Page 41 of Trouble

“Okay. Show mehow.”

* * *

My initial fearof being caught by police and then having to explain to them why I was trying to climb up a cathedral was quickly replaced by something much more life-preserving once I got more than two meters up the white wall. I clung to the handholds Liam had shown me before he climbed up ahead of me with an ease that suggested he wasn’t bothered by such mundane things as gravity. I wasn’t even that high up yet, but the realization that if I fell once I got just a little higher, it was only this much-too-thin-looking nylon rope attached to Liam that’d save me from certain death was hard toshake.

As if on cue, the rope secured to my harness shook a bit and I glanced up. Somehow, Liam had already made it to the first roof several meters above me, and he’d apparently found something to tie his end of the ropeto.

“Need a hand?” hecalled.

“Yes.” I’m not sure my small squeak was actually audible up from his vantage point, but the way I clung to my small perch without moving must have clued him in to my state of mind. Scraping sounds from up above made me glance back up, only to see his strong form climbing back down the building—this time without arope.

“What are you doing?” I squeaked once he made it down by my side. His fingers dug into the furrows as if it was second nature to him to hang off buildings like a damn monkey, and he looked completely unfazed as he shot me agrin.

“Coming to your rescue. You’ve been clinging on to this poor ledge for about ten minutesnow.”

“No, I mean, where’s your rope?” I hissed. “What if youfall?”

“I won’t fall, Audrey.” His expression turned serious, and I got the sense it was to calm me down. Like he knew I was teetering on the edge of hysteria. “I’ve done this climb dozens of time. It’seasy.”

“Easy?” I gasped. “How tall is this damn cathedral anyway? Nothing’s easy aboutit.”

“Sure it is. Was it hard to get where you arenow?”

I reluctantly shook my head—after Liam had shown me how, it’d been surprisingly easy to climb the few meters. The old wall had plenty of handholds and ledges to grabonto.

“Well, the rest of the climb is just as easy. You just have to focus on one step at a time. Come on, Audrey, you can do this, I know you can. You’ve come this far—don’t give upnow.”

I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth. He was right. I’d made it this far. If I gave up now, I knew in the core of my being that I would regret it for the rest of my life. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking to prove with this climb, but inside my chest, a tight feeling of longing ached for me tocontinue.

Shakily, I reached up for the next ridge aboveme.

“That’s it, now find the hold just above your left knee with your foot. A little further to the left.There.”

Liam climbed next to me this time, showing me where to hold when I couldn’t find purchase and encouraging me every step of the way. I focused only on the wall and on his voice, placing my hands and feet at the furrows he pointed out as I pulled myself up one step at a time. It felt like we’d been on that wall forever when finally, the roof spread out aboveme.

“This is the tricky part,” Liam said, his voice cheerful. “Once you get up, make sure to find your balance before you try to stand. The wind is a bitstrong.”

“Uh-huh,” I managed through gritted teeth. My arms were shaking from the unaccustomed exercise, and sweat made the wisps of hair that’d pulled free from my ponytail stick to my face. When I wiped it against my arm while reaching for the roof, my footslipped.

I yelped and scrambled for purchase, adrenaline kicking in with a burst of raw power, but before I could think anything more than,“oh, shit!”Liam’s arm wrapped around my hips and arse, steadyingme.

“Easy now, I got you,” he said. “The foothold’s just a little to your right, about a foot and a half up. A little more. There yougo.”

I managed to find the small ledge I’d missed before and pushed up. Liam boosted me the last bit above the balustrade and suddenly I was on my hands and knees on the gently slopedroof.

“Oh, my God, I did it!” I gasped. My entire body trembled from the still-lingering adrenaline, but I felt absolutelyunstoppable.

“Told ya it was easy.” Liam’s cheerful voice was followed by a smack against my backside as he joined me on the roof. When I looked up, he pulled a water bottle from his backpack and handed it to me. “We’ll have a little break before we climb thedome.”

Normally, I would probably have protested against the idea of continuing up. I’d already proven I could do it, so why continue even higher and add more risk? But that was the entire point of this little excursion, I was starting to realize. We were doing it simply because we could. Leave the rationale and rules on the ground—tonight, with Liam as my guide, I was experiencing a different side oflife.

It was as intoxicatingly freeing as everything else about him had been since the day wemet.

The climb up the pillars toward our final destination, the balustrade balcony surrounding the dome known as the Stone Gallery, was much harder than the initial walls had been, but I was determined now. Liam helped me every step of the way, guiding me and occasionally pushing me when I couldn’t reach a particularly high hold, and just over half an hour after we’d made it to the first roof, I scrambled over the stone balustrade and fell onto the balcony in a graceless heap with a victorious, albeit breathless,laugh.

I’d done it. I’d climbed all the way up St. Paul’s Cathedral, without dying or getting arrested. I’d actually doneit.

“Come look at the view withme.”