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Mr. Blythe’s brows shot up. “What?”
Jax reached into his pocket and pulled out a black cell phone. “I have your phone,” he said. “Found it at school earlier. Do you want it?”
On the last word, he tossed the phone toward us in a smooth arc. Mr. Blythe reflexively reached out to snatch at the air as the phone sailed through it, loosening his grip on me in the process. I took the opportunity to weasel my way out of his grasp, which must’ve been Jax’s intention when he threw the phone.
“Go, Kinsey!” he shouted, rushing forward to put himself between me and Mr. Blythe. “I’ll keep him back!”
I dashed over the slippery rocks, praying I wouldn’t slip. When I made it to the base of the promontory, Erin grabbed me and pulled me into her rain-soaked arms, shoulders quaking with sobs. “Oh my god,” she said in a tremulous voice. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
“Me neither,” I choked out.
I turned my head to look back at the promontory. I expected to see Jax hurrying toward us now that I was safely away from Mr. Blythe, but he was still out near the end, only a foot or so away from the edge. Mr. Blythe’s right hand was going for his throat.
My eyes bulged. “Jax!” I screamed. “Watch out!”
“Don’t worry!” he shouted back to me, blocking Mr. Blythe’s hand. “I’ve got him! Just stay there with Erin!”
He blocked another attempted hit from Mr. Blythe. Then he swung at him, knocking him back. Mr. Blythe reeled to the left, stumbling precariously close to one side of the promontory. He regained his footing, and then he lowered his head and charged at Jax, clearly intending to push him off the other side.
Jax waited until the last second. Then he stepped aside. There was nothing in Mr. Blythe’s path to block him now, and his momentum sent him sailing right over the edge of the promontory.
Relief swelled in my heart, followed by a jolt of horror as Mr. Blythe flailed and grabbed at Jax’s ankle on his way over the edge. He managed to get a good grip on the hem of his pants in that split-second, causing Jax to stagger backward and tumble over the edge with him.
The last thing I saw was his shocked face.
Then he was gone.
16
Kinsey
“Jax!”I screamed as he fell out of sight. “No!”
I leapt into action, sprinting toward the promontory. My heart was pounding so hard it ached, and there was a lump in my throat that made it difficult for me to breathe.
“Kinsey!” Erin shouted. “Wait! It’s slippery!”
She caught up to me and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me back. I shook her off. “We have to help him!”
She grabbed my arm again. “You won’t be helping anyone if you fall over the edge as well.”
“Erin, we have to go!” I shouted, staring at the spot Jax had fallen from. I kept seeing him there in my mind’s eye, eyes wide and mouth dropping open as he tumbled backward.
Erin nodded, chin trembling. “I know,” she said softly. “We just… we need to prepare ourselves for what might be down there, okay?”
I swallowed thickly and stared at her, knowing exactly what she was getting at. She knew—just like I knew, deep down in my heart—that we wouldn’t be able to help Jax. He’d plunged off a hundred foot drop onto a pile of jagged rocks.
“He’s dead,” I said in a hollow voice. “Isn’t he?”
“I… I think so,” she murmured.
Emotion clogged my throat, making it even harder for me to breathe. “What do we do now?” I choked out.
“I don’t…” Erin sniffed and shook her head. “I can’t…”
For what was probably the first time in her life, she didn’t have an answer.
My knees felt weak. I almost sank to the rainswept ground, but I sucked in a shaky breath and turned back to the right side of the promontory. “I’ll put my coat down on the edge,” I said. “We can kneel on that so we don’t slip.”
