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It wouldn’t coht f ire whencould happen before we reached the gate, if we ever did In the er to come up with a plan

"Water," I said, my mouth as dry as the desert around us

My lips were cracked, and my muscles screamed in protest every time I moved, but I was alive

I treether James and Ava hoisted me up and helped me toward a small oasis in the distance It looked so picture-perfect that if I hadn’t known this was so, I would’ve guessed it was a e

We covered the distance faster than I’d expected, or er had a chance of walking out of that cavern alive

The best I could hope for was that the others would leave before Cronus had a chance to strike

They set ainst one and closed ht Cronus with barely a co drained

"Tell us what happened," said Ja milk all over his shirt, but he didn’t seem to care He dipped one of the halves into the pool of water and offered it to me, and my hands shook as I took it

I drank deeply The deliciously cool water spread through me, and once I’d f inished my second drink, I sat up and took inventory ofthrobbed and I was dizzy, but Cronus hadn’t hurt h my hair in an attempt to comb it out, but it was too much of a sweaty mess to bother, so I searched my jacket pocket for a hair tie to pull it back

Instead of elastic,that felt like silk No, not silk A f lower petal Startled, I f ished it out and cupped the crushed yellow blossom in my hand It was small, with seven pointed petals that looked as if the ends had been dipped in purple, and slowly it began to uncurl

I’d never seen anything like it, let alone picked it and put it in my pocket And it was alive; it wasn’t dead or crushed like I’d thought it was In seconds, it hole and open, and the center looked like a shi drop of nectar It couldn’t have possibly come froh? It had to be But I’d stuck my hands in my pockets in the woods before Cronus had chased us, and it hadn’t been there then

Had I simply not noticed it? That was the only explanation

Orit back into the safety of my pocket beside the quartz-and-pearl f lower froers and said shakily, "What did you two--