Page 42 of Meet Me In The Dark

Billy sighed. “The tandem parachute is broken.”

Kara’s lover swore. “What are our options?”

“We have two single-person parachutes on board.”

“That’s unacceptable,” Micah said.

Billy shrugged. “I know you and your brother think you can control the universe, but this is reality. You’re going to have to jump separately. Kara, let’s go over the timing of deployment.”

As Kara listened to Billy’s directions, she felt her stomach tumble out of the plane without a parachute, only to smack hard on the ground ten thousand feet below. It was one thing to hold on while Micah handled the logistics, but to trust herself not to panic enough to be able to do it on her own…

No.She could do this. She had to do this. She’d spent a lifetime proving she was stronger than her fear. She would do it now, and this time, she wouldn’t panic at the sight of failure…because she wouldn’t fail.

Taking deep breaths, she centered herself, hearing Luke in the back of her mind, like they were on that climbing wall all over again.

Can you do me a favor? Just humor me and breathe with me. You don’t have to do anything or worry about anything—I’ll keep you safe. All you need to do is inhale and exhale.

That’s all?

That’s all.

He had kept her safe, that day. And she was going to return the favor.

Calm and centered—or as calm and centered as someone could be when they were about to jump out of a fucking airplane—she followed Billy’s and Micah’s instructions, repeating it back to them over and over, until Micah was satisfied.

“It really is simple,” Billy said. “You’re going to sit on the side of the plane, push off, and slowly count down from fifty. Then pull this thing here,” he showed her where on the contraption she’d been strapped into, “and the parachute will deploy. After that, it’s smooth sailing on the way down. We sent drones down and it’s mostly an open field down there with some trees. Easy peasy.”

“You sure about this?” Micah said.

“No,” Kara told him truthfully. “But the longer we wait, the more unsure I’ll be. And I’m sure I want to be down there with you. So.”

Micah nodded. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she told him back.

“You’re going first, troublemaker,” Billy said cheerfully.

Oh,god. Was she really doing this?

She closed her eyes, picturing Conor and Luke in her head. Conor’s clenched jaw, Luke’s soft eyes.

She was really doing this.

She sat, leaned forward, and pushed off.

The first few moments were exhilaratingly quiet. The air swept past her, buoying her up and caressing her body like a lover. Down below, the Pacific Ocean was nothing more than a large piece of bright blue construction paper, interrupted by small green and brown stickers: islands. Asshe drifted, the stickers began to grow larger, white and green ridges appearing: mountains, forests, and volcanoes. The air shushed her as it rushed by, cradling her in its arms. Crisp clean air—like mountain air but on steroids—filled her nose, her lungs. She’d bottle that smell if she could.

She’d stay here forever if she could.

As she counted down from fifty, she embraced the peace and freedom of it all. She was fucking flying. She was trusting in the universe, and the universe was protecting that trust. Some feet above her, Micah—who had pushed off while she’d been busy justbeing—hovered in the air in a matching helmet and goggles, eyes on hers. He grinned, and she grinned back.

Five, four, three, two, one?—

She pulled the tab for the parachute, expecting a loud sound as it popped open. Instead, the air seemed to speed up around her.

That couldn’t be right.

She pulled it again.

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