Page 68 of The King of Frost and Shadows

I took a moment to look behind me and realized the platform we were on was already a foot below the next one.

We were running out of time.

“We need to hurry,” I rasped, my face throbbing from barely moving my lips to speak. My mouth was so dry, and I desperately wanted to drink water and soak in a tub—two things I would be able to doonly once we were finished with this stupid game. “The platform is already descending.”

Lorne clenched his teeth, and we tried moving faster. My arms were tired, especially the right one, since I’d used it to help push Lorne. That arm shook, then gave out, causing my bare stomach to press on a link. An intense burning sensation engulfed me, and I jerked my feet up, causing the bottom of one shoe to rake off so that my bare skin was on the chains.

I hissed, trying to move so that no part of my skin burned, but no matter what I did, my foot touched the chain. A sharp, throbbing burn engulfed me. I positioned all my weight on the other foot, but the bottom of my sole heated, warning me that I was about to have no protection there either.

For a moment, falling to my death sounded appealing. The impact would be hard and solid, ending my suffering … unless the wildlings hadn’t actually placed us high, which meant the nightmare gas would provide a slow, painful death on top of the burns.

I wouldn’t give Eldrin the satisfaction.

Peeking over my shoulder, I realized we couldn’t jump down yet. We needed to get halfway down this massive, slanted wall before we could land on our feet without risking worse injuries than we had now.

Lorne groaned, but he quickened his descent. I noticed the way his legs shook, which I hated. I needed him to hold on, but he’d been dealing with the burning of his feet longer than I had since he struggled to move his body as easily.

“We just need to get halfway down, and then we can jump.” I cringed, thinking of him jumping with his blistered feet and injured leg, but it would be better than letting the skin melt from our bodies—if we could wait until then.

As we climbed down, dark spots edged into my vision. The torture was so severe that my stomach churned, and bile inched up my throat. If I thought I’d experienced injuries before, they’d been nothing like now.

My tears thickened so much that all I saw was a blur, and vomit lurched into my mouth and spilled from me. It hit the flames, and the fire roared higher, the tips of the flames reaching my hands.

I yelped, and unable to hold on any longer, I let go. With my last bit of strength, I pushed with my legs, hoping like hell that we cleared the rest of the chains below us.

As my body tumbled, the chain yanked on Lorne. He hissed as he couldn’t hold on, and we both fell backward. The air blew my blonde hair forward into my face so that I couldn’t see anything.

Within seconds, I landed on something solid and hard, knocking the breath out of me. Lorne landed beside me, and he didn’t move either. For a moment, I lay there, trying to clear my vision, but even though we weren’t touching the chains anymore, the burning continued to blaze throughout my body.

Move, Lira.Eiric’s voice popped into my head, even though that wasn’t possible. On Earth, she was my voice of reason whenever I wanted to give up, and the sound had my heart aching in a completely different way.

Dammit, I missed her so much it hurt to breathe.

Don’t make me find a way to you just so I can bring you back to life and kill you myself. Get on your feet and move. I need you to come back home to us.

A sob built in my chest, making my body ache worse.I can’t come back to you. I don’t have a way.

If anyone can figure it out, it’s you, Lira.Her voiceturned sterner than I’d ever heard it.Now get up and find a way to survive. We need you back with us.

My gaze immediately found the spot where Tavish sat, and somehow, I could see him clearly through the chaos like he was the only one who mattered. Our gazes connected, and realization tingled through me, along with the chill of what felt like magic retreating from me.

He mouthed the words,Get up and survive. I need you to win.

A pleasant warmth spread through my chest. That wasn’t my mind pushing me on—it was him. A little bit of adrenaline pumped through me, taking the edge off the pain.

I will, I mouthed back, not wanting to disappoint him. I forced myself to sit up as the need to be with him again surged through me. My skin felt as if it might rip off, but I forced myself to push through the pain. I turned my head and swore I’d been turned into beef jerky—all dried out and wrinkled. “Lorne, can you keep going, or would you rather keep lying there and die?” I asked, knowing there was one thing that drove him—pride.

He bared his teeth. “No, we’re going to prove to them that an injured Unseelie and a sunscorched can make it through this.”

I stood and reached for his hand to help him.

He paused like he was considering not taking it, but then he let out a breath and took my hand. I helped him to his feet, ignoring the way my body shook from the torture and how one foot felt melted into the platform.

When he got to his feet, his face twisted in agony, but we pivoted to see that the platform was now two feet above us.

This would be much trickier since we were bothinjured, and we wouldn’t have any slack to give. We had to work together perfectly, or we’d fall over the ledge.

“Go on the count of three,” I croaked. “Got it?”

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