The Tethering: The Complete Collection

22. Leap of Faith

22

Leap of Faith

Less than an hour later, Emilia had once again coaxed a motel clerk into giving them a room for the night. The sound of a semi driving past seeped under the motel room door. Jacob had set the alarm to allow them a few hours’ sleep, but he was too tense to close his eyes for more than a few seconds. Every creak or bump in the darkness sounded like an attack.

Jacob lay still, listening to Emilia breathe steadily on his shoulder. The wood-paneled walls that adorned their room in the Hiker’s Hut formed shadows that danced in the dark. It wasn’t what waited for them in the morning that made him nervous. He had accepted that they were doing something dangerous. It was done. Except for the actual jumping. They still had to do that part.

Feeling Emilia next to him, breathing and safe, swept away all the nightmares he had been fighting for months. But holding her couldn’t change the truth―he could have lost her. They might not have made it to this night. Everything would be all right as long as he could protect her.

But what if he couldn’t?

Jacob was still staring wide eyed at the plastic grained wood when the alarm finally went off at 3 a.m., and Emilia rolled sleepily over to turn it off.

“Good morning,” she mumbled to Jacob as she switched on the light. She dragged her backpack across the floor to the bathroom.

Jacob quickly piled on all of his warmest clothes. Emilia had bribed the motel clerk to pick them up at 3:15 and drive them to the start of the trail up Cadillac Mountain. The man warned them it would be a cold, hard climb, but what choice did they have?

Emilia came out of the bathroom padded in sweaters. Jacob handed her a roll and coffee from the in-room coffee maker.

“Thanks.” Emilia smiled feebly, holding the cup between her hands.

“Should we leave our backpacks here?” Jacob asked, trying to swallow the dark brown liquid he had meant to be coffee.

“I don’t know when we’ll be back.” Emilia frowned at her pack.

“They aren’t heavy anyway,” Jacob said, zipping his up and tossing it on his back.

“You didn’t sublevis yours?” Emilia asked, taking the top of Jacob’s backpack and testing its weight.

“Huh?” Jacob asked.

“Sublevis,” Emilia said, and instantly his pack weighed nothing.

He could still feel it against his back, but the weight on his shoulders was gone.

“Sorry, it didn’t occur to me that you wouldn’t know that one. I guess I forget sometimes how new the whole wizard thing is to you.”

There was a light tapping on the door. Jacob opened it to find the bleary-eyed clerk.

“You’re actually awake,” the clerk said in a tone of mild surprise. “Better go if you want to beat sunup.”

Jacob’s breath blossomed white in front of him as they walked to the clerk’s car. He’d been right. It was going to be a cold climb.

“Why are you interested in the mountain?” the clerk asked as he drove through the darkness.

“School project,” Emilia answered without missing a beat.

“This seems like a lot of work for a school project,” the clerk yawned.

“We’re very dedicated students,” Emilia said.

Jacob hid his smile, gazing out the window. Emilia must be used to giving those types of explanations. She had been pretending to be human her whole life.

“There are stories about that mountain,” the clerk continued, not paying attention to Emilia’s reply. “The park rangers don’t like to tell them, but the locals know. Weird stuff happens up there.”

“Weird stuff?” Jacob asked, glancing at Emilia.

“Every once in a while, you get a crazy up here,” the clerk said, “people saying they’ve seen ghosts jumping off the mountain. But you don’t know they’re ghosts till after they’ve jumped, because the ghosts never hit the water. There’s a crazy flash, and then they’re gone. I’ve never seen it myself.” The clerk stopped his car in a tiny parking lot where a single trail broke through the trees. “But who knows? You kids might get lucky.”

“I think we might,” Jacob said.

“Thank you for the ride.” Emilia slipped a hundred-dollar bill into the clerk’s hand.

The clerk looked at the bill for a moment, seeming to war with himself. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” Emilia said, “I think we’re going to have a great hike.”

The clerk smiled broadly. “Give the motel a call when you need a ride back.” He saluted and drove down the road, leaving Jacob and Emilia in the dark at the base of the mountain.

“Shall we?” Jacob asked as the taillights rounded the corner.

“Sure,” Emilia said, taking the first step onto the dark path.

“Are you sure we can’t use magic?” Jacob asked, straining his eyes to see the roots that covered the ground. “A nice little inluesco spell. I don’t see anyone around, and we don’t want to fall off the mountain too early.”

Emilia laughed. “Not worth the risk, but…” Reaching to the ground, she picked up two sticks, shorter and fatter than Jacob’s wand. She handed one to Jacob before touching her finger to the tip of her own. “Inluescilla.” A beam of light, bright enough to illuminate the trail, shone from the end of the stick. Emilia grinned. “Looks like a flashlight.” She twisted the stick in her hand. “Just don’t let any humans get too close.”

Jacob examined the end of his stick before placing his finger on it and said, “Inluescilla.” Blue white light shot into his eyes. Jacob stumbled, blinded by the brightness.

Emilia laughed softly. “Careful there.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him in place until his eyes had readjusted to the dark.

“Sorry,” Jacob muttered, hoping the dim light wouldn’t show his embarrassed flush.

Emilia smiled and shook her head, then turned back to the mountain.

Jacob shone his light up the trail. The pale blue beam made everything seem foreign and eerie. Trees shrouded the side of the mountain, making it impossible to tell where the path led. But looking up, Jacob could see some of the stars blocked out from the night sky, silhouetting the mountain in black.

“Better get moving.” Emilia started up the trail.

They walked in the dark. At first, the path was flat, packed dirt, frozen hard with the nighttime frost, but soon the trail became rocky as it began to climb up the side of the mountain, weaving back and forth in switchbacks cutting through the steep incline. In some places, even the worn trail couldn’t seem to conquer the mountain. Boulders lay strewn in the path, forcing them to scramble on their hands and knees, searching for footing in the dark.

The higher they climbed, the more of the mountain they could see. Flashlights glowed in the distance as other hikers climbed the worn path, making their pilgrimage to the rising sun. The trail grew steeper still. There was more climbing than walking to be done.

Even though Jacob was in fair condition, his arms burned from pulling himself from rock to rock. Emilia puffed along behind him, not arguing when Jacob reached behind to pull her up a particularly steep rock.

Emilia paused on the side of the path, staring up at the other flashlight beams ascending. The lights looked like tiny fireflies dancing their way up the mountain. Emilia grabbed a water bottle from her pack and took a long drink before handing it to Jacob. She pulled off her gloves and breathed on her fingers. Jacob took her hands in his and rubbed them gently. Her hands felt freezing and tiny, even though his were almost numb from trying to grasp the cold stones.

“Jacob,” Emilia said softly, “I need to ask you not to come with me.”

Jacob snorted. “Not gonna happen, Emi. You jump, I jump. Literally.” Jacob tried to keep his voice steady. There wasn’t a chance in Hell he was letting Emilia go to the Siren by herself. If she was going to jump into a mystical realm, he was going to be with her.

“This could be suicide. Jacob, if we’re wrong…” Emilia gazed up the mountain.

“We’re not. And if for some impossible reason we are, you do some quick spellwork, and we’ll be fine. I’m sure you know a great spell for cushioning a death drop off the side of a mountain.”

“I don’t know if I can do a spell that quickly.”

“Look, Emi”―Jacob took her face in his hands―“wherever you go, I go. I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I don’t care if it doesn’t end up helping us stop the Pendragon. I am going with you, and we’re not going to have this conversation again.” Jacob took Emilia’s hands, watching as their palms began to glow gently in the greying light. “Together, Emi. That’s how it’s going to be.”

Emilia pressed her cheek to Jacob’s. “I know,” she whispered, “and I’m glad. I just couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t say it. I had to try.” She kissed Jacob softly on the cheek before turning back to the trail and beginning the climb to the summit.

As they rounded the last bend, whispering voices drifted down to them on the biting wind. Jacob’s breath caught his throat as he looked down at what they had climbed. In the dark, he hadn’t realized how high they had ascended.

The faint crashing of the waves rose up through the mist that blanketed the ocean. Islands strained to peer up through the haze, as though searching for the first glimpse of the sun. Scattered around the top of the mountain, people huddled together. Emilia led Jacob through the clumps of people covered in blankets, all with their faces turned east, waiting for the sun.

The whispers of anticipation sounded like rustling leaves as they reached the cliff. Walking carefully along the ledge, Emilia stopped on an outcropping that jutted out beyond the rest of the mountaintop. The waves slammed mercilessly against the rocks far below.

Jacob tried hard not to picture Emilia or himself crashing into the rocks.

He forced himself to look away from the ledge. Pinks and golds began to paint the sky as the sun crept closer to the glowing horizon. “It’s almost time,” Jacob murmured, glancing at his watch. “Thirty seconds.”

Emilia took his hand and laced her fingers through his.

“Twenty seconds.”

Emilia looked into his eyes before taking a step closer to the edge.

The sky was orange now, shaded with brilliant reds. Any moment, the sun would come over the horizon, and night would become day.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven”―there was still time. He could pull Emilia away from the edge―“six, five, four”―they had come this far, and the Hag didn’t lie―“three, two, now!” Jacob shouted, and together, he and Emilia stepped into the air.

For an instant, Jacob could hear the screams of the people who had seen them jump. He saw the new sun burst over the horizon with a brilliant green flash before everything went black.