Free The Fire Sisters (Brilliant Darkness 3) by A. G. Henley Page B

You’re the girl who walked out into the Scourge alone, with only a scarf and the severed foot of a rabbit to protect you. You volunteered to search the caves by yourself to find the Hidden Waters. You helped lead a bunch of scared and angry people through the caves to safety in Koolkuna. What’s your problem?
    My problem is that those things I did had some terrible repercussions. Was I only courageous before I discovered the true consequences of failure?
    Lightning cracks again; the water below seems to spark and sizzle. I feel Peree cringe behind me, but to his credit, he doesn’t rush me. Still, time’s up. I need to do this right now. He could be injured, or worse, because I was too chicken to jump. 
    I press my lips together and wipe my sweating hands on my soaked dress. My feet are ice, and my shoulders hunch up around my ears, but I let go of one rope, hold the other to keep me oriented, and run.
    One, two, three paces—the edge of the bridge is underfoot. I release the handhold and launch myself forward.
    For a moment, I fly… the glorious, sleek-feathered cassowary woman of Peree’s story.
    Until I land.
    Off-balance, I stumble back toward the gap. My hands shoot out to the ropes on either side and come up empty. Peree shouts behind me, much too far away to help. My arms spin and my feet try to stay under me.
    But
    I
    fall.
     

Chapter Ten
    Brawny arms wrap around my back, yanking me forward again. I'm dragged away from the gap and standing again in a matter of seconds.
    “Gotcha,” Moray says.
    I lean against him, gulping great breaths of air and sputtering.
    Peree clatters onto the bridge next to us a few moments later. He takes my hand and we speed along the bridge behind Moray, then side step—quick and careful—along the rock trail cut into this wall. I focus only on getting back on solid ground.
    And finally, we are.
    My feet sink into damp, slippery soil as we scurry uphill, away from the bridge, the trail, the storm, and the Restless, to the relative shelter of what feels like a tightly knit grouping of trees. Branches poke me in the back, while rain batters leaves overhead. The others, smelling of wet clothes and relief, crowd around the three of us.
    Moray thumps me on the shoulder. “There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it, sweetheart?”
    I dump my pack and throw my arms around him, hugging him hard. If I say a word, I’ll burst into ugly tears. He laughs, sounding embarrassed, and pats me on the back. The trembling finally slows.
    Amarina passes around a little bread and a handful of dense mushrooms she found. They’re small, a little slimy, and entirely unlike mushrooms I’ve eaten at home, but the nutty flavor isn’t bad. She assures us they’re edible.
    As we eat, Moray and Cuda tease me about the look on my face when I realized I was falling, recreating it over and over for the amusement of the others. I don’t mind this time. Moray saved my life—again. The least I can do is allow him an unfettered laugh for his troubles.
    He's hailed for rescuing me, and I’m praised for my quick response in helping Kai. Everyone has a little something nice to say. Everyone  except  Kai, that is. Whatever.
    “Those slats weren’t rotted,” she says, cutting off the laughter. “I tested every one before I put my weight on them. The middle ones felt as solid as the first few. But they broke in two when I stepped on them.”
    Someone must keep up the bridge, like Amarina said. Wouldn’t they notice rotted slats?  Unless …
    “Maybe the Sisters tampered with them,” I say. “In case their warning to me didn’t work.”
    “Damn,” Peree says. “They could have.”
    A few cracked, almost-broken slats wouldn’t be easily spotted, especially in a rainstorm, and they could be replaced later. The Sisters could get rid of a few of us, with little fuss for themselves.
    My blood churns. First the sting, now this. The search is getting more dangerous by the hour.
     
     
    The idea