“You’re not going to fall,” I reassured him, but I didn’t know if I was lying to him or not. I hoped I was telling the truth.
Reed took off, power flowing through his veins as his feet lifted off the ground. He was doing it. He was going to make it. He was halfway across and almost there.
But then, he coughed hard and started tumbling down into the dark abyss below. I let out a gasp as we all watched his form become eaten up by the darkness. Horror gripped my heart as I watched him, helplessly frozen to the edge of the cliff.
“Reed!” A cacophony of voices called after him, mine included.
Fire from behind us threatened to send us tumbling after him.
Then, a crumpled looking Reed shot out from below barely making it to where the drawbridge lay hanging.
“Oh, my gods, Reed! Are you okay?” I called out. My voice echoed across the expanse.
I could hear a faint coughing and then, “Yeah. All good.”
“Is there a way to bring us over?” Dex asked, his fingers clutched into a fist.
Another round of coughing answered back, before he stood completely. He took one haunting look back at us and my stomach dropped.
“Reed?” Dex asked again loud enough to carry his voice across the expanse. It echoed off the walls sounding just as angry and crestfallen as I felt.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to find another way over.”
My mouth hung open. “Reed, wait, please. There has to be something,” I called after him in desperation.
But he shook his head and turned around. I watched as he began walking away.
“Reed!” Killian and Nat called out, but he continued to shuffle away.
“Fucking bastard.” Dex said, punching the wall.
My eyes began to fill with tears. What were we supposed to do now? I couldn’t believe he left us like that.
“Wait, I think I see something,” Nat said, pointing to a small edge that seemed to line the cavern. There was a steep drop down, but with the fire creeping closer by the second, we didn’t have much choice. We either had to climb out onto the tiny ledge or be consumed by the flames.
My stomach pitched at the sight.
“I won’t let you fall,” Dex said squeezing my hand in his. My thumb swiped over the back of his hand, coming away bloody from when he’d hit the wall.
“Promise?”
He smiled at me then, in the midst of the chaos that threatened to consume us. It steadied me in a way that should have been concerning.
“Would I lie to you?”
I took a deep breath, knowing that he would, in fact, lie to me, but I took it as a truth anyways, stepping out onto the ledge.
My fear of heights was alive and well and clutched tightly around my middle— filling me with anxiety. Limbs shaking, I followed Nat, carefully stepping where she did. Dex followed, and Killian after, narrowly missing the roar of flames that shot out of the tunnel.
If I ever found out who selected me to be a contestant in Nocturne, I’d fucking kill them.
My back was placed firmly against the cool wall as far back as my pack would allow, with my toes hanging precariously over the edge as we shuffled sideways. I swallowed hard, trying to stuff down the overwhelming amount of fear that was coursing through my veins.
Not looking down didn’t help, because with every step my body instinctively knew that I was hanging off the edge of a cliff and could fall at any moment. I should have taken my pack off and slung it around my front, but there wasn’t enough time. Now, I was too afraid to anything but follow Nat’s footsteps.
“Where does this even lead?” Killian asked.
“Hell, if I know,” Dex muttered, holding onto my hand with a vice-like grip. It was the only indication I had that he meant what he said. He wasn’t going to let me fall.
