Free Unleashed: The Deepest Fears Lie Within (Secrets of the Makai) by Toni Kerr Page B

quickened when she glanced over at him; he caught himself smiling and turned toward the crowd before the blushing might give him away. He spotted Victor and waved.
    “Feeling better?” Victor asked, falling into step beside him. He spotted the cute girl over Tristan’s shoulder and grinned. “Making friends?”
    “Not yet.” Tristan glanced back to see if she was still looking at him; her smile broadened. One of the men took her arm and yanked her toward the forest to catch up with the rest of their group. Something about the way the man grabbed her....
    “I don’t know her,” Victor said, “but I’m sure I can find someone who does if you want an introduction.” He handed Tristan a plate of Pad Thai smothered in peanut sauce. “Did you meet the puddle?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “You’d know if you had.” Victor steered Tristan against the crowd. “There’s a tournament going on that would be much fun to watch.”
    “Did you find Alvi?”
    “Yep.”
    “Glitch in security?”
    “Yep.” They walked along the row of tents in a strange silence toward a cliff that overlooked the valley. “There seems to be a lot of uninvited people, but so far everyone’s behaving.”
    “Could someone be hunting?”
    “Hunting? Here? No. Hunting for what?”
    Tristan shrugged and noticed the two men jousting from the top of swaying poles. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
    “The water’s really deep.” Victor sat on the grass to watch the duel and motioned for Tristan to do the same. “Most of the time, people just jump for the thrill of it.”
    Tristan stretched over the cliff to see the water below. A waterfall fed the pool from a creek at the far side of the clearing at his right, and the pool at the bottom did appear deep, funneling into a shallow stream that disappeared under the foliage of trees. He could see a few boys sitting on a flat rock, their necks craned upward to watch the joust from below.
    “The water’s actually warm—some sort of geological anomaly. But you have to go through the proper procedure before taking the plunge. Ready?”
    “No.” Nothing on Earth would ever make him jump willingly.
    “By the power invested in me,” Victor said, dripping with grave sarcasm, “I introduce thee to the puddle. Puddle, Tristan. Vice versa. May the two of you not kill each other in the joining and party on.”
    “That’s insane.” Tristan backed away from the cliff. “We will not be joining.”
    “Suit yourself, but you might like it if you tried.”
    Dorian would probably love it. He buried the thought and kept his fears to himself as he watched the jousters. Both contestants lost hold of their padded weapons and began grappling. They fell at the same time, but one caught hold of the platform, effectively delaying his splash by a solid second.
    “And the winner is…” a voice echoed coliseum-style, “Mad Dog Marshmallow!”
    Tristan set his plate of food aside and crawled to the edge. Both men were climbing onto a rock at the far side, giving each other high-fives. Two more players in swim trunks appeared on the platforms. “Has anyone ever been killed doing that?”
    “No. But, I think someone stubbed a toe once.”
    “Jousters ready?” boomed the theatrical voice.
    “Glad to see you’re eating,” Landon said, taking a seat next to Victor.
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    “Are you competing?” Landon asked Victor, nodding toward the jousters.
    “No. Alvi would probably consider that sidetracking. Besides, we’ll be starting the games any minute now. In fact, I better go juice up the tracker.” Victor stood. “Find me later.”
    Tristan glanced at Landon, who seemed content to sit for a while. Behind Landon, he spotted the same girl with the group of guys along the trees, all gathered around some sort of digital device. She looked directly at him and smiled.
    Landon followed his gaze and turned back toward the jousters. “I’m sure we can figure out who she is if you want to meet