Ricochet (TGC book 2) (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 8

I was free falling through empty air and would hit the ground any second now, breaking every bone in my body. Some survival instinct had me cover my face, the only part of me that was getting slapped by the force of the wind. There was nothing I could do. It was inevitable; I was going to die.

Panic gripped my heart and made the perception of time impossible. I couldn’t tell how long I was falling, couldn't tell if one hour or one second had passed, before somehow my fall shifted course and became somewhat diagonal.

I felt something hard behind my back and head, and the drop turned into a slide. It was only seconds later that I realized I wasn’t alone; someone was holding me tightly and gliding down with me. At the moment, all I cared about was that whoever it was would secure my safety, and I gripped them as strongly as I could.

Gradually, the slide became lower and lower until we were almost on a horizontal path. That was the moment we came to a stop by landing on something cushion-y which had a rough skin. Though we had stopped and were now on what I hoped was the ground, I remained still, clinging to my rescuer and not daring to look.

Voices called my name, but I refused to move. My breathing was loud and rasping, but my eyes were dry. I felt trapped in a tiny cage and had the sense that I might blow up soon.

“Cody,” a familiar voice called, sounding on the edge of panic. Katherine.

“Cody,” another repeated urgently. Carter.

There was the sound of crying in the distance. Nettie.

“Give her some room, guys,” my rescuer said. I didn’t recognize that voice, but it was male, and it sounded vaguely familiar, like I’d heard it only once or twice before.

My rescuer leaned close to whisper in my ear. “Cody, it’s Pasha,” he told me. “You’re safe, now. You can open your eyes.”

Trusting him, I did as he said. But when I glimpsed the night sky, I was reminded of falling, and everything started to spin in my vision. Dizzy and scared, I shut my eyes again, and buried my face in Pasha’s chest, needing something solid to make the world stop twirling so fast.

“She’s in shock. Let’s get her inside,” I heard Nick demand. “Can you carry her?”

I hoped the direction was directed at Pasha, because there no way I was letting go of him anytime soon, even if it was to hand me over to someone else. For now, he was the only anchor I had to keeping my panic contained. Thankfully, he shifted into a sitting position and carried me bridal style as he stood up.

The group walked together. A couple of hands touched me on the way; once on the arm, caressing it, and once on my head. A few minutes later I felt the ground beneath us change from soft earth to hard tile, and I knew we were inside Headquarters. That was the moment when I mercifully lost consciousness.

My nightmares forced me to relive the fall a hundred times over, only I never quite reached the crash part. It was just me, alone and falling, without anyone coming to my rescue. Then it started to jumble with my constant nightmare, the scene from the Keep, where I was alone and defenseless against an army wanting revenge on me. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t even make myself do so.

Suddenly, I crashed, and my body went into repeated spasms as I woke up.

“Shh, Cody, you’re okay,” a warm voice reassured me. “It’s okay. You’re safe. Nothing can hurt you now.”

Calming down, I recognized Carter’s voice, and only registered his arms around me a second later. We were both sleeping on some bed, and he was hugging me comfortingly. Somehow, this made me feel much safer than when Pasha was holding me, and my grip on Carter wasn’t quite as tight.