Page 150 of Of Blood and Banes
Shaking my head, tears blur my vision. “No…no. I can’t!”
She nods, a sad smile on her lips as she repeats what she said back in the crypt, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to choose wrong. You choose wrong when you don’t make a decision.”
“Don’t! Please don’t do this to me! I need you!” I cry.
She slips another half-inch. I’m not strong enough. Even with all the love I have in my heart for her.
“It’s okay, you can do this,” she whispers with tears lining her eyes and a warm smile. “You have never let me down, Katerina Blackwind.”
She lets go of my wrist and slips out of my hand.
All sound dies out. Everything moves in slow motion as I watch her clothes ripple around her in her free fall. My heart plummets with her into the pitch-black oblivion below, the dark fog swallowing her whole.
“Marge!” my scream ricochets in my chest, tearing through my lungs. Every crack in my heart finally explodes into splinters.
The chain swings me back and forth, the metal hook hard against my ribs. My hand still extended as I stare at the blurry shadows.
“Kat! You have to get up!” Archie shouts from above.
I twist my head up to look at how far I’ve dropped. Only a few feet down from where the bridge was.
“Swing yourself to us!” Cole calls out with outstretched hands. “Come to me!”
Shoving the journal into my satchel with the swell of emotions beating in my chest, I tighten the strap crossed over my torso and grab the chain with both hands. Pulling a shaky breath between my lips, I swing my legs, pushing hard with my weight until I get momentum.
Closer. Closer. Closer.
Cole snatches me by the ankle, leaning dangerously close over the edge of the cliff to reel me in until my legs frame hiswaist, his fingers gripping my thighs, and my boots flirt with the edge. But I’m still held back by the hook.
“I can’t pull her in any farther. Someone grab her arm!” Cole commands over his shoulder, never breaking eye contact with me. “Kat. You’ll need to remove your corset so we can free you from the hook. But we’ll catch you, okay?”
I nod, not bothering to still the shaking in my limbs. Archie grabs my left hand with Melaina and Sethan spotting Cole.
“Ready?” Cole breathes.
I glance down at where the hook pierces through the dragonbone corset. With my right hand, I quickly work to unclasp the front of the corset. Each snap I release tugs the pressure tighter and tighter against my chest. The tension holding me upright slips, and Archie yanks me by the left hand into Cole. Cole’s strong arms hold me to him, and he takes a staggering few steps back. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”
Once we’re clear from the edge, Cole sets me on my feet. I hunch over, bracing my hands on my knees.
“Do you have the journal?” Sethan asks.
Gritting my teeth, I rip the journal out from my satchel and toss it at his boots. Cole rubs gentle circles on my back, reminding me of how Marge did it back in Silkwood. Pushing off my knees, I walk back to the cliffside as the reality settles over me thicker than the fog in the chasm below.
Cole wraps his arms around my torso and reels me back away from the edge and into him. I fight against him, unable to take my eyes off the darkness and where she disappeared.
“Stop it! Marge! Marge!” My voice breaks as reality crushes me. “We have to get her, we have to?—”
“I’m so sorry…” Cole’s soft whisper brushes my ear.
I shake my head firmly, biting back tears. “She’s down there! I can’t leave her…”
Cole turns me toward him, his hands gentle on my shoulders until he gives me a quick tight squeeze. His eyes search mine, eyebrows raised in sympathy. “We can’t, love. She’s gone.”
My chest caves in, and I blink back tears, my lip quivering. “No, she?—”
“We need to move,” Sethan commands in a low voice. “Even if there is a bottom to that pit, we can’t get to it without a dragon—and you might not want to see her, anyway.”
“Father,” Melaina scolds, her hand laced with Archie’s, whose soft gaze settles on me.
