Page 114 of Bound By Stars
“We’re never going to make it through.”
She presses her ribs to the handrail, inspecting the gap between where we stand and the level of stairs below us. “I have an idea.”
I don’t think I’m going to like this.
Her shoulders rise and fall with a heavy breath, and she swings a leg over the slanted railing.
I catch her forearm. “What the hell are you doing?”
“We have to get down there,” she says under her breath. Her gaze flicks up toward the anxious crowd jamming the stairway behind me, and she forces a smile. “We’re going to have to get creative.”
She lowers her feet, one after the other, to the outer edge of the metal steps. Nothing stands between her and an open drop through a floors-deep cavern.
Oh, god. She’s going to climb across to the next flight. It’s too far. She’ll never make it.
I wrap my arms around her, holding her against the bars between us. “Let me go first.”
She frowns, huffing out a strained laugh. “I grew up climbing trees, and you grew up dreaming about them. I think I’m a little more qualified.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“We don’t have any other options.” She places a hand on my neck, and I hold on tighter, afraid she’ll slip any second. “Jupiter, it’s one level down. All we need to do is get past this bottleneck and the path is virtually empty. But we need to do it before anyone else realizes there are more pods below us.”
I raise my eyes from the chasm behind her, and her lips are on mine, strong and full.
She pushes my forehead with hers, gently shoving me back. “Let me go.”
Exhaling, I hesitantly release my grip as she lowers herself into a squat.
Holding onto the bottom railing, she leans out across the four-foot gap and grabs the top of a handrail on the flight of stairs below ours.
I drop down and grab hold of her forearm with both hands. Someone tries to shove past me down the steps, but I tense my body against the force, keeping my focus on Weslie.
Bracing herself, arms stretched across the divide and grip white-knuckled on the rail below her, she swings her feet down to the other side.
Muscles tight, I stay frozen in place, not breathing, not blinking, watching every movement, and silently begging her not to slip.
Her feet find the outer edge of the lower set of stairs, and she loosens her grip on the bar next to me.
“It’s okay, Jupe. I’ve got this.”
Against all my instincts, I release my grip. My heart pounds in my ears, drowning out the shouting and fighting and desperate calls for missing people.
She lets go, pulling her body to the other side.
Made it. But I can’t take a full breath until she’s over the bars, safely on the steps.
Looking back, she widens her eyes like she can’t believe she didn’t fall. Her lips stretch into a full smile. “I made that look easy.”
“Celebrate when you’re not dangling off a ledge, please.”
She laughs, keeping a firm grip and leaning over the top of the railing so it’s pressed to the center of her chest.
Two voices grow louder on the packed landing between us. The herd sways and lurches, crushing people against the walls and bouncing off each other.
“Pipe down, you two,” someone shouts. Elbows and fists fly above the chaos.
Weslie hugs the handrail and lifts a leg over.
