r he is going to be the l

pter skid I was clinging to, a low, lethal frequency that cut through t

ht was a physical anchor of desperation, pulling my body inch by agonizing inch toward the edge of the abyss. His eyes were wide, bloods

wind whipped his words into the dark. "You were supposed

ir freezing in my lungs. "You loved the vers

ring carpet of indifferent lights. If I fell, I would be nothing b

!" Keon's command

He couldn't reach me. He was the only thing keeping the gunmen pinned down, his shots a rhythmic, deadly punctuation to the

hand. The steel was cold, reflecting

he old manipulation flickering in his eyes. "Don't do t

he'd taken credit for my work, every time he'd silenced me in a meeting, every ti

fought the controls and the wind. I leaned down, the abyss yawning beneath my

" I whispered, my voice reaching him even throu

bric of his expensive wool coat, the blade moving through th

rment did. His eyes met mine one last time, and for the first time in

e wind t

ed by a sea of light. I watched until I couldn't distinguis

hands clawing at the skid until Keon's powerful arm reached out and hauled me into the cabin. H

collapsing onto th

as we dived away from the rooftop. Below us, a ball of orange flame erupted on the helipad a fuel line hit by T

of the engine. I sat there, my breath coming in ragged ga

his hands were steady on the flight controls, his

line," I lied, m

hem with a pressure that felt like a brand. "It's the realization that you're free. The

called it freedom. He looked like a dark god in the glow of t

space in my chest beginning to

s to head for the airport or a safehouse in the city. Th

are

owns the rules. We're going to a cabin in the Catskills. It's off the grid, reinforced,

grey. I thought about the girl who had woken up this morning worrying about a coffee stai

f my tactical vest. "Keon... what if I can't un

r a platitude or a false comfort. He

we have left. But you won't fail, Louis

ch w

you loved," he murmured. "Every

hat I hadn't just escaped a building; I had escaped a life. And as I looked at