My breath burned behind my rib cage. I let it spill from my lips, slow, then I inhaled a lungful of air, the hot, damp draft coiling like a snake inside my throat.
I couldn’t move. The giant’s eyelids fluttered like bat wings.Adrenaline spiked my pulse, the ground tilting with a dizzy twirl.
Gavin’s fingers brushed mine. His lips moved on a silent word:Breathe.
My vision blurred in and out, but I focused on the bones, counting them with each step. One femur. Two clavicles. Three ribs. Four—
A pebble rolled under my boot, twisting my ankle. I tripped, the splintered bones rushing up to meet my face. I braced myself and barely trapped my scream inside my throat. But I jolted to a stop, Gavin’s hands twisted in my belt.
His wild eyes met mine.
The giant still slept.
A bead of sweat dripped from my chin, landing with a wet splash on a cracked skull. Gavin’s grip loosened as I steadied myself.
We’d reached the giant’s shoulders. Almost there. Steam hissed from the pit. The torches flickered shadows over the giant’s leathery skin.
I took another step. Then two more.
A grunt pierced the silence. The giant shifted, bones cracking beneath him. Ice skittered up my spine as I ducked and stumbled forward. A monstrous hand cratered between us, choking the air with dust. The giant’s fingers unfurled toward the edge. His talons jerked like razors carving through stone. Gavin was stuck on the other side, his path blocked.
My eyes watered from the dust, my throat closing around the thick air. Panic clawed its way up my back. Gavin was trapped. The giant’s talons hung inches from the ledge with no way for him to crawl over.
Gavin angled his head toward the far end of theplatform, telling me to go.
Not happening.My fists clenched on my hips.
His lips twitched at my defiance, but his gaze cut to the ledge, studying the stone rim.No! Not that way!My stomach dropped as he crouched, stretching his hand around the platform’s thin edge, then lowered himself over the side.
Fingertips digging into the ledge, he dangled in thin air. I slid to my knees, shaking my head, pulse pounding in my throat. Hand-over-hand, he inched past the giant’s fingers, shoulders straining, breath steady but labored.
The giant’s hand flipped, shuddering the platform. Dust scattered into Gavin’s eyes. My breath stalled. His fingers slipped closer to the edge, knuckles white.
Steam spat from the chasm, turning the stone slick. Heat blasted, searing the air. A sharp breath tore from Gavin’s chest as he stretched for the next hold, but his fingers skidded over wet stone.
His grip failed. His body swung over the abyss. One hand still clung to the ledge.
A whimper lodged in my throat as I watched, helpless.
Gavin’s fingers scrambled for purchase, nails digging into the rock. His gaze locked with mine, sheer will keeping him from falling. His arms shook, the last of his strength slipping. He swung a hand up, scraping for a hold—missed.
I lunged. Inches from the giant’s fingers, I seized his wrist, yanking with everything I had. Fear wrenched my heart. Gavin caught the ledge, muscles trembling. Teeth clenched, he swung a leg up, his boot braced against the edge, and pulled himself over.
I grabbed him, anchoring him to me. His chest heaved against mine. My arms wrapped around his neck, burying hisragged breaths against my shoulder so the giant wouldn’t hear. Gavin’s heart hammered, his skin damp. I held him tighter, willing the shaking in my limbs to stop.
His lips curved into a crooked smile against my neck. The wretch. He’d scared me to death. If my curse didn’t take me, my nightmares would.
When our breathing slowed, I untangled my arms from around him and narrowed my eyes, promising retribution. He didn’t flinch. His gaze promised something else entirely. Heat flickered low in my stomach, my resolve melting like candle wax.
Gavin better live through this if he’s going to make eye promises like that, flirting with me in front of the giant.
Pressing a finger to my lips, I pushed back to my feet. The giant huffed a sleepy wheeze, the air shuffling the bones beneath him.
Time to move.
A few more steps took us to the other side of the platform. I stepped off the ledge and onto the dirty cobblestones. The rope bridge swayed lazily over the pit, almost forlorn. The giant snored.
Bones, the bridge, and the beast, we left them behind, slipping silently into the shadowed tunnel that led to the treasure room.
