Changing You ✦ The Sequel

Chapter 54 {R}

"Don't move," I hissed as the construction groaned, struggling to carry Zach's weight. The terror that flashed through his eyes was genuine and all of a sudden I felt like I'd been shot. I locked him in there.

A second rope snapped and the left side of the elevator dropped, causing Zach to lose his balance as he dangled in a metal cage that threatened to crash three floors down.

I ripped the gate back open, reaching for his arm but he was too far.

"Zach." He eyed my hand, still too far for him to grasp, knowing that one move could cause the whole thing to drop. I stepped inside with one foot, leaning over and trying not to shift my weight as I inched closer.

He latched onto my hand and I yanked him towards me with all my strength. He knocked to the ground hard and fast, but I only cared about him making it out.

Two loud clangs told me the other two ropes had snapped loose as well, and I was still stepping aside, still too close, when the whole thing came crashing down. I caught part of the roof on my shoulder, my back. I didn't even have time to scream.

Somewhere, I heard my name being called, by more voice than one, before I realised that I was the one falling.

For a long, stoic moment I waited for the crash, my eyes pressed all the way shut. The blow of metal on concrete was an assault to the ears and I flinched hard, expecting my body to suffer the same horrifying smack.

But then I felt Zach's hand, still clasped tightly around mine. And even though I was dangling in open air, I wasn't falling. Not yet.

My eyes jumped open, only to look straight into his. His stomach was pressed against the ground, his arms stretched across the rim, wrapped around my wrist.

Dust climbed up all around us, and it stung in my eyes as I gazed up. I felt the pull of gravity, tugging me out of his grasp. Panic blinded me as I clasped both hands onto him, feeling my shoulders burn. I was too scared to even breathe.

"Pull her up. Zach, pull her up." I think Corbyn was the one shouting.

Zach winced, a grimace shaping his features. "No," he grunted, tucking his chin to his chest. He whispered the word over and over again, holding my hand so tight it hurt.

I heard his teeth grinding together in pain, watched the blood trail from his ears, his eyes flickering in and out of focus as he fought against the voice in his head.

When he started crying, whispering "I'm sorry," I knew he was going to drop me.

Before I could realise that he already had, someone else had caught me, by my knuckles. One blink away from becoming a pile of flesh and bones.

All of a sudden there was concrete beneath my knees and I dug my nails into the floor, feeling cold, feeling sick.

I vaguely knew I was pressed against someone's chest, clasped in an embrace, but the fog in my head was too thick and no thought made it through.

"I got you," Corbyn breathed like he had just run for his life — for my life.

He drew back, cursing hard, and then his hands were on the back of my neck, touching up to my cheeks. "Open," he said, "Ri, look at me."