The ground cracked beneath Sienna's feet.
There was no time to think, no time to react. One moment, she was standing. Next, she was falling.
She reached out instinctively, hands clawing for anything to hold onto. Her fingers scraped against the crumbling stone, slipping. Panic surged through her chest..
Then someone grabbed her wrist.
The jolt nearly ripped her shoulder from its socket. Her body swung, legs dangling over the void. Heart pounding, she forced herself to look up.
Elias.
His silver eyes met hers, unreadable as ever. His grip was too strong. He wasn't pulling her up. He was just holding her there.
"Sienna!" Kael's voice cut through the chaos, distant, but she couldn't turn her head to find him.
She gritted her teeth. "Pull me up."
Elias didn't move.
His fingers just tightened slightly, just enough to remind her that her life, at this moment, was in his hands.
"You should have listened," he said, voice calm. Too calm.
Then he let go.
