Page 52 of Strength of Desire

He’d reached me now, stopping only a foot away, looming over me. In the gym this afternoon, he’d been just as close, but he’d been behind me. In front of me, it was impossible not to notice how much larger he was than me.

“Not until you tell me why you’re up here.”

“I’m not—I just—there was this door. It was open, and I was curious, but I swear, I wasn’t trying to intrude.”

He glowered. It was hard to believe that a minute ago, he’d been sitting peacefully—or, well, maybe notpeacefully, but a lot less angrily. He’d been caught up in some fantasy I’d never know about, and I’d seen that naked look of pleasure on his face, and now it was gone, and I’d never see it again.

“You keep turning up where you shouldn’t.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” I said indignantly. “It’s not my fault you keep turning up in the places I turn up.”

“Unless you’re following me.”

“Why would I do that when you’re so mean to me all the time?” I said.

Well, shouted, if we’re being completely honest. Noah blinked and took a step back, and I used the moment of confusion to turn around. I made it two steps, and then my foot hit a slick patch of snow on the path. Suddenly, I was falling.

I didn’t even have time to scream. I fell hard against the roof and began sliding down. My fingers scrabbled against the tiles, but they were too slippery to find purchase, and I was falling, falling, falling. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the ground come up to meet me, and felt a sudden jolt around my midsection.

It knocked the wind out of me, but didn’t hurt as much as I expected. I opened my eyes, wondering if I’d fallen on some lower roof that had extended out below the one I’d slid down. But no, I was still on the edge of that steeply sloped roof—right on the edge, with Noah’s arm around my waist. I could feel one of his knives digging into my ribs.

I looked around wildly, not understanding why we weren’t still falling, and saw that he was gripping a merlon at the roof’s edge with his free arm. He’d jammed his boots into the gutter that ran along the edge. Those were the only things keeping me—keepingus—from oblivion.

“I—I can’t—” I didn’t know what I was trying to say, which was good, because I couldn’t get the words out anyway. My breath came in short bursts, shallow and skittery.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Noah said. “I’ve got you. You’re not gonna fall.”

A freakish echo of what he’d said today in Combat, in a much more dire situation.

“We’re—we’re right on the edge,” I stammered. “How long can you keep holding onto that?”

“As long as it takes,” he said, and his voice was as rock solid as his arm around my waist. “Take a deep breath, Cory. We’re going to be fine, but I need you not to panic.”

I gulped down cold air, trying to will my heart to stop pounding. But we were perched on the edge of a very steep roof, and Noah’s feet jammed into the gutter and his arm around that merlon seemed like very flimsy, fallible facts to hang my hopes on.

“Okay,” I said. “Okay. I’m not panicking. I just—oh fuck, I think I might be panicking.”

“Deep breath,” he said again. Did his voice sound more strained now? How longcouldhis arm hold on? He waited until I breathed again, then said, “I need you to twist until you can stick your feet in the gutter next to mine. You need to face the roof, your hands up, like you’re going to climb it.”

“Climb it?” I yelped. “Are you crazy? We can’t climb something that—”

“We’re not going to climb it.” His voice was more patient than I deserved. “That’s just the position I need you in. Then we’re going to inch along the edge until we reach a ladder over my shoulder.”

“What ladder? I don’t see any ladder.”

“You can’t see it from your position. But I promise, it’s there, and once you’re turned around, you’ll be able to see it. But first you’ve got to turn around, which means you need to move your feet. Can you do that for me?”

Could I? Terror gripped me. We were four stories off the ground. The cold, hard, unforgiving ground. But what was the other option? Stay here until Noah’s arm gave out, and we both plummeted to our deaths?

Snowflakes fluttered around us, absurdly beautiful in the midst of danger.

“I can try,” I said, with more confidence than I felt.

“That’s all I’m asking,” he said. “Alright, you need to start by twisting in my arms, then sticking your right leg out.”

“If I do that, I won’t have any grip on the roof at all.”

“But I will. And I’ve got you, okay? I won’t let you fall. I promise.”

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