Ignited
Page 31
“I will,” she said.
She turned and ran for the rock slide before she could lose her nerve.
“Ruth!”
Ivan caught up to her as she reached the base of the slide. “I’m going to do what I can with the vines, but I can’t guarantee they will hold for long.”
Fear twisted inside of her, and she shook out the jitters in her arms and legs. She flicked one hand into fire, holding it up to the rock to find a hold. When she found it, she jammed her hand inside, wincing as the stone bit at her flesh. She pulled herself up, scrambling to find a place for her feet, and then another hand hold, and another and another. Rocks shifted beneath her, and she seized onto the largest boulder she could find.
Her heart was loud in her ears, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She felt that familiar sweep of hot lava in her veins, and she took a second to breathe, cool down.
“Careful!” Someone called out from far below. It sounded like Teddy.
She hoisted herself up farther, making slow progress to the halfway point. The rocks were unstable. A shower of dirt and pebbles came down and hit her side, but she hung on, resolute. Hand over hand, foot over foot, she climbed. When she got to the top of the landslide, she swung a leg over, taking time to pause. She had made it. There were no distant rumblings. For now, she was safe.
The sky was dark now, and the moon was hiding behind a cloud, making it difficult to see. Directly below, she could see where the road was supposed to be—it was a big nothing, a cavernous drop, for at least twenty feet. Everything that had been there had fallen into the river far, far below. Slowly, carefully, Ruth moved to the other side, climbing down five feet toward the ground. It didn’t help as much as she’d have liked. The boulder beneath her feet gave away completely, and Ruth yelped, digging in with her hands and clinging to the stone face of the slide.
Ruth scrambled to find a new foothold, a better angle, but could find nothing. Her grip was failing—she was going to fall, she was going to fall on the wrong side, separated from any sort of help, crushed to death by any rocks she brought down or falling into the destroyed pit where the road had once been and tumbling into the river. Her heart climbed up her throat, and she kicked out wildly, hitting something promising with her toe. She threw her weight on it, and nearly cried with relief when it held.
She climbed back to the top of the slide, not wanting to get stuck on the wrong side in case things didn’t go as planned. Something shifted beneath her.
“Can you see anything?” June’s voice echoed up to her, faint.
Ruth didn’t reply. The breeze picked up, and she looked toward the sky. The moon was completely obscured by clouds.
“Hello?” she called out. “Is anyone there? Make a sound!”
There was no car sticking out from the slide, nothing glinting in the rapids below, no voice calling back to her. Ruth stuck one arm straight up and let it burn, sending flames high up into the sky. Below, the town cheered.
She went deaf to them. Without warning, lights suddenly flickered on, just on the other side of the chasm—first one pair, then another. And another, and another. A whole stream of headlights, going as far down the pass as she could see, all of them blinding. She cried out and her fire disappeared. She threw her arm over her eyes.
The lights dimmed every so slightly, and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, shining bright.
There were men—hundreds of men in uniform, standing in formations around a convoy of vehicles.
They all had guns, and every single one was trained on her.
If you liked this book, check out the full Independence Falls Superhero Romance Series
SPARKED: Independence Falls Superhero Romance Book #1
EXPOSED: Independence Falls Superhero Romance Book #2
IGNITED: Independence Falls Superhero Romance Book #3
SHIFTED: Independence Falls Superhero Romance Book #4
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