Page 97 of Nothing But Air

“He gets it.” Teague swung his pack onto his shoulders. His ribs screamed.

“I didn’t say that.” Xander shouldered his own pack. “But someone has to keep you from dying.” Xander glanced at Marcus, who stood packing without a word. “You good?”

Marcus nodded once. Pale but steady. “Let’s move.”

Ten minutes later, Teague was setting a brutal pace. Evening light faded fast—shadows pooling in the low places—but he didn’t slow down.

Couldn’t slow down.

The terrain got rougher. Loose scree. Boulder fields. Narrow sections where they had to turn sideways to squeeze through.

“Teague.” Eden’s voice came from behind. “You’re going to burn out.”

“I’m fine.”

“You have bruised ribs and a hero complex.”

He didn’t slow down.

They rounded a bend and stopped short.

The trail was gone.

Where there should have been a clear path, there was only a raw scar of red earth and broken stone. The storm had taken out an entire section—maybe thirty feet washed away, leaving nothing but a steep drop.

“Well.” Xander stared at the gap. “That’s inconvenient.”

“How long to go around?”

“Hour. Maybe more in the dark.”

An hour. Liam didn’t have an hour.

“There.” Marcus pointed to a faint path up the slope. “That might cut around faster.”

It wasn’t much more than a game trail. But it would have to do.

They scrambled up loose rock in the fading light. The trail switchbacked up the canyon wall, leveled out onto a plateau?—

And ended at a gap.

The plateau continued on the other side. Maybe seven feet separated them from solid ground. But between here and there was a couple hundred feet of drop.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Xander rubbed a hand over his face.

“We can jump it.”

“Are you insane?” Eden’s voice went sharp. “That’s a two-hundred-foot drop.”

“But only seven feet across. I’ve made jumps like that dozens of times.”

“Not over a two-hundred-foot drop with no rope. Not with bruised ribs. Not after running yourself into the ground for an hour.” She stepped in front of him. “This is stupid.”

“This is necessary.”

“No, it’s suicidal. There’s a difference.”

“Liam doesn’t have time for us to go around.” He moved around her and tightened his pack.