Page 162 of Wrath

Gritting my teeth, I regarded the dirt wall before me once more, grateful for the light.

And…there.

Slightly above me was a protruding rock. I reached for it and began to haul myself up, my feet struggling to find purchase. Pain reverberated across my shoulders, but I refused to release the rock, knowing if I did, this would all be over.

My mates needed me.

“You’re weak. Pathetic. Dumb. Nothing. Just give in, Z. You know you want to,” the other me taunted.

The pang in my chest came back, but I ignored it.

My searching eyes found another rock, and I reached for it, hauling myself up even higher.

Come on, Z. You can do this,I told myself, even as fear clawed at the inside of my chest.

I knew the consequence of my failure.

But I refused—fucking refused—to spend eternity alone in that pit. I wouldn’t be trapped. Not by Aaliyah, not by the kings, and certainly not by myself.

So I climbed.

And climbed.

And climbed.

I tuned out every other sound, including the incessant taunts from above. I relied on the trickle of moonlight illuminating the pit and my surroundings in a dim white glow.

I could see the top of the pit. It was so close. So, so close.

I reached for it, my eager hands scrambling for purchase…

When a boot landed on my fingers. Pain exploded through my knuckles instantly, and I released a cry.

“Let go.” The Z above me lowered to a crouch and peered down at me, her blue eyes dark with anger. “Let go.”

“NO!” I screamed, dread traveling south and setting up camp in my stomach.

God, it felt as if she’d broken my fingers.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if you just fell back down?” The Z above finally stepped away, but the pain in my hand didn’t ease.

And for a brief moment, I debated listening to her. It would be so much easier to just let go and fall back into the abyss. The darkness would welcome me like a long-lost friend. I wouldn’t have to deal with politics or war or executions or fucked-up family members. I could just…exist. Maybe the dark would provide peace.

But then seven faces appeared in my mind’s eye.

Killian, Dair, Devlin, Jax, Bash, Lupe, and Ryland.

I couldn’t leave them. Not now. Not after everything we’d been through. We’d fought so damn hard for a happily ever after, and now that it was within our grasp, I refused to let it slip away.

I gritted my teeth and stared up at the eerily familiar face. “Fuck off, bitch.”

Then, with an agonized cry, I pulled myself out of the pit.

Every muscle in my body screamed in protest, and red exploded across my vision. I knew nothing but pain that lanced through my chest and stole all coherent thoughts before they could fully form.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at the starless sky, with only a tiny sliver of moon providing any light.

“You think this is the end?” The other Z laughed, the noise devoid of any true humor.

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