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“I’m gonna be honest,” she said in a hysterical tone. “This isn’t the first time.”
My foot slipped on wet steel, but I caught myself, squeezed my hands so hard the knuckles were white against the railing.
“Merit, oh Jesus, Merit, I’m slipping.”
“I’m nearly there, Mallory. You’re doing great.”
“Hurry, Merit. Please.”
Her fingers disappeared as I pitched forward—and just managed to wrap fingers around her wrist.
She managed to bite back the scream, but I could see the terror in her eyes.
“Oh God, Merit.” Her feet dangled above the river. “Oh God.”
“You’re going to be just fine. Remember how strong I am,” I said, keeping a pleasant smile on my face. But strength wasn’t the issue. Water was the issue. The slip of my boots on steel wet from melting snow, the slip of her skin in mine from the resulting humidity.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“I’m going to pull you up on three,” I said. “One, two . . .”
I didn’t wait for three. I dug my heels into the frame and dug my nails into her skin, convinced that if I managed to get us out of this, she’d forgive me for the pain. I yanked her up with every ounce of strength I could muster, pulling until she was beside me.
She rested her head against mine. “I thought that was it. I thought that was the end of me.”
“You think I’m going to just let you go? No, thank you.”
She kissed the side of my head, then spat out grit. “You need a shower.”
“You don’t look so good yourself, friend.”
“Rude.”
“It’s going to get ruder.” I gestured up. “We have to climb back to the roadway.”
“And then what?”
The dragon roared, and the bridge shook with it.
“And then we get the hell underground.”
• • •
We waited until the dragon banked again, then scrambled back onto the road, where we sat for a moment with legs dangling over the asphalt. The lights were still flashing at the end of the bridge, but the ship had passed through. They’d be closing the bridge again soon.
“Suggestions?” Mallory said.
“Yes,” I said as the creature turned back toward us. “I’m not going to be taken out by a lizard.” I put her arm around my neck, put a hand around her waist. “We’re going down the easy way.”
“The easy way?” She looked over the rail to the Riverwalk that lined the bank of the river some hundred feet below. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes.”
The dragon was pissed that we’d survived, its wings beating angrily against the sky, its scream a symphony of fury.
“Hold on,” I said. “And you might want to close your eyes.”
She huffed out three hard breaths like a woman in labor. “Go. Just go and do it before I change my mind.”
