Page 55 of Kiss of Embers

“Not all the bridges snap. Some hold, but it’s impossible to know which ones are solid. But I don’t think it matters. The point of the challenge is to endure the wind without falling.”

I nodded, my gaze on the Unseelie as the wind slammed him into the rock. To hear witches tell it, air was the most fickle of the elements. Right now, though, it just seemed like a cunt.

I put my lips against Finn’s ear. “You should go! Get across the finish line before anyone else.”

He shook his head. “Once I cross, I won’t be able to return to the temple. I’m not leaving until I know you and Zara are safe.”

“I’ll keep an eye on Zara.”

A familiar stubborn glint entered his eyes. “Hurry up, and I won’t have to wait long.”

“Finn—”

“Go, Struan! You’re wasting time.”

I hesitated. Queen Isolde needed that elixir. Everything depended on Finn and me getting it. But Zarahadto stay safe. Everything depended on that, too.

“Go!” Finn shouted.

I ran for the rope bridges.

Chapter

Fifteen

ZARA

Igripped the rope railings on either side of me and tried not to look down.

Not that there was anything to look at. The chasm beneath me was a cold, shapeless void. And even if I’d wanted to peer into the abyss, the wind made it nearly impossible.

I squinted into the distance, my chin high and my muscles permanently tensed against the screaming wind. Everything hurt. The wind was like sandpaper on my skin. Needle-sharp pains dotted my scalp where my hair threatened to rip from my head. My jaw ached from clamping my molars together. When I’d first set out across the chasm, the wind had blasted my face with enough force to pry my mouth open. If I let it happen again, I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength to close my jaw.

One foot in front of the other.That was all I had to do. That, and not get swept off the rope bridge and plummet to my death.

The ropes groaned like a wounded creature as I inched forward, my heart thumping so hard I felt lightheaded. Each step was a battle against the uncompromising wind, which clawed at my skin with icy fingers.

Other competitors occupied the bridges on either side of me. To my right, a large, bearded werewolf leaned into the delugeeven as the wind ripped his T-shirt from his body, sending the tatters spiraling into the abyss like miniature flags. On my left, a vampire inched his way forward, his fangs bared and his eyes sheened with crimson. Long, silver hair whipped around his head as he released one side of his bridge and shook his fist at the sky.

Huh.Maybe I was approaching the obstacle all wrong. Instead of fighting the wind, maybe I should just tell it to go fuck itself.

A loudcrackwhipped my head around. The werewolf bellowed as his bridge’s supports ripped free of the cliff face ahead of us. The bridge undulated like a snake before swinging downward. The werewolf scrambled to hang on. But his foot slipped on the rope under his boot, and he pitched over the edge of the bridge.

“No!” I cried. Our gazes caught as he flailed in midair. His eyes rounded with horror, and his mouth stretched on a soundless scream.

Then he fell, tumbling into the chasm like a doll.

Shock held me immobile. The werewolf wasgone, swallowed up by the void. His hopes and dreams had died with him. He’d had his own reasons for competing for the elixir. Now, whatever cause he’d championed would fail.

I could be next. Nausea seared my throat. I couldn’t channel out of danger like the vampires, or shift into smoke like Struan and Finn. If I fell, I was dead.

Terror gripped me, and my heart beat triple time. The wind stole my breath and clawed the moisture from my eyes. But I was alive. My heart raced, but it wasstill beating. As long as I breathed, I had opportunities. I wouldn’t waste them by standing still.

Determination coursed through me. I’d conquered three of the four elements. Why not this one? Gritting my teeth, I pushedforward. The wind whipped harder, the tempest raging up and down the chasm’s walls. I ignored it, my focus on the blurry shape of the cliff ahead of me.

One foot in front of the other.One step at a time. The wind howled more wildly, as if enraged by my defiance. With each agonizing step, the cliff grew larger. Less hazy. I was more than halfway across the abyss. A few more steps, and two tiny figures came into view. Side by side, they were unbowed by the wind.

Recognition thumped in my chest, each pulse synced with the beat of my heart. Struan and Finn waited for me. They’d completed the challenge. Instead of crossing the finish line, they’d returned.