Page 49 of Till Death

She didn’t deserve to pay the price for my mistakes.

My brain flashed back to the last time we’d been in a similar position. And even though the Trial hadn’t been real, maybe it had been a warning. A warning to prepare for the eventuality and potential to lose Kay.

We weren’t out of the woods yet.

“Jade. We have to hurry!”

Her reprimand shook me out of my little mental trip to the past and I scurried after her as well as I was able, the bridge ill equipped for holding both of us in the same spot. I swallowed hard and stepped over the broken piece. Having to choose each step carefully.

I tried to keep her words at the forefront of my head instead of focusing on the death drop. I’d gotten this far, right? I’d figured out a way to get Kay free from the damn chains. But I knew better than to get too cocky. No big head for me.

Unlikesomepeople.

Someone called my name and when I glanced up, the first thing I saw was Cole standing at the end of the bridge.

At least, Ithoughtit was Cole.

The image of him shifted, moving like heat over asphalt, and when I looked again, I saw a flash of horns. A twisted face and glowing red eyes. What scared me more? The wicked smile.

“Cole?” I asked.

“Guess again, sweetheart.” The smooth tone froze me to the bone and a second later, the sound of fraying rope stopped me dead in my tracks right along with the shock.

A flash of fire illuminated the rest of the sin demon’s face. Nope, not Cole. Even on Cole’s ugliest days he wasn’t half as bad as this guy.

Kay began to scream.

Then the bridge fell out from under us.

For a moment we were suspended in the open air, my stomach flipping, before we plummeted.

A dark wind cocooned me in heat and movement as terror stole any sound from my throat. It stole the breath from my lungs and I couldn’t have yelled even if I wanted to. It stole everything from me.

This was it. We were both going to die.

All because some fucking sin demon with a grudge decided to destroy the bridge. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end. Waiting for the inevitable crash when we hit the bottom and went splat.

Arms wrapped around me and I was vaguely aware of Kay at my side when the woosh of air changed direction. “I’ve got you!”

Eli’s familiar scent hit my nose. I didn’t have enough time to feel grateful. At once I was on my feet, his smile at the periphery of my vision.

“Amon only spelled thebridgeagainst angelic interference.” He raised his voice to be overheard. “Not the air. Now you better get your sword and prepare for battle because we’ve got company.”

Along with the two sin demons were about a dozen Halflings with their claws digging into the ground in their zeal to get to us. Like disgusting, grotesque mannequins with severe hygiene issues.

But thank goodness for loopholes, because without them I’d be dead ten times over. Been there, done that, didn’t need a repeat performance.

I dug around in my ear against the piercing screeches of the Halflings.

The others already knew the drill. As Eli’s spear materialized in his grasp, Lisa and Tamara clustered around him well away from the cliff. I pushed Kay in his direction and Eli dutifully took a position in front of her. To shield her.

The lack of fear in her rapidly hardening expression should have bothered me, but we didn’t have time for me to be bothered.

I shot them all a firm nod before running toward Cole like I was some kind of human shield in the middle of a shrieking, stinking wave of Halflings.

It took way longer than I wanted for me to actually get my feet back under me. Not literally, of course, but the shaking refused to stop.

I thought I’d gotten over my fear of heights.Apparently not. Then again, maybe falling to your almost death was a completely different monster from just a plain, regular fear.

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