Page 105 of Kings & Chaos

He took my hand again and stepped away from my body. “We run and jump on one.”

I looked over at him. “Don’t let go.”

“I’m not fucking letting go.” There was a rock-solid promise in his voice. “Let’s do this. Three… ”

I stared out into the darkness ahead and thought of Emma. What she’d gone through. She’d been alone, and I realized, maybe for the first time, that I wasn’t.

I held tighter to Neo’s hand and felt his grip tighten on mine.

“Two… one.”

Then we were running, every instinct in my body screaming to stop before I reached the edge.

I ignored it, saw the void approaching, leapt into it.

For a split second, I felt suspended, like maybe I wouldn’t fall at all.

Then I dropped fast, Neo’s hand still in mind, a scream ripped from my lungs as we plummeted through the darkness. I’d always wondered what someone thought about when they were falling from a great height.

Now I knew: nothing.

My mind was utterly and gloriously empty.

Then we hit the water.

It was like crashing into a brick wall, the impact slamming my body all at once.

And the cold. The fucking cold.

It hit every cell in my body like an electric shock, and I fought against the urge to gasp underwater as I sank into the icy depths.

I opened my eyes, thrashing as I held my breath, panicking in the darkness as I looked for the surface.

Then, a tug on my hand.

I looked over and saw Neo, still holding on. All the fight left my body, our eyes open and locked underwater, some weird kind of peace washing over me as I looked into his eyes.

Then he kicked and I was pulled upward, toward the faint glow of the surface.

I remembered his instructions and kicked too, holding tight to his hand as we swam for the light.

Chapter40

Willa

Iwas almost not freezing by the time we got home, the heat in the Hummer cranked, Oscar driving for once while Neo sat in the passenger seat trying to get warm.

I was more than happy to snuggle next to Rock in the back, letting his body heat seep into mine, his big arms reminding me that I was alive.

I’m alive.

They were the first words that had popped into my head when I’d surfaced at the quarry. Not justthank god, I’m alivebut… I’m fuckingalive.

My mind was crystal clear for the first time in maybe ever, all the turmoil surrounding my dad’s betrayal and Emma’s disappearance and my mom’s remarriage just… gone.

Neo was still holding my hand — he hadn’t let go, just like he promised — and we’d swam for the shore to clear the way for the other teams.

“Think Andrei’ll be okay?” I asked Rock as Oscar pulled into the garage.

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