My curiosity thrashes, gnawing at her restraints.
From the moment Rhordyn became a presence around Castle Noir, he tried to get me to step outside my comfort zone. My Safety Line.
Tolive.
Until recently.
Don’t climb the wall that borders the city. It’s dangerous.
He placed the warning upon my chest, and I felt stomped. I bucked it off and threw my own words, sharpened into barbs aimed to maim.
I didn’t give enough attention to the break in his pattern. His contradicting desire to keep me in this city he obviously disliked. Which begs the question …
What’s on the other side?
The moon drenches the city in a stark luminescence that fails to seep into the clefts between lofty buildings. I weave along these paths, tracing that charcoal map now etched into the folds of my brain.
The alleyways become tighter with every turn, the thick, puddled shadows making it hard to see the odd slumbering lumps tucked against the walls, their faces shrouded within the frayed hoods of their patched cloaks. I pull my own hood farther down, ensuring my face is cast in blackness.
A layer of mist swirls underfoot as I ease onto a wider street, the end barricaded by the steep wall—a foreboding presence holding the city in its illuminated embrace. Blazing turrets line the top, reaching for the blackened sky like the points of a gilded crown.
I drag my hand along the wall and follow its gentle curve, edging between buildings nesting close, until I find one that leavesjustenough room for me to work with—a four-story structure with a flat roof that’s half the height of the mammoth wall encompassing the city.
Tucking my satchel, sword, and cloak behind a wooden crate, I peer upward. The grooves between the rocks are like hairline fractures, but my toes are nimble.
So are my fingers.
I press my hands against the adjacent structures, using the force to hoist myself up so I’m suspended between the two, enabling me to ease up the empty space in a spider-like shuffle. I make quick work of the four stories, though every breath burns by the time I’m edging onto the roof, shaking out my hands and feet as I look up at the abrupt terrain I still have left to scale—this timewithoutthe backbone of the adjacent building to brace my ascent.
Easing my toes off the roof’s lip, I tip forward and stamp both hands upon the stone, finding a frail cleft to delve the tips of my fingers into. I do the same with my right foot, then drag a deep breath, swing my left foot forward, and dig my toes into a groove, shifting my weight to the wall.
Heart pounding, I locate the next feeble divot just above my head andpush.
Reach, pull, repeat.
The wind tousles my hair about my face and threatens to peel me off.
Yank me down.
There is no pump of thrill. No blood-zapping excitement.That part of me fell off the cliff withhim,leaving this heavy sense of impending relief sitting on my chest like a boulder—ready to lug me toward a swift and sudden death the moment I let my guard down.
Refusing to look that thought in the eye, I keep moving.
Keep climbing.
My thighs and calves and shoulders burn by the time I slap my hand upon the top of the wall, face contorting with a silent snarl as I push all my strength into my arm andshove.Throwing my weight forward the moment my ribs scrape against the honed edge, I swing my other arm out and snatch a metal peg impaled in the stone.
Legs dangling, I haul myself onto the smooth, flat surface drenched in firelight by two blazing turrets. I roll onto my back and toss out my arms, one hand hanging over the lip while the wind weaves between my throbbing fingers. Gulping sea breeze, I stare at the winking stars that look almost close enough to touch, sweat trickling down my face …
Fuck.
I tip my head sideways, frowning when I realize I could roll five times before tumbling off the other side.
Another cooling gulp of air, and I ease onto all fours, crawl toward the outer edge, then peek over the side.
My gaze plummets in symphony with my guts.
I’m not sure what I expected to see, but it certainly wasn’t …this.
