Page 39 of Pivot Point

In this moment, I was a siren, a creature of music and art and desire. And I was going to make this audience fall in love with me—with both of us.

I knew I was succeeding the moment that we nailed our first lift. The applause rang out while I was still in the air. As Jasper carried me across the ice, my hands raised high and my head tilted back, I said a quick mental prayer. I could only hope the judges thought it as impressive as the audience did.

Four minutes of perfection, that was all we needed to make it into Finals. And from that point, there were only greater heights waiting for us to make it there.

We soared through our next sequence of jumps and spins without a hitch. I breathed through every motion, matching Jasper’s rhythm.

My gaze slid across the audience, taking in their avid expressions in brief glances. Every pair of eyes wide with awe lifted my spirits even higher.

We swerved closer together in preparation for our next lift, and my gaze snagged on one particular audience member. A broad-shouldered man a few rows up, with a shock of hair so bright red it was really orange and a navy track jacket.

I only saw him for an instant before he blurred back into the crowd, but a chill washed over me. Hadn’t one of the Harvester’s men who’d confronted me and Rafael two days ago looked like that?

Had the Harvester sent his people to hassle me again since I hadn’t left town?

My thoughts scattered. Jasper was here with me, and Niko, and Emi. I couldn’t protect anyone from the ice, and Rafael might not see the threat in time.

If it even was a threat. I couldn’t be sure that was the same guy in the fleeting glimpse I’d gotten.

In my distraction, I nearly missed my cue. I pushed toward Jasper a little harder than I should have needed to, and could tell from the second he hefted me into the air that my balance wasn’t quite right.

Shit. My heart thudded against my ribs as I flexed my limbs, holding my position but also attempting to adjust my weight just a little.

It wasn’t enough. My error threw off Jasper, but he managed to tense his arms before they wobbled too badly on the descend. Still, my blades hit the ice at not quite the right angle.

I stumbled, my fingers swiping just inches from the ice before I righted myself. Inches from a total fall.

A sense of sinking dread filled my stomach. I whipped around into the next sequence of the routine, but I’d lost the exhilaration that’d been buoying me up.

I launched into our synchronized triple Lutzes just a tad short on momentum and had to spiral out after just one and a half turns instead of the full two. Another jerky motion on the landing.

Shit, shit, shit. Everything was falling apart.

I focused on the music and the hiss of our blades over the ice, doing my best to tune out my worries. I’d probably just imagined the resemblance. I’d been on edge since the fight.

We could still pull this together. I couldn’t let Jasper down.

We spun, crossed paths, and whirled around each other. Jasper gave my hand a quick squeeze before releasing it as if to reassure me he was still here with me, and affection flooded my chest.

It carried me through our triple Salchows—not as difficult a move as the Lutzes, but close enough to maybe make up for it. I still didn’t feel the same grace and emotion I’d meant to convey with the whole routine, but at least we landed in perfect sync.

We had one more lift left too. At the swell of the melody, Jasper’s hands found their way into mine, clasping my fingers firmly.

The moment that the violin began to trill, I pushed off and he whirled me high into the air. I let myself stretch out in his arms, one arm arcing over my head as if beckoning the judges and the audience to join us in the world we’d attempted to create for them.

I came back to earth in a rush, but only for a moment. The sequence ended with a series of jumps.

I pushed off, tossing myself into the air at the same moment as Jasper did. Twice around, down, and then flinging my body up again. For a few seconds, I flew like the angel Niko always said I was, spinning once, twice, the full three times.

If my foot didn’t point quite as tightly as I’d like on the landing, I could forgive myself after that finale. I beamed at the crowd as Jasper and I raised our clasped hands up in our finishing pose.

Inside, my heart was still racing. Had I screwed up our chances?

Did we have bigger problems to worry about than our score—like a bunch of goons waiting to murder us all?

“Are you okay?” Jasper murmured to me under the applause as we skated to the stands. “It seemed like you got lost for a bit there.”

I resisted the urge to hang my head while the audience was still looking on. “I’m sorry. I got distracted and didn’t recover fast enough.”

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