"Fine." Even I could hear how unconvincing that was. "Just restless."

"Missing Cecilia?"

We were heading back toward the lab when Max's phone rang.

He answered it, and I watched his face change—that particular shift from casual to something else, something tighter, that made my stomach drop before he'd said a single word.

"Slow down," he said. "What? When?"

I stopped walking.

"Is she hurt?" Max's voice had gone flat, controlled in the way people get when they're trying not to panic. "Is anyone hurt?"

Carter and I looked at each other.

"Okay," Max said. "Okay, we're coming. Stay there."

He hung up. When he turned to us, his face was white.

"There was a landslide," he said. "Cecilia fell into the river! Arthur—"

I didn't hear the rest. I was already running.