by E. M. Moore
After a few minutes, we start back up the mountain. Stone eyes his father every chance he gets, watching his movements. If we were alone, I’d ask him what he’s up to. What he sees. Maybe he’s looking for something he doesn’t see? I know I’m always trying to find the link between the two of them. I used to see it as clear as day. They were both Jacobs’. Both my enemies. But now, that line is blurred. Stone is as much of an enemy as I am to myself. Lance, on the other hand, is a monster. He’s not scary up here. His true, worthless colors are being drawn out by the mountains as I knew they would be, but he still holds power. It’s just at the hands of five professionally trained, heavily armed men.
Not only that, but Lance has the capacity to bring Stone down. And that’s a major concern for me.
Because we take less breaks, we get to the area where we discovered the lantern sooner. The sun isn’t as hot today, and I feel cheated because I have major doubts that Lance would’ve been able to make it up this far if we were closer to summer. What a shame.
“What are we stopping for?” Lance huffs.
“This is where we’re searching,” Stone informs him.
“Is this where the map said to go?” He sucks down water and then drags in breath after breath. Sweat dots his brow, and he surveys the area as if he’s searching for shade or perhaps an air conditioner—neither of which he’ll find here.
“We’re still trying to decipher the map,” Stone explains, gazing at me as if he’s not sure how much he should say.
I take a drink from my own canteen. “We know we have to go through this valley,” I say, pointing to the area between the two cliff faces.
“Then where?” Lance quizzes.
I sigh. “This isn’t a step-by-step guide to a recipe, Jacobs. Not that you would know how to use those either.” I take a deep breath, trying to settle my annoyance. “They made it hard to find for a reason. If it wasn’t, you might’ve even already found it.”
“How do you want to proceed?” the leader asks Lance, hiking his gun up like he’s ready to use it.
Lance stands drenched in sweat, but he still has that demanding air that he’s been perfecting in offices all over Phoenix. He has power, and he knows it. “We’ll see how this plays out for now. I’m sure they understand that if they’re just taking us on a leisurely stroll, there will be consequences.”
“I can nick one of them again,” Bucket Guy offers.
Stone turns toward him, scowling. Well, now we know which one got him, I guess. In answer, the guard lifts his brows suggestively.
Lance shrugs. “Sure, start with that one.”
He points out Lucas, and my heart drops. “What?” I exclaim. “No.”
I barely wrangle in my surprise before all five guns turn toward my messy-haired guy.
“A reminder couldn’t hurt,” Lance crows, smirking.
31
I throw myself between the assault rifles and Lucas. “Stop!”
“Dakota!” Stone screams. He lunges for me but stops when one of Lance’s team swings the barrel to his chest.
Lucas growls behind me. “Get out of the way.”
“No.” I glare at Stone’s father, fighting back the sudden dose of adrenaline pumping through me. I keep my voice steady even though I want to shake the shit out of him. “I’m helping you. I have an idea to try, but you have to understand that we’ve been searching for this for over a hundred years. It’s not going to magically appear once you pull guns on us. It takes research and sleepless nights and actual boots on the ground. You don’t just get to wave your finger at a problem and have it go away, and if you think for one second that if you do something to one of them that I’ll be in any sort of mood to give you one fuck’s worth of time, you’re the ignorant one.”
“Show me something quickly,” Lance threatens, boredom moving into his voice since he’s not gulping in air like a greedy bastard.
I didn’t want to do this in front of him, but I meant what I said. We all get out of here alive or it means nothing to me. I take out the trace of the map I did.
This piques Lance’s attention. “Is that the map?”
“Sure. My ancestor who took...” I turn the paper over. “...Chem 103 wrote the most important document in Clary history on the back of their homework.”
Lance sputters something, but I ignore him as I unfold it, then motion to Mr. Blade Happy. “I need your knife.”
He unsheathes his blade and hands it to me handle out. I curve my fingers around the black, well-worn grip and move toward the huge boulder, smoothing the paper out and using the tip of his very sharp blade to cut out the traces I made earlier. Afterward, I give the knife back and hold up the map.
“What are you doing, Dakota?” Lance asks, frustration clearly evident.
“I told you I have an idea.” My stomach churns with a mix of doubt and excitement. If this matches up, we won’t know what it will mean but it’s a start.
Wyatt, Lucas, and Stone crowd around me. “I think we’re missing some of the squares and x’s,” I hedge. We need to show them something, but this is the only idea I have. If it doesn’t pan out, I don’t know what we’re going to do.
“But if all the others match up, that’s what we need.”
“Where was the first one we found?” Lucas asks. From the corner of my eye, I see him inspect the cliff face on the right.
“About halfway down the chasm. Maybe a quarter of the way down from the top.”
“It has to line up with this one,” Stone offers, pointing to the outermost square on the map.
“We have to line it up with the outermost on the opposite side,” I state. “I can make the square show through now, but it has to match up with another in order for this to mean something.”
Wyatt nibbles his lips. “Two of us should go down there and stand underneath the first two.”
Lucas drops his voice and peers at our surroundings. “We’ll be way outnumbered, then.” Lance’s team still hold guns on us, as if we’re suddenly going to find a way to attack them.
“At least you’ll be away from them.” I hold his stare, the fear that ripped through me when Lance so casually gambled with his life bubbles to the surface again.
Lucas grips my shoulder. “Don’t worry.”
“Wyatt, you stay with Dakota,” Stone demands, taking charge. “Lucas and I will go down and stand in front of the two outermost squares, and we’ll see if they align.” Once we agree, Stone turns and informs his father of our plan. The leader nods toward Stone and Lucas’ retreating forms, and I suck in a breath as two men follow after them. Of course they would. Goddamnit.
Wyatt threads his fingers through mine. “Just relax, Tits.”
I close my eyes and breathe in. My heart pings in my chest as Stone and Lucas eventually take their places underneath the carvings in the rockface. They both yell to me where their symbols are, and with their help, I can just barely make them out, though the one above Stone is obscured by a bush growing out the side of the mountain.
I keep the traced map out in front of me while Wyatt guides me over the terrain, being my eyes and ears for poisonous creatures and trip hazards. The closer I get to the square on the left fitting into place, the hair starts to stand on my arms.
First, we found the lantern together. If this is the next clue, this is huge. All those years my father and I searched together, and all those years he searched before me, he never got to this step. He’d be ecstatic to know that I did it.
“We’re almost there,” I breathe, checking both sides. We’re pretty far into the valley now. The terrain is trickier, so Wyatt holds my forearms to keep me stable. “Right...here,” I murmur, stopping.
“They actually match?” Wyatt tightens his grip on me. I hand him the map and move so he can stand exactly where I was. “Holy shit,” he whispers.
I give Lucas and Stone a thumbs up. “We got it!”
Lance scrambles forward, tearing my attention away from Stone and Lucas’ excitement. “Wh
at did you find?”
“The two carvings on the map match up.” I bite my lip, praying that the rest will, too.
“So, where do we go next?” he rushes out.
If I could, I’d grab one of the bigger rocks at my feet and hit him over the head with it. “We have to match up the other carvings,” Wyatt answers for me before I lose my patience.
The man who’s used to air-conditioned offices sighs.
“We’re a step closer,” Wyatt confirms. We exchange an exasperated glance at Lance’s impatience. I hope he’s right. If not, Lucas could become a target again. And after him, it will be Wyatt.
Then Stone. Or me. I don’t know whose life Lance would value more at this point.
Wyatt places his hands around his mouth. “Go to the next carvings!”
Stone and Lucas start moving up the valley, their followers trailing behind with their guns drawn. “We need to get rid of them,” I whisper to Wyatt.
He presses his lips together, barely humming out a response. “We’ll figure it out.”
“If you know something I don’t....” I trail off, hoping like hell they do. Cole wouldn’t let us come up the mountains alone unless he had a plan, right?
Wyatt checks behind him. Whatever he sees, he lowers his voice again and moves in closer. “We had a plan, but then that fucker destroyed the SAT phone.”
I close my eyes. I figured as much. “I have a kitchen knife in my pocket,” I tell him. “They don’t know I have it. It’s Lance’s fault. He’s kind of an idiot.”
Wyatt holds back a smile. “You want us to fight off five dudes holding guns with a kitchen knife?”
“Did I mention it’s probably dull?” A laugh bursts from me. It’s not funny at all, but I’m teetering on the high wire of stress and it feels damn good to laugh.
“This is why Lucas calls you Wild Girl.”
I pull myself together. “Do you want the knife?” I ask him, lifting a brow.
He shakes his head slowly. “Keep it. Use it if you need to. Just start swinging but aim for the throat. Even a dull knife can puncture skin.”
The cement block that’s been chilling in the bottom of my stomach hardens. I don’t like the “last resort” talk. Thankfully, Lucas calls out to interrupt my thoughts. “Found it!”
Lucas’s voice echoes as he explains the proximity of the carving. As Stone and Lucas continue up the valley, pointing out more symbols, it’s difficult to match them up. Years of growth and rocks falling have changed the cliff face. Not to mention, the etchings have dulled over time.
“Does it match?” Wyatt asks, peering over my shoulder.
“It’s hard to say, there’s a little jut out on the face there. I think it could be blocking it, but I’m not sure.”
Wyatt takes the map and looks for himself. “We might have to have them climb up and point it out.”
I frown at that. “I really don’t want to add rock climbing into the mix.”
“What are you two discussing?” Lance prods, moving closer. “Does it fit or not?”
“It’s hard to tell.” I turn to face him. “It’s called erosion and a century’s worth of natural damage. Sun, wind, storms. Growth. Things you would actually know to think about if you weren’t sitting up in your office and letting Stone do all the work.”
Lance charges me, but Wyatt intercepts him. The older man’s nostrils flare. “I think she needs a reminder of what she’s doing here. Maybe open up an old wound?”
Mr. Blade Happy comes at me. Wyatt does his best, but the leader pins him on the ground as his friend whips his knife out. “You shouldn’t be so snarky,” he admonishes.
I walk backward and trip over a rock, falling on my ass. I crab walk backward over sand and rocks. “You can’t tell me it doesn’t irk you that he’s the one giving orders.”
“Hey!” Stone shouts from above. “What’s going on?”
I hear a commotion—boots crunching stones—but there’s no way they’re going to get here in time. And even if they did, it wouldn’t matter.
“I don’t like it, but I’m not getting paid to be his friend.” He drops his knee into my side, and I cry out. Even the extra strength pain reliever isn’t going to mute this sharp pain. I snap my jaw shut and breathe through the flare. Stone and Lucas call out again, concerned voices stretching over the expanse of space between us. Mr. Blade Happy smirks down at me. “Don’t worry. Just the tip this time.”
He yanks the sleeve of my shirt, exposing my shoulder. Just as he threatened, he digs the tip into my shoulder blade. I dig my heels into the mountain floor and hiss.
“Get off her!” Wyatt screams.
As quick as he jabbed me, he pulls the knife out. Tugging me close, he warns, “Just fucking do what he says.”
Moments after he stands and walks away, a First Aid kit is thrown toward me, and Wyatt scrambles to my side. He’s vibrating with rage, but I grip his hand, closing my eyes and pretending not to feel blood roll down my skin. “Patch me up.”
“I’m going to kill them.”
I hold him tighter. “Tell Lucas and Stone I’m fine.”
He glares at me. I can tell he wants to refuse, but he calls out anyway. The cursing stops immediately. Wyatt patches me up with thin lips, taking extra time to do it as softly as he can.
Lance steps forward. “Now, can we proceed?”
I nod, and Wyatt helps me to my feet.
“Return to the carvings!” Lance calls out, throwing his hand in the air as if he knows exactly where they are.
Lucas and Stone search for me in the distance. When their eyes meet mine, their shoulders sag. Each of them is worse for wear, dustier as if they were rolling around on the mountain floor, and they very well could have been fighting the two guards with them. I’m sure those two men weren’t going to let them get to me.
When Stone finds his next carving, he yells out its location, and Wyatt and I get into place. That one, I can actually see through the hole in the paper.
“It’s working,” Wyatt whispers next to me.
Though my shoulder is throbbing and my midsection now aches despite the pain reliever I took this morning, excitement buzzes the surface of my skin.
There are three more markers on the map, and when they call out the locations, they’re either spot on or very near where the holes I made on the map are. I can’t see every single one of them, so to be sure, Wyatt digs out the binoculars and we peer through the holes to verify.
I study the ground at my feet. It’s just an inconspicuous stretch of gravelly sand. There’s nothing extraordinary about it. There’s no X that marks the spot. I don’t get chills when I stand here like I’m standing on the edge of a vortex, but this, this right here, is important. It’s another clue. It’s proof that we’re headed in the right direction.
Lance is going to want answers, and I don’t know what to tell him, but for right now, giddiness pours over me.
Wyatt pulls me into a hug. Careful to avoid my shoulder, he wraps his hands around my midsection. My old wound burns like a motherfucker, but I smile through it, letting him hold me. “You did it,” he beams.
I bite my lip. I wish I could take this moment in, but Lance’s presence ruins everything. “I’m not sure what to do now.”
“We better find out.” He moves away, and I notice worry lining his eyes. “He won’t wait long.”
I nod in understanding.
“Well?” Stone calls, expectation clear in his voice.
Wyatt waves him and Lucas back in. We hold the map for them and they peer through the holes with the binoculars to see for themselves. Even Lance takes his turn, confirming that he sees what we do.
The answer was in plain sight on the map the whole time. We never could figure out what the squares and x’s meant, only that we believed the x’s could’ve represented caves, and the squares were anyone’s guess. Now we know.
They brought us to this moment right here. We’ve already taken more steps in the last two weeks than my imm
ediate family has taken in hundreds of years.
Stone grabs my hurt shoulder, and I hiss. His eyes turn dark when he realizes why, and he glares at his father before moving closer to me. “You can do this, Dakota. You can figure this out.”
“We can,” I tell them, meeting each one of their stares.
I wouldn’t have gotten this far in the journey if it weren’t for them.
“So?” Lance starts. “What now?”
And there it is. The question I’ve been dreading. My pulse beats at my wrist so loudly that my head is consumed with the thud, thud, thud. I have to come up with something, and I have to come up with it quickly.
32
“We have to think.” Stone scowls at his father. “Just like you don’t make business deals in a day, you can’t find treasure in a day either.”
“We’ll search this area,” I say as the two Jacobs eye each other. “Stone, can you mark the GPS coordinates here?”
He does as I ask, bringing out a brand-new GPS to save the exact position we’re in. I only hope that our other coordinates are saved in the cloud or some shit. Whatever that means.
“Should we metal detect?” Wyatt suggests.
“Couldn’t hurt.”
There’s something nagging at me, though. Why here? Why this spot? I close my eyes, block out the conversation around me, and pretend that I’m the one who drew the map. The x’s and squares were put on the cliff face to match up to this exact spot. The next clue has to be right here—or within viewing distance.
Lance and his team hang back as Wyatt, Stone, and Lucas get to work. The telltale beeps of several pieces of equipment sound, but I don’t think we’re going to find anything with them. Stone runs the metal detector over the spot directly where I’m standing, and it doesn’t go off. He frowns up at me, and he must be thinking the same thing I am. If there’s nothing right there, we’re not going to find anything away from this spot either.