Elusion(62)

“Well, what about you?” I scream. “You’re just like him! All you’ve done is lie to me!”

The drops are falling faster now. The temperature feels like it’s risen at least twenty degrees since we’ve started arguing; the snow below our feet is quickly evaporating and creating a thick cloud of blood-colored mist.

“I have never lied to you. Ever.”

“What about that guy you assaulted? Did you just forget to tell me that he almost died? Or what about Nora’s emotional problems? You never said that she might be unstable.”

We’re eye to eye, nose to nose, on the verge of a real brawl.

“Go to hell!” he breathes, right into my face.

I don’t think or feel. I just react. I cock my hand back and then it flies forward in an attempt to slap him. Josh ducks, avoiding the blow. As my hand hits empty air, I lose my balance and stumble toward him, my legs eventually giving way. He catches and steadies me, with one hand on my waist, the other on my shoulder. When our eyes lock, the tension in my muscles unravels almost immediately, and I can feel his body relaxing too.

Slowly, his arms bend and lead me closer to him.

My cheek is lightly pressed against Josh’s chest, and I’m still breathing hard as the anger begins to dissipate. The only thing that defused the nuclear-scale fight was seeing the tenderness in Josh’s eyes. He is not my enemy.

The droplets are heavier now, and falling so fast it seems to be raining.

“What’s happening?” I ask, my breaths shallow and raspy. “I’ve never felt angry in Elusion before.”

Still cradling me in his arms, Josh glances suspiciously at the giant, weeping icicles above.

“The cave is melting,” he says.

We hear a loud rumbling, and the ground beneath us shifts, causing a few of the icicles to come toppling down, separating us. The ice shatters when it collides with the ground, sending a flurry of mud-brown debris in every direction. A piece strikes me in the chin, and it stings like a hornet’s bite.

“Is this what happened at the beach?” Josh asks as another splinter of the frozen cavern crumbles into dark ash right beside us.

His question brings back every detail of the Thai Beach Escape, and how it seemed to self-destruct right after I saw my dad. There is no question about it. Our seething anger was no coincidence. Nor is the melting, quivering ice cave.

“We need to get out of here,” Josh says, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the firewall.

But I dig in my heels and wrestle away from Josh’s grasp. “Wait!” I shout.

The earth begins to shake again, even harder this time. The giant icicles above us clatter, like a chandelier about to snap from the ceiling, as the pillars of stalagmites begin to shudder around us. Josh covers me with his body, acting like a human shield to protect me. “Press your emergency button!” he urges.

I don’t want to leave. Not yet.

“Do it, Regan! Now!”

As shards of ice begin to drop from above and the towering stalagmites begin to tumble, my eyes dart around the cave in search of more solid ground. That’s when I realize someone else is here, no more than a hundred feet away.

The slim build. The salt-and-pepper hair.

My father.

“Look!” I say, pointing in his direction.

Josh whips his head toward the spot I’m gesturing to. His mouth slips open in astonishment. “Is that . . . ?” he whispers.

“Dad, over here!” I wave my arms up in the air, signaling for him.

But instead of coming toward us, he turns and runs in the direction of the cave’s entrance.

“Where is he going?” Josh asks.

Without answering him, I grab Josh’s hand and we race after my father, navigating between the icy stalagmites that continue to fall around us. We turn a corner, and there’s an earth-shattering crash as a giant icicle in the shape of a large spear breaks off from the ceiling, heading directly toward Josh. I charge at him, knocking him flat on his back and onto the ground, out of harm’s way. As the piercing ice fragments continue to fall, Josh flips me around, pinning me underneath him. I attempt to push him off me, but he holds my wrists together with one hand, using his other hand to reach for the emergency button on my wristband.

He’s trying to send me home.

But there’s no way I’m leaving my dad this time.

“No!” I yell, but he doesn’t listen or respond.

I knee him in the inner thigh and he releases me, allowing me to roll out from underneath him. I jump to my feet and Josh follows close behind; we weave around the falling icicles, miraculously making it out of the cave unscathed, and slipping out of the entranceway just as the structure begins to implode. As the earth continues to revolt and shards of ice crystals fly through the air, Josh and I hit the ground, huddling together, waiting for the madness to stop.

Then, all of a sudden, it’s silent. The earth is no longer breaking apart. We appear to be safe, at least momentarily. The crystal cave is nothing more than a shredded pile of dark green ice.

“We need to go back now,” Josh says, his lips taut. “It’s too dangerous here. We have no idea what kind of damage this botched Escape is doing to us in real life.”

“I’m not leaving. Not until we find where my father went.”

I glance up at the night sky. The electric purple stars and the dark red moon are covered with a haze of gray, fuzzy clouds. And that’s not all. The pink snow is gone, replaced by a brown sludge. Not a great sign. We may no longer be in immediate danger, but the Escape still seems like it’s short-circuiting. Josh is right.