Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
“Give me your belt,” Nero said and kneeled in the dirt to take the laces out of his shoes.
Miguel frowned. “My belt? What for? I might need it to hang myself,” he said grimly.
Nero shook his head, grateful the tall silhouette shielded him from the sun. “Unless you have experience with parachuting, we’ll use it to strap us together,” he said and patted one of the backpacks resting in the dirt.
Miguel went rigid, and his eye twitched a little. “‘Parachute’? Strapped with a belt and shoelaces? Are you insane? Where would we even…” He looked back to the cliff edge offering views on the entire valley. “No.”
“Yes,” Nero said and pulled the second lace out with a sharp screech before opening one of the colorful backpacks. “And we will use the harness from the other chute. I just need to make sure we are tightly laced or you’ll fall.”
Miguel’s arms were stiff and tight against his sides but his fingers worked overtime, as if he were using an invisible abacus. “This is a bad idea. You’ve had bad ideas before, many even, but this one has to be the worst.”
Nero smirked. “It’s not. I’ve been doing this since childhood. And if you do as I say, we might get some bruises but end up someplace they won’t look for us. Are you afraid of heights, Miguel?” he asked and pulled out the harness to put it on.
“No,” he answered so fast it was suspicious. “I just don’t like the idea of falling off a cliff when we could just trek through the woods, out of sight. It’s not like they’d find us there!” But the way he was losing his cool told Nero more than his words.
“We won’t fall off a cliff. We’ll glide into the valley, where no one will expect us to be, because we’re on the other side of the mountain, and we’d have to take a roundabout way to get there.”
Miguel rubbed his forehead with a scowl. “Trees will expect us, and we will die long and painful deaths impaled on them. If we’re unlucky, we might be nibbled on by vultures in the meanwhile.”
“Are you deaf?” Nero asked as his patience started to fray. There was only so much bullshit he could take because of a handsome face. “I told you I’ve done this before. And I know of this place because I parachuted from here.”
“You have?” Miguel met his eyes, as if searching for lies. Dealing with him felt like trying to coax a cat into a bathtub.
“Miguel, seriously, if I wanted to kill you, I’d have done it back at the pool instead of dragging you with me like a lead ball at my ankle. I need you,” Nero said, tightening the harness on his chest. The leg straps had a lot of give, so if everything went according to plan, maybe they could accommodate both their thighs.
Miguel took his time staring at the viewpoint, but then stepped closer with his chin high, like a king approaching the guillotine. Aware of the atrocities he'd committed yet at peace with the punishment. “Okay, what do I do?”
Nero loosened the leg straps and lowered them, instructing Miguel to step in them. He expected more pushback at the closeness this enforced, but while Miguel did stiffen when the harness brought their hips close, he didn’t try to argue or pull away, more than aware of the seriousness of their situation. Coming here would have thrown the chase off-track, but that did not change the fact that their time was limited.
Using the other harness, the shoelaces, and Miguel’s belt, Nero managed to secure them together and glared toward the edge of the cliff, to the orange sun that was already on its way down. It was only now that doubts wormed their way under his flesh. Because while parachuting was all good, what if Miguel chickened out in the last moment and caused them to fall steeply down, where they could meet their end minced by sharp rocks?
“Will you do as I told you? That’s the only way this can work.”
The scent of sweat clinging to Miguel’s back mingled with his simple minty cologne, and while Nero had dreamed of rubbing himself all over Miguel, this wasn’t how he’d imagined it happening.
“I will,” Miguel rasped out, squeezing the small backpack Nero allowed him to take, and which he’d put on backwards so it rested on his chest, absorbing his fast heartbeat alongside Nero’s torso.
Nero swallowed, staring toward the edge that might prove to be either salvation or death, depending on his companion. But there was no point in prolonging this agony and he started counting.
Five. Four. Three. Two. One. They dashed forward, and while the difference in their height made the straps dig into Nero’s groin, he forced his mind off it and focused on breathing. The sunny abyss was ever closer, but he wouldn’t slow down, because staying here would mean eventual death anyway. And if this jump did end up killing him, he’d at least go out in style.