It was as if he was genuinely terrified she was going to throw herself off his back again.

Panting heavily, Andrew ground out, "Do not jump off. Do not fight me on this."

With death charging right behind them, Emily's emotions were a violent mess. She snarled, "Just drop me! They're right on top of us! Listen to reason, go save yourself and come back!"

Andrew's voice turned pitch-black. "Never."

Driven mad by his stubbornness, Emily started hammering her fists against his shoulders.

"Andrew! Are you psychotic?!"

His fingers dug so brutally into her thighs she felt like her bones might snap. The words ripped from the very bottom of his throat.

"I'd rather die than let you go."

Emily's breath hitched violently, her eyes blowing wide open as his words struck her straight in the chest.

"You..."

The chaotic thundering of boots was practically echoing in their ears.

"Fuck! Stop running! Stand still!"

Emily ripped her gaze over her shoulder. The three killers were less than ten feet away, their faces twisted with lethal intent, the heavy machetes swinging in their hands.

She whipped her head back, pleading directly into his ear. "Drop me, Andrew. I swear to God."

"And I swear to God I won't."

He hitched her higher, his entire body bracing for impact. "Hold tight."

Only then did Emily realize that Andrew had aggressively steered them straight toward the rim of the massive, treacherous drop-off she had noticed earlier. His eyes were locked dead on the edge.

The sheer insanity of his plan dawned on her. She strangled him in a chokehold. "What are you doing?!"

He sucked in a ragged breath. "We're jumping. So lock down."

Hearing the confirmation sent a massive jolt through her system, but bizarrely, the terror vanished.

With Andrew utterly refusing to leave her behind, throwing themselves down a fatal cliff was genuinely their best odds against a machete squad.

Emily flattened herself seamlessly against him, locking her arms like a vice. "Do it."

The second she spoke, Andrew violently ripped her from his back and crushed her tight against his chest In one explosive motion, threw them over the edge, then bodies tangling together as they plummeted down the sheer incline. Cóntent

A deafening roar of snapping branches and tearing brush consumed her, barely

drowning out the shocked screams of the mercenaries left standing at the top.

"They jumped!"

"Son of a bitch, what do we do?!"

Emily's fists were buried in the fabric

of his shirt. Andrew's arms were

efmet

wrapped around her like a steel cage, completely shielding her they smashed through the

undergrowth in a chaotic, dizzying free fall. Sharp rocks and deadfal scraped against her, sending flashes of pain.

But because Andrew was absorbing virtually all the devastating impacts, she remained completely unbroken. He, however, couldn't stop the harsh grunts of agony escaping his lips.

Andrew possessed an unnatural tolerance for pain. If she was hearing him suffer, the damage he was taking had to be catastrophic.

But the cliff was massive, and the violent plunge showed no signs of stopping.

Grinding her teeth together, Emily managed to slip a hand around his back.

Her fingers met a massive patch of hot, soaking wet fabric. Her hands shook violently.

"Andrew..."

Andrew crushed her closer, his hand locking her head securely against his shoulder

to protect her skull. "I'm fine," he grunted heavily.

Emily's jaw locked in pure, suffocating panic.

Eventually the earth flattened out and they skidded to a violent halt Andrew was on its feet instantly, dragging Emaily up with him, clearly gearing up to toss her right back

onto his shoulders. 'FindNovel.net

Emily instantly slapped his hand away. Snagging his wrist, she threw a glance up

the mountain. The death squad was already trying to slide down the descent.

She yanked his arm, tearing into a dead sprint. "We're moving."

Weaving aggressively through the dense thicket, they finally managed to vanish from the hunters' sights.