Page 55 of Immortal Throne

“Let go,” I shouted.

His eyebrows shot up. His eyes widened.

“Let go!”

He did and I flew forward, clinging to the rope. I sailed through the steamy air until the momentum changed and I swung back.

Ryker had thrown himself to the ground to avoid the fiery death and he scrambled to his feet by the time I swung back to the rock.

“Need a push?” His smirk was back as if he hadn’t almost died a second ago. As if we both hadn’t risked our lives.

I squeezed the rope with both hands and legs, my feet securely anchored on the knot, and nodded.

Ryker placed his hands on my butt and thigh and pushed, sending me toward the next rope. With a shaky hand, I reached out, grabbed the next rope, and hopped over. Once I got my feet on the new knot, I released the first rope and watched it swing back to where Ryker waited.

We sailed over the magma, rope to rope, while the other competitors continued to battle on the central rock, oblivious to the disappearing rock formations and the rising magma around them.

Mobius was there, stabbing demons with his horns and talons and shoving them over the edge. He roared and our gazes met. In that moment, I knew, if I had been on that central platform, I would be dead. I might’ve learned how to connect with my magic, but Mobius was a boss for a level I hadn’t reached yet.

My arms burned. My lungs screamed. Sweat poured from my skin. I needed to make a final leap onto the platform with the portal.

Without overthinking it, I released the rope and sailed through the air. My body crashed onto the smooth rocky surface.

I made it.

I fucking made it.

I hopped to my feet in time to watch Ryker leap from the final rope. He sailed through the air and landed on his feet right at the edge of the platform.

He waved his arms, trying to fall forward, but his balance pitched him backward.

He wasn’t going to make it.

I lunged forward, grabbed the leather vest, and pulled, sinking my weight back. We toppled over, crashing to the ground.

Ryker’s body slammed into mine, knocking the air from my lungs. We laid like that for a stunned moment. The wind had been knocked out of me, but Ryker’s reasons for keeping me pinned under his weight were more questionable.

“You’re welcome,” I wheezed. “You can get off me now.”

He propped himself up, his face impossibly close to mine, our bodies scandalously positioned, and glared at me. “What the fuck, Sloane?”

I shoved at him, and he slowly stood up. Without looking, he held his hand out to help me up. I ignored it and pulled my tired feet under me to get up on my own. I turned away from Ryker and stepped through the portal.

Magic tingled along my skin, and the cool air greeting me on the other side was the most fantastic sensation I’d ever felt. For the first time since this morning, my hindsight stopped sending tingles all over my body.

Ryker followed me through the portal, close on my heels. He reached out, gripped my arm, and spun me around.

I snapped my eyes open and glared. God, I hated him. What was his problem? I shook my arm free and wiped my sweaty hair from my face.

“Why would you save me?” he growled. “I thought you wanted the throne.”

“No, I need the throne,” I said. “But I don’t want to sacrifice everything I am and stand for to get it.”

His gaze darkened and he stepped impossibly close. The unique scent of vetiver and violence that always seemed to cling to his skin wove around me. “What do you mean, youneedit?”

“Since you’re always so quick to point out my mixed ancestry, I’m surprised you don’t already know.”

He frowned, his two dark brows sloping downward almost comically.

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