That invisible string between us tugged at my chest, pulling so tight I inhaled a sharp breath in surprise. I held Grayson’s gaze, peering down those twisted eyes, feeling my chest fill with heat, with a lightness. “Together or death,” I repeated, a whirlwind sweeping through us, carrying my words away.
Grayson watched my hair flying around us, laughing in wonder. “Gods, you’re a magnificent thing.” He crushed his lips to mine, sweeping me up into his arms.
My heart raced as if it wanted to reach for him through my ribs. I pulled him as tight as my arms could manage, fearing that it was all a dream. That I would wake up and he’d be ripped from my arms again. My mind was cruel like that.
There was hammering on the door, and Grayson reluctantly released me. “It won’t hold forever.” He dropped to his haunches and lifted a tarp, the same colour as the roof floor. It was so well camouflaged I hadn’t noticed it.
Under it was a black case.
“When did you plant this?” We had swept the whole place before dawn.
Grayson only smiled while he opened it. Inside was a grappling gun, one large enough that he had to pick it up with both hands.
“No way.” My stomach flipped. I looked over the edge of the building, but quickly clamped my eyes shut. I shouldn’t have looked.
Grayson chuckled and lifted the gun onto the concrete edge of the roof. He clamped it onto the balustrade, aimed and fired it off. The spike whirred across the sky, then plunged into a building two blocks away.
Grayson looped a belt around my waist.
“I’m not jumping off this roof with you,” I stated, feeling the adrenaline tingle in my fingers.
“I recall a similar conversation at a waterfall.” Grayson smirked up at me. “Do you trust me?” My body jolted as he tested the straps.
“Of course not!”
He laughed from his belly, the sound warming my insides. “Fair enough.”
He pulled on his own belt then secured us to the cable, checking back towards the door. It was creaking loudly, the hinges starting to pull loose from the concrete.
Grayson cupped my face in his hands, pulling my attention back to him. He smiled down at me with an ease that did not reflect our current predicament. “You are made for this, just as much as I am. You’ve proven it over and over these last few months.”
His words rang true in my gut. This was what my soul had craved, once upon a time. The adrenaline. The adventure. The danger.
Grayson was grinning at me. He came closer, reached behind my head and started braiding my hair, tying the ends with a hair tie.
Where the hell did he get a hair tie? “You think of everything, don’t you?”
He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “It won’t be pretty when your hair gets stuck in the zipline. Now, get your mind right.” He stood back, appraising me. “Rule number eight.”
“If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong,” I recited, grinning too.
Grayson helped me onto the ledge, onto the small lip of the roof. He placed his arm around my waist. “And if it’s not a little dangerous, is it even fun?” He smirked, cocking a brow at me. “Together?”
“Together,” I laughed as the door blasted open behind us. I grabbed hold of him and pushed us both off the ledge.
Grayson laughed in surprise and I yelped as we whirred through the air, going faster, faster. “How do we stop this thing?” I wondered a little too late as the oncoming building grew bigger and bigger.
“A brake,” he yelled over the whizzing sound of the cable.
“Then brake!” I yelled back, clutching him tighter to me.
He only chuckled, watching me with a mischievous grin.
My heart plummeted as we barrelled down at the concrete building. “Grayson!”
He did not slow us down. We were going so fast, the wind ripped tears from my eyes. I screamed as the building towered in front of us, coming in fast. Grayson pulled a red handle and my body jerked forward as the brakes screamed in protest. Almost louder than me.
We jerked to a complete stop, just centimetres from the concrete. I gasped in a breath of air, and punched Grayson in the chest. “You sick bastard!”
