Nyx stayed back to have them haul up the gear first, then she mounted the ladder. She was not a fan of heights. And not twenty anymore. It took well over an hour to make the long, bloody fucking climb.

She arrived at the top trembling and sweating. She lay back in the crevice and chugged a water bulb. For a minute, she thought her senses were fucked up, but no… the ceiling above her seemed to be… moving. Like it was breathing. “Fuck me,” she muttered.

Ahmed came over and leaned over her. “Not what you signed up for?”

“There better be a fucking better way back over,” she said.

Safiyah smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile, more like the way a cat who’s just left a dead roach on your pillow looks right before you head to bed. Nyx stared past her where Kage was reloading her gun onto her back. Of all of them, Kage seemed the most composed. How that kid took everything in stride was baffling. Nyx had been with novice bel dames who cracked under less pressure.

Once Eshe had secured Isabet, Ahmed and Nyx pulled her up. Eshe was last, squawking into the narrow space just as Isabet’s fingers met the lip of the crevice.

Ahmed untangled Isabet from the ladder. They left it in the crevice. Nyx paused, waiting for Eshe to fly past her or catch a ride on her shoulder, but instead, he landed neatly on Ahmed’s shoulder. Ahmed glanced over at him, looking surprised. Eshe took flight again, heading for the other end of the crevice.

Nyx started walking through the dim corridor after him. It was just a matter of time, she suspected, before Eshe’s allegiances started shifting—Isabet and Ahmed were the best picks, she figured. Isabet for being pretty and Ahmed for being pretty and cunning. What, did she think he’d be a kid forever? No, she’d just hoped she taught him better. Taught him not to give his heart to just any pretty fool who crossed his path. You started caring about somebody, you did stupid things. Like murder a diplomat’s bodyguards. And haul a bunch of outlaws across a desert.

Never ended well.

Safiyah, Khatijah, and Kage had already reached the end of the long corridor. They stood framed in the light, blocking her view.

“What? Don’t tell me there’s not a way down like you said?”

Nyx pushed past them, just squeezing by in the narrow space. She came up short at the edge of the opening, and grabbed the warm wall to steady herself. She gazed onto an alien vista. The sight of it twisted something in her belly. It tasted like fear.