Page 121 of Beyond Oblivion

“I’m not looking forward to it, trust me.”

The root ripped again, and Trenton reached for my wrist just as it pulled away from the rock.

My chest shivered as I sobbed through closed lips, my eyes dancing between Trenton and Thomas. Trenton was sweating, and he was slowly sliding from my grip.

“It’s okay, baby doll,” Trenton said, managing a small grin, but the fear in his eyes betrayed him. “It’s not your fault… it’s not your fault,” he repeated. He looked down, breathing through his pursed lips, then back at me. “I love you,” he said, slipping further. “Close your eyes for me, okay? Close your eyes.”

I sobbed, my hands trembling as I tightened my grip with one hand. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice breaking.

And then I let him go.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Trenton

“No!” I screamed, my voice tearing through the air as I watched Thomas disappear, falling too quickly for me to track.

Camille’s free hand shot out, grabbing my arm with a renewed grip that snapped me back to the present. “Climb up, Trent! Help me!Climb!” she ordered.

My brain struggled to catch up, but her words gave me a focus, a purpose. She pulled with everything she had, her body trembling under the effort, while I clawed my way up, forcing my limbs to work even though I felt hollow.

When I finally scrambled onto solid ground, my legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed against her. My chest heaved with ragged sobs, the sound raw and broken.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out as I buried my face against her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

She wrapped her arms around me, holding on as if she could hold me together. Her tears streaking new clean lines down her face. I wanted to tell her it was okay, but it wasn’t. Nothing about this was okay.

I stood, pulling her with me.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, looking her over.

“I’m okay,” she said, despite sounding broken. She tried to look over the edge, but I stopped her, holding her face to my chest.

Behind us, I heard someone’s breath catch.

Liis.

She hobbled toward us, her steps uneven, each one punctuated by the faint scrape of her shoes dragging across the sand.

When she reached the edge, she swayed for a moment, steadying herself as she kneeled. Her fingers curled around the jagged ledge of the cliff as she leaned forward, peering into the deep gorge below.

She breathed out a single laugh. “Youidiot.”

“I’m sorry, I had to,” Camille said, her bottom lip trembling. “It was either one or both.”

“Not you,” she said, pointing down. “Him.”

We followed Liis’s gaze to the spot she was fixed on, and there he was—Thomas, sitting with his back against the rocky ledge, broken but alive. He was struggling to sit upright, with one arm cradled against his middle, his fingers curled protectively over what must have been an injury. His other arm lifted with difficulty, waving at us with a weak grin. The effort it took for him to move was obvious—his arm faltered midway, dropping to his side as his head tilted back against the rock, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. From where I kneeled, I couldn’t see how bad the damage was, but the sight of him moving at all was enough to pull a gasp from my lips.

“Quit crying, pussy!” he yelled. “I’m alive!”

I bent forward, my hands gripping my knees so tightly my knuckles turned white. A broken sound escaped my throat, somewhere between a sob and a laugh, forcing my entire body to shake. My chest heaved as I struggled to catch my breath, the relief hitting me so hard I struggled to form a single word.

Camille’s hands found my back, her touch steadying me as I shook like a damn leaf, the sheer chaos of everything hitting me all at once, threatening to knock me flat. The absurdity of laughing and crying at the same time didn’t matter—it was the only way my body could process the flood of emotions tearing through me.

“Are you telling me we survived that shit?” I asked.

“Kind of,” Liis said, pulling her phone from her pocket. “We’re going to need a crane or something to get him out of there. He’s injured and he’s about to have a long night if we can’t get him out of there before sunset.”

---