She could no longer hear the remnants over the rumbling storm by the time they stopped at their destination, a point on the city wall far out of sight from the gate where the soldiers’ attention was now focused. She had been sad to observe in recent days that when a storm hit, the men on duty seemed more concerned with keeping remnants out than being on alert should the storm slip through the city’s Stormling defenses, which meant the only other worry they had were the soldiers stationed in each of the high towers facing the cardinal directions. So they had chosen a spot equidistant from the two nearest towers, and thus their best chance at scaling the wall unseen.

It was a gamble. But no one expected them to have an earth witch on their side.

Jinx knelt in the dirt, and reached into the breast pocket of her leather jacket, pulling out a single seed. She pushed that insignificant seed into the soil, planting each finger around it like the roots of a tree.

It took only a few breaths before a tiny green leaf broke through to open air, unfurling as though taking its first breath. The leaves grew and multiplied, followed by reaching vines that moved quickly over the earth until they found the stone wall that surrounded the city of Pavan. Faster, the vines began to uncurl, reaching higher and higher, winding about each other to reach the top. Roar recognized the plant as Rezna’s rest, the same plant she’d relied on for weeks in the wild to knock her out when she lost her emotions to a storm. The plant seemed to whisper as it climbed, gasping and growing in a way that reminded her too much of the people who were even now grasping the front gates in fear, begging for mercy, hoping just for a reprieve from the onslaught of this dangerous world.

When the vines had grown thick and sturdy, Jinx sat back, her normally tawny face dotted with sweat, and her skin several shades paler than usual. “That should work,” she said in a whisper. Ransom was there a moment later to pull her to her feet. Jinx brushed him off with a cavalier smile and turned to look at the others.

“Who wants to try first? It’s completely safe. Probably.”

“Probably?” Bait asked, his eyebrows raised in exaggeration.

Roar stepped forward, her voice quiet but firm as she said, “I will.” She saw Kiran about to object out of the corner of her eye, and she held up a hand. “I’m doing this.” After all, they were all only here because of her, because she asked, and because they now counted her part of their team. Her stomach clenched, and she refused to let herself think about how they might feel differently soon.