Page 50 of Death Match

And yet, I didn’t see any alternative options.

If these Trials were teaching me anything, it was how to survive. It was how to use my head, my body, and my gut all together in order to achieve my goal.

As the stones crashed hard enough to rattle my teeth and pieces of rubble and debris flew everywhere from the impact, I held my breath and leapt into the air.

Soaring over the passage below was both freeing and terrifying at the same time. How did Eli and the other angels fly like this—and even at higher altitudes—all the time? I just couldn’t stomach it.

When my boots hit the solid wall’s topmost edge, my weak ankle gave out and my body continued forward, about to teeter over. For a few breathtaking seconds, I rocked back and forth, wind milling my arms as I balanced between danger and safety.

When I balanced, I let out all my held breath in a whoosh. From this high, the entire maze was laid out before me. It stretched for miles, all the squiggles and dead-ends visible through the fog. Huge and complex. Daunting to stare at. And when I glanced over my shoulder, I could see the green center, where I always started, not far behind me.

I had been going in a circle. It had felt like I had been traveling to that third archway for miles, and it had been so close the whole time.

I glanced down, but when my world swayed and my muscles tightened from dread, I quickly snapped my attention back up. No use staring at a deadly drop, right? Especially when it made my legs feel like jelly.

I needed to focus on the reason I was up here. Find the next arch—my next Trial—and get it done, and so I examined all the pathways before me.

It was hard to concentrate when it was slamming into me over and over again. After everything I been through, the fact that a fear of heights could still easily stunt me was aggravating.

I willed my heart to slow down to its usual pace. It took some time, but I was able to calm it eventually. A little. If I rose onto my tiptoes and squinted real hard, I could just make out the topmost point of the familiar stone arch and the illumination of the glowing magical smoke that came with it.

That’s where I needed to go.

But getting there would be the problem. From my estimation, it was maybe a quarter of a mile away. And that was only for a straight shot, which this maze definitely wasn’t. With all its obstacles, deviations, and moving pieces, it would take me quite some time to reach it. Time that I didn’t really have.

I needed a quicker route.

But how?

Peering over my shoulder at the way I had gotten up here, an idea struck.

A completely loony and idiotic one, I might add. A typical Jade Blackwell idea.

I shifted back the few steps the ledge of the wall would allow, all the way until my heels hung just over the edge. When a few pebbles crumbled under my feet and made an ominous sound as they fell and disappeared in the darkness below, a whine rose out of my throat.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. Ican’tbelieve I’mdoingthis.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I bent my knees, ran the two steps across the wall-top, and propelled myself toward the neighboring ledge.

I was in the air for only seconds, but it was a terrifying and nail-biting few seconds.

To my surprise, I landed safely again on the next wall’s top. But I couldn’t revel in it this time. Instead, I used my forward momentum to repeat the process. Crouch, run, jump, land. Crouch, run, jump. Onto the next and the next and the next.

Again and again.

With each successful landing, my fear lessened and my confidence grew. A smile even tugged at my lips as the breeze ran through my hair and caressed my skin. I didn’t feel my injuries while hovering in the hover.

Maybe there was something to this flying thing I could get used to. The little drop in the pit of my belly every time I took a jump—it was a bit exhilarating, too. Like I was on some fucked up roller-coaster ride. If I managed to conquer my fear of heights, this whole flying thing wouldn’t be as bad. When I got the hang of it, obviously. Now, it was more like guided falling.

I wasn’t sure if Archangels were given that power, like Eli and Michael had, but if so, I could manage with it.

I just couldn’t miss my landing. That was the most important part.

With every conquered leap, I came closer and closer to my destination and my excitement grew. This was actually working. I couldn’t believe it.

As the sole of my boot hit the next ledge, the wall beneath me quaked. At the same time, I glanced sideways to see the stone ledge next to me disintegrating. A quick swivel of my chin and I found it was crumbling on my other side, too.

What the…?

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