Greg started his stopwatch.
He had 3:50 minutes to collect this soul.
3:42
Dustin jumped at seven.
The world tilted and the wind swallowed him whole. He spread his arms out and arched his back. His form was perfect.
He grinned.
This was the only place that made sense.
3:35
Greg watched the body fall.
It was... beautiful, actually. The way humans threw themselves at death, not because they wanted to die, but because they wanted tofeel alive. He'd read about this. Studied it. But seeing it?—
He clutched his clipboard tighter.
Focus. You have a job to do.
3:20
Freefall.
Dustin counted the seconds in his chest. One. Two. Three. Four.
The valley floor rushed up like a promise.
Five. Six.
He reached for the pilot chute.
3:12
The parachute bloomed open, a rectangle of black and red against the blue sky.
Greg exhaled.Here it comes.Any second now, something would go wrong. A line twist. A malfunction. The file said Dustin was going to die here and the file was never wrong.
The canopy caught air. Dustin spiraled downward in slow, graceful arcs.
What?
Greg checked the file again.
2:58
Dustin steered toward the landing zone, bleeding off altitude. He had his eyes on the target. He would nail it. Just like he did every time.
Well—almost every time.
He shoved that thought down where it belonged.
2:30
Something was wrong.
