Page 178 of Interion

“I am,” she whispered, caressing her cheeks. “My body is mine and my mind too. I'm taking control, and I've already decided what to do with it.”

She opened her arms, and my heart went into free fall. Without thinking, I took another step toward her.

“No one, ever again, will take my control.”

“I can help you, Adele. Don't do this—I'm a loser and I made it. You can too. I won't leave you alone.” I waved my outstretched hands in front of her huge gray-blue eyes.

“You're ruining my perfect night.” Her arms were open like wings. “Why don't you shut up and just watch the show?”

“If you give up now, everything you went through will have been for nothing. You've already won this war, Adele.”

I took two steps forward, and that's when something changed in her expression. Her eyes became as glassy as a frozen lake.

I felt my heart sinking as, with arms open, she slowly threw herself backward.

“I won.”

Those were her last words.

Chapter 45

My body moved faster than my mind. One second she was falling backward, and the next, I was sprinting toward the precipice, sliding over the edge faster than a desert serpent. Maybe it was the most desperate move of my life, but greater than the desperation was the relief when I managed to grab Adele's icy arm while clinging to anything I could find along the way.

Stones and dirt slid as my body skidded, slipping over the edge. For a second, I thought I'd fall with her, but my hand caught a dead root hanging loose at the cliff's edge.

I looked down and saw nothing but a sheer drop to the Emir River and the rocks below.

“Let me go,” Adele shouted, thrashing. My arm felt like it was being ripped from my body.

“No. You're not going to fall,” I shouted over the wind. “If you fall, I fall too, so stop struggling.”

My head started to ache, and a voice murmured words in the back of my mind, but I couldn't afford to get distracted. It was the same sensation as when I'd been cornered in the alley the day of the pre-graduation party.

“And what makes you think I wouldn't kill us both?”

“If we die, none of this will mean anything, Adele. If we die, the monsters win. All the battles, all the tears—meaningless. If you die, he wins,” I shouted, groaning from the effort.

The root was slipping inch by inch and wouldn't hold much longer.

“None of this makes sense. He won a long time ago—there's nothing left. Just let me fall and climb back up.”

“No! If you don't climb up, we're both going to fall. I'm not letting go,” I hissed through the pain.

“Then die with me for your stubbornness.” Hearing her voice was like looking at the shell of an empty egg.

“Fight, Adele!” I grunted through clenched teeth, huffing from the strain of keeping us from falling. “Fight for your life, give it one more chance, just one more. I promise it'll be better this time.”

She started struggling again, and I held her tighter, the veins in my arm bulging from the effort.

“Zion?” I shouted through the bond. No one answered. “Serguei?”

I realized I'd have to handle this alone.

My heart raced faster and faster. Beside me was a large, thick root I could climb, but carrying Adele would make it impossible. The sensation in my mind was growing more urgent, murmuring something I couldn't understand.

“Don't give up, Adele. I promise I'll hand you the morphine vials myself if it's not worth trying, but please, give life at least one chance to surprise you. If you die now, you'll be just as much of a loser as me.”

My arm felt like it was being torn in two, and my hand was frozen around the root. Adele went quiet. I looked down, and she was staring at me. I'd finally gotten her attention.