“I’m in the middle, so it makes fucking sense that I’m in charge, Orion,” I snap at him, and Elizabeth nods once when I look at her. Orion jumps or kills us all. I’m so glad we chose to tie ourselves to his psychotic, pretty ass. “One, two…three!”We jump and, thankfully, all land on our stone platforms with a smack that I feel in my knees. That’s going to bruise. I nearly slip in my own blood as I stand up, and I wipe my hands the best I can. I feel Orion and Elizabeth watching me as we walk together, and I don’t know how I became the leader, but it seems I am. It’s a lot of pressure for someone who couldn’t even stand up in front of the class at school and read a presentation without feeling like I was going to pass out and be sick.
The snow falling doesn’t make visibility any better. My heart is pounding in my chest as I keep walking, and I make a slight mistake looking up just to see if Reed and Blackfire are okay. They’re far closer to the middle, to the goddess statue than we are, and I swear they’re watching me too. Their eyes lock on mine for a second, and I look away.
“Focus,” Blackfire barks across the silence.
I nod, focusing back on the ledge I’m walking on, which is getting smaller with every step and has more ice coating it than I like. Another scream ricochets through the air, followed by another. Another chosen gone. The smell of fire burns thick in the air now, and my mind refuses to acknowledge the smell is burning people.
My heart pounds and my vision seems to blur, and my wrists feel weak. Blood is pouring down into my hands, dripping away into the cavern below, and it’s too much for me to lose. The vein rope has fully cut into my skin now, and it’s going to hit my bones soon. Tears fall down my cheeks as I swallow a scream of pure pain. Pain is not new to me, and I know I can breathe through it. I have to. I’m not the only one in pain. Elizabeth is making small whimpers of pain, but she keeps going. Orion is silent, but his breaths are laboured, and I don’t need to look at him to know he is struggling.
We finally get to the end of the small ledge, and there’s three jumps more. We do the same as before, counting with each one,and we easily get across. When we finally get to the bottom of the wall that leads to the statue, all three of us fall to our knees. I look at my wrists, seeing that the rope has cut through so much of my skin now, and I can see bone. It’s going to leave permanent marks, and I sob once.
“You need to get up.” Orion grabs my upper arm, squeezing once. There’s none of his usual nastiness in his voice, just a firmness, a command for me to heed. He has never spoken to me like this, and it shocks me enough that I don’t pass out. I focus on his green eyes, on the five o’clock shadow building on his sharp jawline, and on the way he has one dimple that is cute. “You can do this, Mere.”
“I’m not like you. Human. I’m not as strong as you.” I shake my head. “It hurts too much…I can’t get up.”
“Don’t bullshit me. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Get up now!” Orion snarls at me, and he lifts me with him. He must be suffering from a head trauma, because I am not strong, and he almost sounded like he admired me. Someone should get him to a healer immediately.
My legs shake, but I manage to stand up. Sort of. I sway from side to side as everything blurs again. I’m going to pass out. Orion is in my face, his hand clutching my jaw and his maple syrup scent smothering me like a blanket. “Come on. You don’t want me to be better at this than you. I’ll never let you live it down.”
Time splutters to a stop as I push him back, and he smirks at me, nodding and turning to the wall. I almost miss him being close, and with that crazy thought, I know I’m suffering from severe blood loss. There is no other rational explanation for that feeling.
The final part is a climb, and there are so many gaps, spiked rocks, and ledges covered in thick ice. One slip, especially if my hands are covered in blood, and I’m going to fall. I wipe myhands on my top as much as I can. “Did I tell you two I failed PE at school? I literally had to run a mile, and I couldn’t, so I failed. I was the only one who failed in my year.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Orion groans and rubs his face. “And please stop talking.”
Elizabeth shakes her head at me, a small pain-filled smile on her face. “We can do this together.”
Together. We might all want to kill each other, but our collective agreement is not to die by burning to death down in a pit. It’s weird, but I’ll take it.
We start climbing together, and it’s nothing short of excruciating. It’s nearly impossible to hold on to each ledge, and my foot slips, my wrists burn and bleed, and it’s getting so cold I can’t focus on anything. My breath comes out in deep pants as the world spins, and I force my body to keep climbing, to keep going. Pain is in control now, and it’s hard to even feel the world around me anymore.
I keep pulling myself up, one obstacle at a time, and I wonder more than once where I am getting the strength to do this. I always thought I’d be that person who was pushed to the edge and then happily jumped off. Yet I’m climbing with everything I have. I push myself just a bit higher, a bit more. Orion and Elizabeth are above me now, the vein rope tugging me up in the air and helping me climb. I’m near the edge. I finally see it, and my heart stops.
I scream as the rope cuts through my wrists, and then there are two snaps that echo in the silence. My wrists break, my bones snapping under the pressure, just as Orion and Elizabeth climb over the edge. They won’t see me fall. My heart feels like it’s in my throat as I begin to fall, my scream echoing like a roar.
Suddenly, a big hand reaches down and grabs my arm. I look up, my eyes widening when I see Blackfire has thrown himself over the edge, his other arm barely holding on to the edge ofthe cliff. He yanks me up to his chest, locking me to him, and he pushes off the cliff with a leap. I land on his stomach with an oomph, and I cry out in pain, my broken wrists killing me. Blackfire leaped for me. I barely notice Reed grabbing me from him, his mouth on my wrists as I fall limply in his arms.
“Don’t leave us, not like this.” Reed’s voice is panicked. The world blurs as I look at the statue of the goddess. Her eyes seem to be staring down at me. I hear Orion, Blackfire and Elizabeth shouting that I’m dying, that my heart is slowing. I hear them panicking about me, and I wonder why they care. The goddess blinks, like she can read my thoughts, and she seems confused.
“One makes three,” she whispers into my mind.“One soul can be fixed by three. You are not broken.”
I’m flung straight into darkness where there is no pain and no monster to save me.
Chapter Seventeen
I wake up to the sound of small talk about food and hunting, and I focus on it as I fight to move my body. I feel so weak and tired, but my wrists don’t hurt anymore. Reed must have fixed the breaks. I’m on my side and I open my eyes, looking right at a fire behind a grate in a fireplace. I wince at the heat, turning away and looking up. Wooden ceilings stretch high above me, and a chandelier made of deer horns and glowing yellow lights is hanging in the centre. Where am I?
I sit up, looking at my wrists, which are bound in white fabric, and I pick one binding off, seeing a scar from the rope right across my selected mark. I pull the other, seeing the same scar. My eyes trace around the cabin, from the plush brown sofa I’m on with a thick fur rug thrown over me to the enormous fireplace in the middle. A dark wooden staircase wraps around the room with a balcony at the top leading to several oak doors.Someone’s cooking and it smells like mushrooms, and my gaze follows the sound of chatter to find I’m being stared at.
“You’re awake.” Elizabeth’s voice is hushed and relieved. She was standing with Ayan, and both of them rush over to me. “She’s awake!” Elizabeth shouts, and my ears ring. “Sorry, are you okay? I promised I’d shout to them when you woke up. Everyone has been so worried.”
Why? It is on the tip of my tongue to ask them, but the commotion of Reed running into the room, followed by Blackfire and Orion, distracts me. Reed gets to me first, sitting next to me on the sofa and running his hand over my wrists. “Are you well? Do you need anything?”
“How are you feeling?” Blackfire questions. Well, he barks his question at me, and Reed glares at him.
I shiver, not from being cold, but unsure how to feel when all three of the heirs are staring so intently at me. Reed misreads the situation and picks me up onto his lap, tugging the blanket snug around my shoulders so I’m pressed against him. Reed holds me tight, and I have to admit, I don’t hate it. “Blood loss can make you feel cold.”
“I’m sure she could sit on her own,” Blackfire growls.
