“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Grey’s voice broke my trance as I stared into the darkness.
I didn’t answer his question but continued to stare into the perpetual darkness. My grip on the dry-rot wooden truss began to loosen.
Hadn’t I wondered plenty of times if I’d survive the fall?
“Lyra,” Grey warned.
I teetered on the edge. My mind screamed for me to hold on tightly. To step down off the ledge. But the spirits had brought me here for a reason. Maybe the same thing happened to Mom.
“This is where my mom died.” I didn’t turn to look at him. “They said it was an accident. That she swerved to miss an oncoming car based on the tire marks left at the scene of the accident. But you want to know what I think happened?” My voice came out hollow and empty. “I think the spirits pushed her to the brink of insanity and that’s the reason she drove off thebridge…on purpose.” I forced the words out. “And now I think the same thing is happening to me. I always wondered if I would survive the fall.”
His gaze bore into me, heating my skin. I waited for the judgement. The snickering at my crazy rambling. But it never came.
His knuckle brushed against mine, and our fingers interlaced. “Do you want to find out?”
A thrill washed over me. It would be my decision to make. Not the spirits.
Fuck it. This was a full send moment.
I squeezed his hand tight enough to cut off circulation and stepped off the ledge. Air tore from my lungs in a scream as we plummeted, Grey’s arms protectively wrapped around me, tugging me close, letting his back slam into the water.
I gasped at the sudden coldness, but instead of air, water filled my lungs. We sank deeper and deeper into the darkness. But before we could be swallowed completely, we surged upwards. I opened my eyes just as we broke the surface.
“Are you all right?” Grey’s voice rumbled against my chest but it was hard to hear him over the roaring in my ears.
He pulled me close, pressing his lips to mine. My lungs begged for air, but I didn’t care, I kissed him back, deciding oxygen wasn’t nearly as important. My legs wrapped around his waist, and I sank deeper into the kiss, not caring if we both drowned. He coaxed my mouth open, and our tongues tangled together. A deep moan reverberated in his chest, setting my insides on fire. His teeth brushed against my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, biting hard enough to leave a bruise. To mark me. To claim me.
His legs kicked and his right arm paddled through the water while the other clung around my waist. He pulled away slightly, trying to get us to the shore, but desperation tore through me.I grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him like he was my lifeline, my reason for breathing.
“I got you, little witch,” he said. My legs tightened around his waist as he carried me from the water. His warm breath heated my frozen mouth, and I couldn’t stop my hips from grinding against him. Our waterlogged clothes created a tangible layer between us, and my head spun from the lack of oxygen.
He finally managed to wrench his lips free of mine, and I gasped for air.
“Grey,” his name was a desperate plea. For what, I wasn’t exactly sure, but I needed more of anything he was willing to offer.
“We need to get you out of here before you freeze to death.” He mumbled into the crook of my neck. Sogginess squished from his boots with each step as he carried me up the muddy hillside.
I shivered, wet and cold in his arms. My teeth clattered as I buried my face in his sweatshirt, getting high on his scent.
Grey suddenly stopped, shoulders tensing, claws extending.
“What is it?” I asked, unable to see in the dark.
“It’s a body…”
CHAPTER 22
GREY
Acoppery tang danced on my tongue.
A few feet from where we stood, a dark-haired girl lay face up on the riverbank.
Dead.
Murdered.
Blood spilled from her throat, coating the river rock and mixing with the waves that lapped against the shore. The way the body had washed ashore, it looked like someone had dumped her farther up the river like a piece of trash, and the tide had carried her down.
