Page 33 of Raven's Claw
Jordan didn’t question his assessment, just grabbed his hand and took off running.One arm pumping.Feet flying over the ground.Only to stop when they broke out onto the side of a gully, a twenty-foot gap stretching between them and the other side.
Kash looked over the edge, shaking his head.“Climbing down isn’t an option.There’s probably a bridge along that road?—”
Tires, splashing through mud, racing up the road, all the gravel and snapping branches cutting Kash off.
He stared at the gap, then back to Jordan.“Now that I look at it, it’s not so bad.A running start and?—”
“Are you insane?It’s a good twenty feet.I’ve never jumped that far.”
“Then, it’s time for a personal best.”He grabbed her shoulders.“You can do this.You just sprint, then jump.Let gravity help you out a bit.It’s going to be fine.”
“Kash…” She stared at the gap.At the smooth face and rocky bottom.“Fine.You go first.”
“Oh, no…”
The Hummer’s engine revved louder.Not that it could get all the way to the edge, but close enough.
Jordan fisted his vest.“I’m not going to ditch you.Or sacrifice myself.But I need you on the other side to pull some kind of ninth-inning-world-series-catch out of your ass if I don’t quite make it.”
“Jordan…”
“I promise.I’ll be right behind you.”
“You’d better.”
A quick kiss and a curse, then he backed up.Focused on the edge.He took a breath, then ran.Arms pumping.Knees tucking in high as he threw himself off, soaring across the gap and rolling across the ground on the other side.Nearly impaling himself on a series of branches.His vest countered the worst of the impact, and he staggered to his feet, waving Jordan over.
She bit her lip, the Hummer’s grill appearing at the other end of the trail.She looked back, then ran.No more second thoughts.No hesitation.She hit the edge going insanely fast, throwing her arms out just like Kash had done.
Whether it was that voice in his head or the look on her face he wasn’t sure, but he grabbed a root and all but jumped off the ledge — looking like a damn starfish as he braced a boot on the side, stretched out his arm.Yanking on that root to get a bit more distance.
Her hand landed on his shoulder, sliding down his arm until he managed to lock his fingers around her wrist — stop her from falling the forty feet to the bottom.The force nearly ripped his hand free, Jordan swinging into the rock face below him.Grunting as she hit hard.
Her grip eased a bit, but Kash held on.Between him curling and her scrambling, he got her ass up and over the edge.She reached out — helped pull him up a second later.He crawled onto the ledge, whipping his head around when boots pounded on the other side of the gully.
The Hummer sat a good hundred yards off, the rear door hanging open.Some asshole in black skidding to a halt, a rifle lifting to his shoulder.
Jordan leaned over Kash, grabbed one of his K-bars and flicked her wrist.There was a flash of silver, then the guy’s head snapping back as his feet kicked up.He got off a trigger pull, a spray of bullets cutting through the trees ten feet above their heads.Raining down pine needles and dead twigs.The tango hit the ground as his rifle landed in the mud beside him, legs twitching, body splayed out.
Some guy stepped out of the front passenger seat of the Hummer.Older.Dressed in black minus the body armor.Dark glasses shading his eyes.He didn’t move or try to run up the path.He just stared at Jordan, lips pinched tights.Arms crossed.
Jordan’s chest heaved against Kash’s side, her breath panting across his neck.Her gaze locked on that asshole as if she’d seen a ghost.Kash scrambled to his feet, gave her a shove toward the track then raced behind her.Waves crashed in the distance, the air carrying a hint of brine.
They followed the trail, punching out onto a scrubby plateau.Seagulls dotted the sky, thick clouds filling the horizon.
Kash glanced at his watch, praying Foster was on his way as they headed for the edge.Not that he wanted to repeat his experience from the other day, but chancing the ocean sounded better than trying to outrun a few dozen bullets.
Until that rogue bike came roaring out of the forest, catching air as it got between them and the edge.The Hummer bounced along the adjoining road, mud flying out both sides.Engine whining.Drowning out what might have been a chopper echoing through the air.
Kash grabbed Jordan, ready to step between her and the inevitable spray of bullets when Foster’s chopper rose like a wraith from below the cliff, side doors open.Zain already zeroed in on the SUV.The bird swung in closer, nearly blowing that rider off his bike when Nyx shot out the doors.She hit the ground going full out, eighty pounds of pure aggression crashing into the guy on the bike — toppling it over on its side.
There was growling and screaming, Zain popping off cover fire as the Hummer slammed to a halt.Kash had Nyx by the harness a heartbeat later, heaving her up and into the chopper.Jordan jumped in beside her, yanking Kash in when he reached for the frame.
Chase tapped Foster on the shoulder, and he slid the chopper over then dropped the machine off the cliff, screaming across the ocean then banking northbound.The wind howled through the doors until Chase snapped them shut.
Chase stared out the window, nodding toward the man standing beside the Hummer quickly fading into the distance.“Who’s the dick in black?”
Jordan glanced back, closing her eyes as she leaned against the seat.“If he has his way, he’ll be the reason we’ll all end up dead.”
