“Shouldn’t we wait and see if we can find a better opportunity?” Tatiana was clearly nervous.
“I don’t like it, but I can’t think of another way. If we’re to be stuck in here there will be zero other opportunities, and even ifwe get out, there’s no way we can subdue a guard to get away.” I said.
“Fuck. I hate this.” I smiled softly at Jaron’s growl, he’d spent too much time around vorpyr. My smile faded.
“Let’s gather everything we can that we could use and get ready to go. An hour isn’t a long time.” I said.
I wasn’t pleased with this any more than Jaron was. It was poorly planned, and we didn’t have time to get everything that I would prefer to take with us into the jungle. But inconvenient or not, it was choosing life over death.
We didn’t have a lot that would be useful to us out there, but I gathered a couple of practical clothing items and all the food I could find. Jaron stuffed bottles of water into his pack. All of us were morose as we hurried to get things together in packs that we could carry for long distances. It didn’t enable us to bring a lot.
“I wish we had some tech. We need to get a message out that we need help.” Jaron grumbled as he stuffed clothing in his bag.
“I don’t think whatever we could create would be strong enough.” Tatiana was still nibbling on her bottom lip.
“That’s possible,” I agreed, “but with luck, we just might be able to signal passing ships. Even neutral ships will let the Intergalactic Oversight Commission know and they’ll likely contact the Consortium.”
“Yeah, because they’re so trustworthy.” Jaron shoved a rolled top into his bag aggressively.
I had nothing to say about that. At the very least, they weren’t out to kill us. A niggling thought made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The same question had been hanging over my head for a while now. They’d known that this was a vorpyr planet, so why had they set up this mission in the first place? And come to me specifically? I blocked out the thought. The firstthing we needed to do was get away from the immediate threat, then I could deal with the chaotic doubts that plagued me.
By the time the dinner hour rolled around the soft calling of large birds filled the air and we were set. The thick ropes that held up the curtains in place of rods had been taken down and tied together.
“Oh, I hope this works.” Tatiana fretted.
You and me both.I finished creating the makeshift harness, the rope circling my waist and legs. We had the very end tied off to a beam inside in case something were to happen, and Jaron took up the slack.
I closed my eyes. My mouth was dry, and I desperately wished things were different, but I couldn’t let them see how scared I was. Heck, I even wished I’d never left the university in the first place. Suddenly, I was very thankful that I’d been in a safe environment, even if it meant I wasn’t able to go out and research. But there was no changing what was, and I needed to buck up and deal with it. We'd made it this far, we could keep going.
I approached the window, and Jaron gave me a hug. He kissed the top of my head.
Tatiana sniffled as she hugged me.
“You two stop, you’re acting like I’m about to plummet to my death. We’ve set everything up to ensure I’m safe.” I nodded at the beam the rope was anchored on.
“Just be careful.” Jaron’s mouth was set in a thin line.
I would do my best.
Chapter 18
It was go time. I took a steadying breath.
We knocked out the window, unable to bring it in so it fell down, down… I didn’t even hear it crash. It left a pit in my stomach.
My idea for getting out through the window diagonally wasn’t as successful as I thought, and I had to wiggle and kick in order to make it out. Once I did, I slid out ungracefully and fell, the rope snapping around me hard as I hit the end where Jaron was holding tight. I gripped the rope with both hands, my heart in my throat, refusing to look down. Dangling hundreds of feet in the air wasn’t doing anything for my confidence.
I swung my legs, trying to get momentum. I just needed to swing around to the platform outside the front of the house thatconnected to the interlacing walkways and buildings that made up the manor.
It wasn’t enough.
“I need more rope.” I called quietly.
Wincing when I dropped further, I kicked my legs harder. With Tatiana and Jaron helping me from above, I gained more momentum. Finally, I reached the end of the rope. The length was too short. I didn’t even get to the edge of the building that I needed to reach around. I called for more rope.
Still not enough. When I called again, Jaron poked his head out of the window and shook it at me. “There’s no more length.”
Gritting my teeth, I swung hard and tried to reach around to the other side with the weighted rope I had in my hands. It barely reached around to the platform. I stopped swinging and hung there. I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t want to. I was scared. So, so scared. I wished that Arrazyl was here, flying up to me and telling me it wasn’t true, that he wouldn’t kill us. But wishes did nothing but disappoint people. I looked up and met the eyes of Jaron and Tatiana as they stuck their heads out the window, looking down at me.
