Page 38 of Death

“Safe? This is the opposite of safe!”

He laughs. “Then, you’re gonna love this.” He squeezes my hand again and smiles. “Jump.”

I jut back again. “No.”

“Tannis, how many times are we going to do this little dance before you just let me lead?” he asks.

“Dancing is one thing,” I argue. “Jumping out of a plane —without a parachute — is an entirely different thing.”

“You’re right, it’s easier,” he quips. “You just take my hand, close your eyes, and don’t let go. No one-two-three, one-two-three required.”

I dig my foot into the floor. “No,” I say again.

Ari nods, his eyes still twinkling with amusement. “What are you afraid of?”

“The obvious!”

“Death?”

“That and the falling and splat part.”

“If I told you that there was no chance of that happening, would you still jump with me?”

I hesitate. “Why are you doing this, Ari?”

“To prove a point.”

“What point?”

“That you have my word,” he says. “You have my trust, my unending promise, that nothing will ever harm you, Tannis. Everything you see, from the dirt beneath your feet to the stars above your head, bows to me.”

I bite my cheek. “And who do you bow to?” I ask.

He looks at me and my breath hitches. “Take my hand and I’ll show you,” he says, opening his palm again.

I stare down at his hand as the blurred ground rolls beneath us. My ears dull to the sound of the plane engine and the rushing winds and I can barely take in a full breath to soothe my nerves.

Should I fight this a little longer? Maybe he’s testing me and I’m one more no away from touching solid ground again. Or maybe I should think of it another way…

I’m one yes away from flying.

The thought makes my heart skip twice, awakening the warm ribbon lying dormant within.

Ari raises his hand and rests it on my chest near my shoulder. “I know,” he says, reading my mind. “I feel it, too.”

“You do?” I ask. He nods. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” he says, “but I’ve felt it since you kissed me last night.”

My lips tingle as his hand slowly shifts up my shoulder to my cheek. “Fall with me, Tannis. I promise the world will catch you.”

I don’t move. I don’t even look down. I fix my gaze into the depths of his eyes as I lay my hand over his on my cheek. He turns his wrist and entwines our fingers, cooling my burning skin with this icy touch.

“Don’t let go,” he says.

And then, we fall.