Page 71 of Suncatcher

As Driz flew Pearl back toward the ravine, something was wrong. And it had nothing to do with the confusion and welling ache in her chest at the uncertainty of what was happening with Pearl.

The faintest hint of smoke filled her nose. It didn’t take long to locate the source.

“What’s wrong?” Pearl asked, sensing a change in Driz.

“Fire.”

Pearl stiffened and looked toward the ground. “Where?”

Changing course, Driz abandoned her destination of the ravine and headed to the mines.

They landed at the top of the curving road. She’d barely touched down when Pearl shoved out of her arms, running straight for the entrance of the upper mineshaft, Driz on her heels.

“It is not safe,” Driz said.

Pearl stumbled to a halt. Flames licked and ate at the wooden slats on the track that led down the slanting shaft, leaving a charred, smoldering trail in its wake. As they watched, it caught on the wooden walls of the entrance building.

“There’re explosives inside,” Pearl whispered. “I saw them earlier today. If they all go off, it could collapse the whole bluff.” She looked between the fire and the lights of town.

“I will get them out.”

“No.” Pearl gripped Driz’s arm, fear flashing over her face.

“Tell me where.”

Pearl stared at her, eyes flickering. “Take two rights and then a left. That’s the newest branch. Three crates. I think. Fuck.”

Driz cupped Pearl’s cheek and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, needing to erase the distress there. “I will get them out.”

“I’ll go get help.”

“I can fly you—”

“No, there’s no time.” Pearl reached for her belt and opened a tin.

Driz stiffened as the blight sparkled and filled the air with the stomach-churning scent. She grabbed Pearl’s wrist. “Don’t use that.”

But Pearl twisted away and rubbed it in her mouth anyway.

“It is dangerous,” Driz stated, a new fear consuming her. Didn’t Pearl remember how it had made her sick last time?

“I’m used to it.”

Driz stared at Pearl’s glowing mouth, wanting to kiss her despite it.

Pearl gripped Driz’s face, bringing her down to look into her eyes, hesitating as if about to say something. “Please be careful,” Pearl finally breathed before she dashed away into the night, her limbs moving faster than a human’s should as she bounded down the road.

Driz didn’t have time to reconcile the yet more confusing emotions and thoughts in her body.

She entered the mine. Flames galloped and reared like limbs of a wild beast, overwhelmingly bright in the confined space. As smoke choked her lungs and stung her eyes, she focused on the tiny part of it that reminded her of the cigarette Pearl had shared with her, the reminder of their connection, and rushed into the too-small caverns.

As when she’d started to explore them before, as soon as the entrance got more than a few paces behind her, she instinctively wanted to turn back. And this time, there was fire too.

The heat suffocated her. Driz had to fold her wings as tight as they could go, and still they scraped along the low ceiling. She edged along the rock wall, using it as another anchor, attempting to avoid the section of flames consuming the track. The fine hairs on her wings started to melt and burn.

Thinking only of Pearl, she plunged deeper.

Pearl hugged the neck of her horse as they raced back up the road. The blight had gotten her almost all the way to town, and her limbs still shook from it. She stubbornly ignored their protests and pushed her horse faster, with Sheriff Oak beside her and more following just behind.