Chapter 6

"He's going to jump."

Mason's voice was a tinny scratch against my palm. "Eliana, did you hear me? Jax accepted the challenge. He's going to dive off the Quarry Cliffs to get Catalina's charm bracelet. In this storm, it's not a dare. It's suicide."

I stared at the wall of the library study room. The paint was peeling in the corner, revealing the cold, gray concrete beneath-a decaying facade, just like everything else.

"Why are you telling me this, Mason?"

"Because he listens to you," Mason pleaded, his breath hitching. "Stop him."

"He doesn't listen to me," I said, my voice flat. "He listens to her."

I hung up.

By all logic, my heart should have been racing. I should have been sprinting across campus, screaming his name, begging him not to risk his life for a piece of silver. But my pulse was steady. Slow. Terrifyingly even.

I walked out of the library and into the courtyard. The air was thick with humidity, heavy enough to choke on.

Catalina was waiting for me. Of course she was.

She was perched on a stone bench, legs crossed, watching a livestream on her phone. She wasn't looking at the screen with fear. She was looking at it with hunger.

"He looks good, doesn't he?" she asked as I approached. She didn't bother to look up. "Standing on the edge like that. A real knight."

"You're going to get him killed," I said.

She laughed. It was a dry, scratching sound, like dead leaves skittering on pavement.

"I'm not doing anything, Eliana. I just told him I was sad about losing my bracelet. He's the one who decided to be a hero. That's the thing about Jax. He needs to bleed to feel useful."

She turned the phone toward me.

On the small screen, Jax stood on the jagged edge of the quarry. The wind whipped his shirt against his chest. He looked small. Fragile.

"I trained him well," Catalina whispered, her eyes gleaming. "Since we were ten. If I cried, he jumped. If I bled, he stitched me up. You think you love him? You just love the version of him I built."

A wave of nausea hit me. Not because of the danger, but because of the truth. I wasn't fighting for his heart. I was fighting for control, and she held the remote.

"He won't do it," I said, though the words tasted like ash. "He has the championship game next week. He wouldn't risk his scholarship."

"Watch," she challenged.

On the screen, Jax stepped closer to the edge. He looked terrified.

"Call him," Catalina taunted. "See who he picks."

My thumb moved on instinct. I pulled out my phone and dialed.

On the livestream, I saw Jax freeze. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at the screen.

*Elie Bear.*

I held my breath. For one second, just one, I thought he might step back. I thought he might choose the championship, his future, me.

He looked at the phone. Then he looked at the water below, where Catalina's bracelet supposedly lay.

He didn't answer.

He tapped the red icon.

My phone beeped. *Call Ended.*

On the screen, Jax tossed his phone onto the grass and dove.

Catalina squealed in delight, clutching her phone to her chest. "Did you see that? He hung up! He hung up on you to jump for me!"

I looked at my phone. The black screen reflected my face. I wasn't crying.

I was smiling.

It was a small, terrifying smile. The kind you give when the doctor finally tells you the disease is terminal, and you can finally stop hoping for a cure.

"You win, Cat," I whispered.

But she didn't hear me. She was too busy cheering for the splash.