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“She hasn’t had the chance to stretch her wings out since she got here,” I said.
Alastor reached the column where Sariel had fixed the bolts and she fluttered down next to him, watching as he doublechecked. With a nod, Alastor stood back up and turned around, waving at Ash to start the jumps.
Ash moved with the grace of a big cat, landing each jump with precision that belied his broad-shouldered powerful frame. When he reached Alastor, the tension in my shoulders eased.
"Show-off," I muttered under my breath, but there was no malice in it. The guy was good—no denying that.
"Your turn to dance,” said Theo.
My heart thudded against my ribs. This wasn't my idea of a dance floor. I wiped my palms on my pants and approached the precipice. The darkness below seemed to yawn wider, beckoning with invisible jaws. I took a deep breath, and the nausea churned.
"Remember, gravity's just a theory," Theo called, smirking.
"Tell that to Newton," I shot back, forcing a grin.
Fighting the urge to close my eyes, I took a couple of steps back, then before I could change my mind, I ran and jumped. The air rushed past my ears, a roar of adrenaline that for a moment drowned out the fear. My boots hit the stone with a jarring thud. I didn't look down. Didn't stop. Instead, I focused on the next pillar, then the next, and then I felt Alastor’s strong hand fasten around my wrist and I had done it. I took a very shaky breath, and turned back, looking at how far I’d come. Bad idea. My knees went, and I crumpled. Alastor’s grip tightened and he lowered me gently to the ground. The columns seemed small from far away, but they were actually a decent size, and there was plenty of room for us all to stand on this one. Or sit, as the case may be.
I looked back, watching Theo as he crouched at the edge of the ledge, grinning across at us, before springing onto the first column. His body was powerful and fluid, his shifter muscles well equipped for this task. He managed the first three jumps like a pup playing in a play park.
"Try not to enjoy it too much," I called after him. "Would hate for you to get distracted and miss."
"Impossible!" he sped up, landing next to me with a flourish, taking a bow for good measure.
Alastor shook his head at him, then looked up. “Sariel!” he called. “All clear.”
She swooped down like a moth in the night, heading back to where we'd come from. While she detached the rope Theo had secured, Alastor shone his torch over the remaining columns, and I followed suit. Our beams fell on the far wall, and to my relief there were less columns to jump on this side. Another ledge was chiselled into the cavern wall, and another doorway identical to the ones we’d already come through, with columns on either side. Another dark tunnel beckoned.
Something passed my torch beam and I jumped, but it was only Sariel, and we kept the beams steady for her, as she attached new bolts to the wall. Alastor reached out his hand and helped me stand up. Thankfully, my legs were strong again, the shakiness having passed.
“Why is it always heights?” I asked him. “We’re underground, the one place I thought I wouldn’t end up staring down at my death.”
Alastor grinned. “I think it’s just your luck, Carlisle. Maybe on the next mission?”
“I wouldn’t count on it, knowing my luck,” I muttered.
“We’re almost there, though,” he replied. “And less columns this time. One jump at a time, right?"
“Right.”
"Lead the way then, fearless leader," Theo said. “She’s ready for you.”
Alastor reconnected himself to the rope and leapt again. It didn’t take long for him to reach the other side, and Ash joined him soon afterwards. Theo hooked me back up, and although Istill felt sick, I knew it was nearly over. My boots hit the second column with a thud, and I looked up and ahead. Only four more jumps. But as I focused on the path ahead, movement in my peripheral vision stole my attention.
A dark shape burst from the shadows, its screech tearing through the silence like a harbinger of chaos as it dived through the air straight towards me.
“Carlisle, move!” Alastor’s voice boomed across the space, but I was frozen in place, as the winged creature plunged through the air, claws outstretched. Then something collided with it and just as suddenly it was gone. A blaze of light lit up the cavern for a moment as Sariel’s angel blade flashed into existence, and I saw her, dragging the thing upwards and away from me, illuminated in white light as she wrapped her legs around the beast, driving her knife deep into its wings, and tearing the skin over and over again.
“Carlisle! Get over here!” Alastor yelled, his voice breaking into my frozen mind, and I blinked. Common sense returned and I took another jump and another, until I was safely on the other side. Theo began to jump across, and I looked up at Sariel, watching as she released the creature, shoving it away from her. It swiped at her with wicked claws, but the great rents in its batlike wings meant it could no longer stay aloft, and with a screech, it plummeted down into the depths below.
Sariel swooped down towards us but didn’t land. “Winged hellion,” she gasped. “Get into the tunnel, I’ll grab the supplies.”
“There could be more,” said Alastor, his eyes moving to the darkness from where we’d come. We needed the packs, but I could tell he was reluctant to risk Sariel further.
“Alastor, this is what I do,” she insisted, her dark eyes finding his.
He nodded. “Go. Everyone else, into the tunnel now.”
We went but stayed close enough to the entrance to see Theo reach the ledge. He came into the tunnel, too, but turned, watching the dim gleam of Sariel in the far darkness. She was taking far too long.
