Gilded Serpent by Danielle Jensen (top 10 novels txt) 📕

But this bridge terrified her.

Marcus had taken one look and turned away, and was now on his knees retching on the bare rock of the plateau.

He was not going to be able to do this.

“I’ll go back and cut some of the rope we just used,” she said. “I’ll tie you to me, that way—”

“No.” He straightened, wiping his mouth with the back of his mitten.

“It’s my call, remember. You promised to listen to me.”

“Not this time.”

There was a faint wheeze to his voice that made her skin prickle with apprehension, but he seemed more lucid than he had in hours. More in control of himself. “Marcus—”

He shook his head. “I’m too heavy. If I fall, you’ll be ripped right off the bridge”—he took a labored breath—“then we’ll both be dead.”

“But—”

“The sun’s setting. Let’s go.”

“Can’t even go a day without giving an order,” Teriana grumbled, because if she didn’t say something, didn’t tell a joke, she was going to cry. Sweat ran in rivulets down her icy skin and she felt strangely light-headed as she turned to the bridge. It was mounted to an outcropping a dozen feet back from the edge, allowing her to test her balance on the cursed thing with solid ground still beneath her.

Gripping a cable in each hand, she stepped up onto the lower one, biting her bottom lip as it quivered and moved from side to side. This close to the moorings, it only moved a few inches, but when they reached the center, it would be a whole different story.

Taking a deep breath, she eased forward, humming one of the songs of her people because it forced her to breathe. Reaching the edge, she stopped, the song dying on her lips.

It was so very far down.

“This is not happening,” she whispered, then turned back around. Marcus had his hands on the cables near where they were mounted, but had progressed no farther. “Stay here.”

Sprinting across the plateau, she eyed the faint glow of sun. Half an hour, no more. Then they’d be stranded in the cold and in the dark. She had to hurry.

Clambering up the incline, she stopped short of the gap bridged by the spikes and pulled her knife. She cut through the fibers, knotting the loose end off so whoever came next wouldn’t be without, then took the portion that hung down the incline, looped it around her shoulder, and headed back to the bridge.

“There’s only ten feet of it, but it should do for you.”

Marcus lifted his head. “What?”

“I’m tying you to this.” Climbing the outcropping, she pulled off her mittens and formed a loop around the line stretching above the bridge, double-checking her knot before jumping down. “Up.”

He climbed onto the bridge, saying nothing as she fashioned a harness around his legs and torso. Probably because he didn’t want her to hear the wheeze in his voice.

“I have to keep slack enough that it won’t pull you off when the bridge swings. So if you lose your footing, you’ll drop a few feet,” she said. “But you won’t fall. Climb back up. Then carry on.”

“You need … the same.”

Teriana shook her head. “There’s no more rope and no time for me to go back and retrieve more. And if we don’t get across this ravine to that shelter, we’re as dead as if we fall. Besides, this is nothing to me. I’ll be fine.”

Before he could argue, she climbed onto the ropes, moving swiftly down them.

And stepped out over the edge.

 66MARCUS

It was a hundred times worse than he’d anticipated.

A thousand.

The bridge bobbed beneath Teriana’s weight as she stepped out over the ravine, nothing holding her in place but her own strength and balance. Farther and farther, the wind catching at her hood and pushing it back, sending her loose braids flapping wildly. With her added weight, the bridge swung farther than it had on its own, snapping back in the opposite direction with violent force. Teriana wobbled and clung to the ropes, taking another few steps before another gust of wind caught her, whipping the bridge nearly sideways.

“No.” His chest was so tight he could barely get the word out. “Come back.”

Either she didn’t hear him or chose not to listen, taking another few steps, nearly a third of the way across now.

His breath came in gasping wheezes, his throat tight, his chest worse. His pulse roared in his ears, everything too bright despite the rapidly dying sun. Sweat rolled down his brow, stinging his eyes, but he couldn’t let go to wipe it away.

Because he was following her.

The bridge moved beneath him, but Marcus kept his eyes fixed on her. Please don’t fall. Please don’t fall. Please don’t fall.

The rope holding him to the baggage line smacked him in the face, but he ignored it and kept moving forward. He needed to catch up to Teriana. Needed to be close enough to catch her if she fell.

Each inhale gave him less and less air as his throat tightened. He had minutes until he passed out. Maybe less.

The wind slammed against him, sending the bridge flying sideways. His foot slipped, only just catching on one of the cords binding the cables together. The bridge rebounded the other way, jerking back and forth like a chaotic metronome.

The ravine was entirely hidden in shadow now, nothing but yawning blackness beneath him. Ahead, Teriana was nearly at the opposite side. Nearly safe.

The bridge swung and the world spun, stars moving across his vision.

Keep going.

But panic was taking over. He was going to pass out. Was going to end up dangling from a rope until lack of air or the cold killed him.

Would that be so bad?

Would it be so bad to be done?

Marcus stopped moving, aware only of his desperate need for air, the cables beneath his hands, and the sound of Teriana screaming his name.

Just let go.

No. He gave a sharp shake of his head, then took another step. Then another.

His vision was fading, the hands gripping the cables