I reached the end of the bridge, but the man advanced slowly, as if in no hurry. He felt like the passing of time, something steady and impossible to stop.
But if I let this go on, he’d win. I’d keep losing energy until I couldn’t fight anymore, until he caught me. I’d fall here, if I was lucky, or get taken back to the North Tower if I wasn’t. I pictured Wade’s mischievous smirk, Brax’s scowl and Knox’s gentle touches. I thought about how Deacon held me so tightly when we’d fallen asleep together, and the way Kit looked at me as if I mattered.
If I let this man kill me, that all ended for me. I’d never see them again.
And that was worth fighting for, worth lashing out for.
I clapped my hands, then twisted those sound waves, turning them, forcing them to multiply.
The man lifted his arm in front of him again, no doubt expecting me to send it at him.
He was wrong, though. I made countless mistakes, but I didn’t like to make the same one twice.
I released the power, using every bit of it I could, but I didn’t direct it toward him. Instead, I sent it down toward the supports that held up the bridge.
The moment he realized what I’d done, he pulled backward. It was too late, though, given he stood at thecenter of the bridge. The glass shattered, and the metal groaned before giving way from the strength of the power I released.
I stumbled, the building shaking as the bridge collapsed before me. The debris fell, crashing down, and my feet slipped. I tried to catch the side of the building, to keep myself from following the bridge and that man down, but there was nothing to hold on to.
I had a split second of anger that after everything I’d done to get here, it would end like this.I wouldn’t get that future I’d wanted, wouldn’t see how much closer we could get.
Of course, at least I’d done what I needed to. I could only hope that the others escaped without me, that they didn’t wait or get themselves caught. If I’d taken down Larkwood, if I freed the men I loved from this hell, then no matter what happened to me, it was all worth it.
Just as I accepted it, however, something pulled hard on the back of my shirt, yanking me away from the ledge and from certain death.
Wade
After spending most of my life in a place like Larkwood, how could I still experience new levels of fear like this? I had faced off against the worst of the worst, had put a wendigo on his back not that long ago, and none of that had scared me.
However, seeing Hera standing on that edge, the wind whipping through her hair, and watching as she started to go over had spawned a fear inside me I’d never known I was capable of.
If I’d been seconds later, I’d have missed her. If I hadn’t come straight here, if anything had slowed medown, I wouldn’t have been able to reach her, wouldn’t have been able to wrap my fingers in her shirt and yanked her backward, to safety.
I pulled her hard enough that she tumbled against me, taking us both down. She twisted—probably just as scared about whoever had grabbed her—but she stilled when she locked eyes with me.
She put her hands on my cheeks, pulled me closer and pressed her lips to mine. The kiss was wild and deep, as if she needed to reassure herself that one or both of us were still alive. Her lips were heated and aggressive, so unlike how she normally acted. She was normally careful not to push, not to pressure me, yet she kissed me now as if she were starved for me.
And I couldn’t not return the kiss.
A sound behind us made her break away to look over her shoulder. Across the wide, empty expanse between this building and the North Tower stood others, staring as if they couldn’t figure out how to pass.
They weren’t guards, but they were also not friendly. I could sense that even from this distance. Them being shades didn’t change anything.
I didn’t care what someone was, if they meant harm to Hera or me, I’d do whatever it took to protect us.
Hera got to her feet, her motions slow. I didn’t see any physical injuries, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t suffering from whatever had happened in the North Tower.
“As much as I’d love to sit here and keep going—I mean, I obviously enjoy an audience,” I said as I stood, “now might not be the time. We don’t need you helpless.”
She stared at me, that moment of exasperation possibly better than the kiss. After that, though, she smiled and nodded.“Let’s get out of here.”
And that sounded like a damn good plan.
* * * *
Knox
I held my hands in fists, frustration eating away at me. I hated having to stand back and wait with no information about what was happening.