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Come on,he growled as I stood on my tiptoes.
More of our fingers brushed, but it still wasn’t enough to get a proper grip.
You have to jump.
I dropped my gaze to the uneven, slippery rock beneath my feet. If I missed, I’d fall off and then have to figure out how to climb back up without help.
The jackal below me leaped again, his teeth snapping close to my foot, making me jerk away. The movement threw my balance off and I clutched at the ravine wall, desperately holding on, praying I wouldn’t fall.
Getting back up would be the least of my worries if I couldn’t grab Knox’s hand.
Audrey, please!
The desperation in Knox’s voice snapped my attention back to him. Fear filled his expression, a look I’d never seen in his eyes before, and his gaze kept darting up the ravine and back to me.
What was he looking at?
I turned to look and time stuttered into slow motion. A massive wall of water rose at the far end of the ravine, roaring its way toward me.
I had to jump. Now. And I only got one attempt.
My pulse pounding, I leaped. Somehow my feet didn’t slip out from under me, and Knox wrapped his large hand around my wrist.
But as he was hauling me up, the wave of water slammed into my legs.
I tried to hold on, tried to tighten my grip and futilely cling to the ravine wall, but the force of the impact yanked my hand from his.
Cold water engulfed me, the shock stealing my breath, and I was wrenched under. I fought to find the surface, but the current was too strong, tumbling me around and around.
Pain exploded through my head and sliced across my shoulder, and I belatedly realized I’d hit the ravine wall. I scrambled to find a handhold, but the water had already swept me away.
Another explosion of agony in my knee, my shoulder, my knee again, around and around. My lungs screamed for air and darkness swam across my vision. I flailed, fighting to find the surface or something to hold onto, but I could barely see what was around me and everything was moving too quickly.
