Chapter 46

46

It's only when the boulder is a few feet above her that her body finally jerks into action, a clumsy flailing of limbs as she propels herself sideways. Elin twists and lands half on her palm, half on her breastbone, the jolt pushing the breath from her lungs in one gasping exhalation.

Elin clamps her hands around her head, bracing for impact, but nothing comes. She doesn't see the rock land, only hears the dull crack of the impact followed by skittish sounds of smaller pieces scattering.

She tips her head, her eyes darting upward, but no other rocks follow. All that's visible is the looming expanse of cliff, a stripe of blazing blue sky above it.

The thud of her heart in her chest seems out of time with her gasps.

If she hadn't been able to move when she had...

Once her breathing settles, she slowly pulls herself to standing.

Her eyes come to rest on the boulder lying a few feet away. It's larger than she thought, roughly split in two by the fall, fresh cleave marks revealing the darker, smoother stone of the interior. Her first instinct is to step back, to try to see where the boulder has come from, but there are no obvious signs of fresh rockfall.

A cliff fall , she tells herself. A piece of rock that's come loose after expanding and contracting in the heat. But as she walks away, Elin glances up at Reaper's Rock. Despite her earlier dismissal, for a moment she can't help imagining that the rock was responsible; as if it had thrown a piece of itself down in anger.

Once again, the island is letting her know, loud and clear.

We don't want you here.