Page 9 of Intrepid

“Only way out is down at this point. C’mon, we’ve got about forty feet to the drop.”

My eyelids shot open, and I snapped my head back, estimating the distance from the top. “Oh, God, I’ve only gone thirty feet?”

“Keep going.”

Keep going. Keep going. My muscles twitched at the sound of his voice, and I hated their sense of loyalty to his command over mine.

I scooted down, breathing in through my nose, out through my mouth. I tried not to think of the bricks slithering in around me. The scent of fire in my nose. The fact that my space seemed to be getting tighter. Or maybe it just felt that way. I kept moving, focusing on the wall ahead of me, and the placement of my feet below me.

“Okay, here’s where we drop. Use as much space as you can. Don’t just drop straight down. Roll once your toes hit the grass.”

The tone of his voice sounded like what I imagined a skydiving instructor might, right before pushing some poor sap out the door.

And yet, I’d never wanted to get out of a place so much in my life. I didn’t even care if I broke a leg trying.

His body dropped out below me, and I watched him do exactly as he’d directed—drop and roll. In one fluid movement, he swiped up his pack and stepped aside.

“It’s about fifteen feet. You can do this.”

I allowed my shaky hands to slide against the wall, and the second I pulled my feet in, my body fell through the air, crashing to the earth with a resounding pain that traveled up my shins, along my spine, and slammed into my sinuses. I tumbled to the side in an awkward roll, and lay there, staring up at the moon.

The stranger stepped into my view, his hand outstretched. “So you did it.”

In spite of the ache in my back, I allowed him to pull me up to a stand.

The echo of pain lingered in my ankle, knocking me back a step, but he yanked tight, and wrapped his hand around my waist to steady me.

“You need me to carry you?”

“No. This is humiliating enough. I’ll suffer the walk, thanks.”

We rounded the building—ungracefully hobbled, in my case—to find a fire truck, police cars, and a crowd of people corralled together.

Though, that didn’t shock me quite as much as seeing the long, sturdy-looking fire escape snaking down the side of the building.

“You said there wasn’t a fire escape! Why did you lie?”

He shot a glance over his shoulder, but kept on down the side street. “You said you couldn’t climb down the chimney. You lied, too.”

“I had no choice! I could’ve died up there!”

“Everyone has a choice. So, how does it feel?”

“How does what feel?” I hissed, and at a sharp throb along my shin, I winced.

“To conquer your fear.”

I paused, dumbfounded, and looked back to the building and the chimney I’d just climbed down. Ninety feet high inside a cramped space. Something I wouldn’t have willingly done, had someone paid me.

“Offer’s still there, if you want a ride home.” Twisting around to face me, he walked backwards, sliding a pair of gloves onto his hands. “Or you can wait for your Uber. Your choice.”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Ty.”

“I’m Sera. As in Serafina.”

“Yeah, I know.”