Page 79 of The Endless War

His fall ceased with a jerk that nearly pulled his shoulders from their sockets, his body swinging into the cliff wall, the impact nearly breaking his grip on the dangling end of the bridge.

Zarrah.

His eyes shot skyward, finding her clinging to the tangled ropes and boards of the bridge just above him.

A roar of fury stole Keris’s attention. On the opposite side, Bermin hung from the other half of the bridge. He was climbing, massive arms bulging as he raced toward the top, where his two remaining soldiers peered over the edge.

“Climb, Keris!” Aren yelled from above. “We need to get off this damn island!”

Ignoring the pain in his arms, Keris dragged himself up.

Thunk!

Zarrah cursed, and Keris risked an upward glance to see an arrow embedded in the wood next to her hand.

“Bermin is pulling arrows out of corpses,” Aren shouted. “Shoot the soldiers, not the Prince!”

Faster.

The rough boards tore the skin from his hands, but Keris didn’tfeel the pain. Felt only the fear of having gotten so close, only to lose her in a way that there would be no chance of rescue.

Thunk!

Another arrow sank into the planks, nearly striking Zarrah’s hand. She lost her grip, dangling from one hand as Keris climbed up beside her. Bracing his shoulders against the smooth rock of the cliff, he twisted the bridge so that the boards obscured their shots. “Climb. Keep behind the boards.”

“What about you?”

“I’m right behind you.” Every inhale he took was filled with her scent, her wind-whipped hair brushing his cheek. “Your people need their rightful empress.”

“Why does everyone keep calling me that?”

“Because it’s the truth.” But this wasn’t the moment for revelations. “I’ll tell you why when we’re out of the thick of this.”

She hesitated, then began climbing.

Thunk!

He gritted his teeth as Bermin tried to shoot them through the planks of the bridge. Above him, Zarrah had reached the top, a Valcottan man holding a shield out to protect her as she climbed over. “We’ve got you, girl,” the man said. “You’re safe now.”

As Keris neared the top, Aren, who was using a corpse as a shield, reached down to haul him over. “We control this side,” he said. “All the soldiers are dead, and we’ve started moving the wounded. Bermin stands alone—Lara shot the other two dead.”

Keris barely heard, his eyes searching for Zarrah. Daria and the Valcottan man had her, were drawing her away, the bodies and shields of their fellows blocking her from Bermin but also hiding her from Keris’s sight. Without a backward glance, they started down the path to the stairs that would take them to the guard tower and the pier beyond.

“Lara said he’s the rebel commander,” Aren said. “They joined forces to take the pier, but that’s all I know.”

“He’s out of arrows,” Jor said, jerking his chin across the channel. Bermin stood among the fallen, his face lost to shadows, though Keris could feel the man’s rage. Alive, which meant he’d have to face hismother’s wrath for his multitude of failures.

Eyes on Bermin, Lara approached, a bow hooked over her shoulder, her face and hair splattered with blood. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

She gave a tight nod. “Let’s go, then. The rebels’ other ships lured off the navy, but they’ll have seen the signal fires and realized it was a ruse. We need to be gone before they reach the pier.”

The Ithicanians backed away from the edge, then turned to follow Lara, only Aren remaining. The other man cast Bermin one last appraising look, slung his arm around Keris, and tugged him forward. “We did it. It’s over.”

Why didn’t it feel like it was over?

Keris’s skin prickled.

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