Page 5 of Savage Prince

I start to speak again but she cuts me off with a kiss.

It’s a soft, but firm seal of her lips over mine that makes my weary heart beat faster. And when she pulls back, whispering, “And I love you, too, you jerk,” my legs feel steadier than they were before.

“Why is he a jerk?” Layla asks as she plops down beside us.

I smile and rasp, “Because I made her have feelings. She hates feelings.”

“That’s right,” Juliet says, her gaze still locked on mine. “And the only thing worse than having sappy, scary love feelings is having ‘my best friend died’ feelings. So, step it up, soldier. We’re over halfway through. You’re going to make it. It’s a done deal.”

The drunk part of me wants to ask if I’m really her best friend. And if I’mjusther friend or if that confession meant something more. I want to know if she needs me the way I need her, but the survivor in me has enough common sense to conserve my energy. That’s a big conversation we don’t have time for right now.

Juliet is right. We’re past the halfway point.

We might actually make it to the finish line. We’re going to be dead last—all the other waves of students passed us long ago, even Gertie the squirrel shifter with the scrawny arms—but that doesn’t matter. We just have to make it to the cliffs and complete the trial to pass.

The thought gives me the strength to scramble over a giant pile of rocks, mostly on my own, and inch across the slick, narrow piece of wood connecting the course to the base of the cliffs.

But when we stop, staring up at the maze of connecting ladders leading to the top, my heart drops back into my stomach.

“It’s over, guys,” I say, hating being the voice of doom, but knowing it’s the truth. “I can’t climb that alone and there’s no way you can carry me up ten ladders.”

“We’re not carrying you up ten ladders,” Juliet says. “We’re carrying you up one ladder, ten times.”

“One rung at a time,” Layla agrees. “And we can rest on the cliffs in between. There are places where it’s wide enough to sit and catch your breath.”

I sigh, but before I can speak, Juliet says, “This is how we survived the terrible stuff, remember? One day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time.”

“One second at a time,” I mutter.

“If that’s what you need to do,” Juliet says. “But we haven’t come this far to stop now. We have to try, Ford. Just…try. For me.”

Because I can deny her nothing, I reach for the first rung. But even lifting my left arm is enough to make the pain almost unbearable. I wince and curse, sweat breaking out on my upper lip as I say, “I’ll have to do it one-handed.”

“Piece of cake,” Juliet says, starting up the ladder in front of me.

“Yeah,” Layla agrees as she positions herself behind me. “They should have made all the big, strong Alpha wolves do the course one-handed anyway. Even the playing field for the little guys. Can you imagine swimming all the way to the seawall as a squirrel. Or a rabbit?”

“If I fall, move out of the way,” I tell her as I reach for the ladder again. “Don’t let me take you down with me.”

Layla pats my back. “Sure thing, buddy.”

“You’re lying,” I mutter.

She grins. “You said it yourself, man. I’m a good person. I’m also super heroic. You may not have noticed this about me just yet, but it’s true. And as a hero type person, I am obligated to heroically save your ass.”

“Same,” Juliet says, reaching a hand down from the top of the ladder. “Just climb high enough to reach me and I’ll pull you up the rest of the way. Then it’s only half a ladder ten times.”

“And we’re almost done with one,” Layla says cheerfully behind me as I make my way up the ladder at a wounded snail’s pace.

But in less than ten minutes, we’re resting on the first ledge, one tenth of the way to the top. And I’m not much worse off than I was before. Ladders two and three pass with a similar rhythm, but ladder four is longer, ladder five through seven are missing rails, and ladder eight is nailed into the stone at a diagonal.

Navigating it would be tricky without an injury. With my bum arm, I barely make it over to the next ledge, and that’s only with a last-minute intervention from Layla shoving my ass as Juliet grabs me around the shoulders and drags me up onto the rock beside her.

“Flashed,” I pant, sweating and shaking in her arms.

“What’s that?” she asks, smoothing my hair from my forehead.

“My life,” I say, breath still coming in harsh rasps. “Flashed before my eyes. Twice.”

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