Page 22 of Slay Ride

Then Maverick’s face pops up beside my knee, and he offers his hand to me. “You ready to do this?”

My brain screams a resoundingno, but I slide my hand into his, and he helps me down from the sleigh. Prepared or not, if I want Maverick to see me as one of them, I have no choice but to make the kill when I reach the bottom. With my resolve set, I take a deep breath and smile.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Eve steps closer and places a light hand on my shoulder. “This is going to be so much fun, Cat. You just wait. I’ll have you snowboarding like a pro by the end of this trip!”

The snowboarding isn’t what I’m concerned about.

“The lift is on!” Ice Pick calls from a nearby building.

A large motor grumbles to life, and the seats begin to move on the track. With my eyes, I follow the long wire forging a skyward path up the mountain. More seats dangle at regular intervals, all of them coming and going much faster than I anticipated.

“We have to get on while it’s moving?” I blink at the chairs, which seem to be speeding up.

Eve bends so that her mouth is beside my ear. “It’s easier than it looks,” she whispers. “Ask Maverick to help you.”

With a subtle shove, she pushes me toward him. I feel bad for disliking her at first. She’s a real girl’s girl after all.

“Need some help?” Maverick asks, and I can only nod.

He takes my hand and guides me closer to the chairs rotating around a large cylinder. I struggle to get on an escalator without stumbling, so I don’t know how I’ll pull this off.

“First, watch how Ice Pick does it,” he says.

Ice Pick comes out of the building and heads toward the chairs. He waits for one to pass, then steps onto the platform and walks forward until his feet meet a bright yellow line. As the chair nears him, he sits, but instead of being lifted into the wild blue yonder, the coupling attaching the chair to the cable releases, and down comes the chair, Ice Pick and all.

“Okay, maybe don’t use him as an example.” Maverick rushes forward and moves the chair out of the way before the next one swings through. “Didn’t Jim have this shit inspected?”

Ice Pick shrugs. “No clue, but at least it let go here at the station.”

“Is there a chance it could let go while we’re in the fucking air?” I ask.

“There’s always a chance,” Eve says as she steps up. “Is the risk worth taking?”

A chair swings by, and she sits. We all hold our breath as we wait for the coupling to release, but it holds this time.

“I always take the risk!” she yells back as she floats higher.

“Me too,” Ice Pick says, and he drops his ass into the next chair that swings by. This one holds too.

Maverick turns to me. “What about you? Will you take the risk?”

Fate has given me an out. I could say the lift debacle has frightened me. I could hop into the sleigh and catch a ride back to the mansion. I could avoid the embarrassment of getting to the bottom of this hill and admitting I’m not a killer.

But then the chair bumps against my ass, and off I go, rising into the air and heading toward my fate.

Whatever that may be.

Chapter Ten

Cat

Snowboarding has been more difficult than I first imagined. I thought it was all about balance, but it takes a ridiculous amount of core strength, which I don’t have. My thighs, abs, and back will be sore for the foreseeable future, and God bless my ass. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve landed on it.

And these were just the practice runs.

Watching Maverick in his element has been a soothing balm, though. In his yellow winter coat, he moves like a brightly colored panther on that board, switching his direction with a subtle swivel of his hips. He hasn’t fallen a single time.

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