Page 65 of Villainous Fate

Exhaling, I release all of the air in my lungs.

“You alright?” Marcus asks, his voice low, as if talking louder will somehow alert the mountain to our trespassing.

“Peachy.” I grind out, still processing how close I just came to falling, all because rather than letting him leap alone, I gave him my hand.

Fucking stupid.

I like Marcus and consider him a friend, but I shouldn’t risk myself for him. I can’t do that to Grace. I don’t know if she would be okay if I didn’t survive this.

I wouldn’t be if I lost her.

She’s my world. My life has no purpose without her.

I need to be more careful. I promised her.

“Let’s go,” I cough out, slowing my racing heart as I strategically shuffle to a slightly wider part of the trail, where I can turn myself back around.

The next thirty feet go by without incident, and I find myself picking up the pace so we can get to the bottom. I lock my focus on my foot placement and try my best not to allow my mind to wander. Every once in a while, I hear a grunt or intake of breath that has me freezing and looking over my shoulder to ensure everyone is okay.

The trail shrinks even further when we finally hit the halfway point, with small boulders embedded in the path. So not only do we have less to stand on, but it’s bumpy and uneven. Couple that with the wall starting to angle closer to our faces, and it's a recipe for disaster.

Great.

I pause, waiting for Marcus and Finn to get close enough to see what I’m seeing so I don’t have to yell. From up here, I’m sure our voices would carry, and the last thing we need is another team hearing us when we are this close to winning.

“Stone, you won’t be able to cross the next ten feet with Amira on you,” I state, understanding that it’s obvious but also knowing that he needs to hear the words.

His need to be the hero will get him killed. When he leads a pack one day, he must learn to remove the emotion from his decisions. He can’t save everyone.

“Amira, can you walk this section carefully?” Marcus asks, his voice tender as if speaking to a child.

Resolve settles on her face, and I know she’s willing to try.

“I’m going to have you shift your weight toward Finn so he can take the backpack from you, and then we will switch over to Deacon. He will pull you off and onto the ledge. Once you are clear, I will retie the rope between us to catch you if you fall. Just to be safe.” Marcus says, locking eyes with me to ask if I can do this.

We have little room to work with before the slant gets sharp and the ledge goes down to only a few inches, but we’ll have to make it work.

Marcus removes the ties from himself, separating him from Amira and us to allow the removal of both her and the bag without catching. He finds a tight hold for his hand in a crack between two chunks of hardened Earth and leans toward Finn.

Finn waits for Amira to adjust, slowly sliding Marcus’s backpack off her back before reaching out. For a moment, I think the bag’s going to slide right off her arm. It's so thin that the weight seems heavy for such a frail limb, but she manages to swing it a little, and Finn secures it without an issue.

Once it's clear, Finn straps it to his chest, and Marcus leans back my way.

Our best option is for me to hook under her armpit, so I inch closer, extending my left arm as much as I can, but my fingers barely reach her wrist.

We’re too short.

Seeing the disconnect, Marcus lifts his left foot off the ground, placing all of his weight onto the toe of his right, and uses his right hand to help lift Amira closer to me.

It’s enough to slide my hand under and onto her back. I take on her weight, adjusting my stance to stay balanced and cheer internally.

Fuck yes!

In a blink of an eye, I witness the hold in Marcus’s left hand crumble under the added force, and before I can move to catch him, he falls, arms flailing as he searches aimlessly for something to grab.

My heart stops beating, and the tiny woman I’m holding grips me tighter as my arm swings her to the ledge without care. I can’t pull my eyes from Marcus as he plummets closer and closer to the base of the rock wall.

The only sound I hear over his screams as they echo off the cliff’s hard surface is someone shouting, “NOOOOOOOO!”

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