Arcadia's Gift - By Jesi Lea Ryan Page 0,72

I exclaimed.

Bryan shrugged off his jacket and handed it to me. Next, he stripped off the tie.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going up there after him,” Bryan answered, rolling up his sleeves. “Stay here.”

“No!” I protested, but Bryan ignored me and began picking his way up the steep incline.

As much as I wanted to go after him, I knew I’d never make it in my shoes.

“Cane, don’t move!” I yelled up to him. “Bryan’s coming.” I wasn’t even sure if Cane knew who Bryan was, but now wasn’t the time for introductions.

I withdrew my phone from my pocket and called Aaron. “We found him, but the idiot is stuck up on the bluff. Bryan is going to help him down.”

Aaron muttered a curse. “Tell me where you are.”

“It’s the bluff bordering the river and the tracks. Eastside.”

Aaron hung up with a promise to be there soon.

“Aaron’s on his way,” I called up.

Cane leaned against the limestone rock, his fingers clutching the crevices. I hoped the river view from fifty-feet-high would help to sober him up. Bryan reached the trail along the side of the bluff and was using it to get as close to Cane as possible. At the closest point, he began picking his way in Cane’s direction.

“I’m almost there,” Bryan called out, his voice echoing between the bluffs. Only a few feet separated them now, but each step closer ran the risk of their rocky footholds giving way. Bryan found a tiny tree growing out from the cracks of the rocks and yanked on it. Seeing that it was secure, he used it as an anchor as he stretched out toward Cane.

“Almost there. Give me your hand.”

Cane shifted to his left and grasped Bryan’s hand.

“I gotcha,” Bryan grunted, holding Cane steady and directing him back toward the trail. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until they made it to the relative safety of the trail, and I let it out with a gush. They’re safe.

“Just follow the path,” I called up. “I’ll meet you back at the fork.”

I entered the darkness of the woods again. Without Bryan there to steady me on me, I tripped on rocks and had to cling to passing branches to keep from falling. Under the loud chirping of frogs and crickets, I could hear the guys off to my right, still quite a ways up, but I couldn’t make out their words. Briefly, I let myself think about that kiss with Cane in the parking lot. Shame filled my lungs as I remembered pressing myself to his warmth and kissing him back. What was I thinking? I chastised myself. How could I do that to Bryan? Especially after the way I reacted over Monica!

I was going to have to tell him, but how would I ever explain? Oh, Bryan. I am some sort of weird psychic who can read emotions, and sometimes I get tangled up in what other people are feeling. Yeah, that’d go over well.

Why did Cane have to go and kiss me anyway? I get that he was distraught, but what made him go there? Maybe it was because I reminded him so much of my sister. I guess he just got caught up in the heat of the moment and wasn’t thinking clearly, but at the time, it hadn’t felt that way. There was something real in that kiss, at least from his side. I found myself hoping that Cane would forget about it once he sobered and never mention it to me again.

I stopped to pick a rock from my shoe when I heard surprised yells and the racket of rocks crashing to the ground.

“Bryan! Cane! Are you okay?” I shouted.

“No!” Cane called out, pain evident in his voice. “Help, Cady, quick!”

I left the path and rushed through the brush in the direction of the voices. Brambles and branches scratched at my legs, snagging my dress, but I pressed on as fast as I could. I reached the base of the cliff and saw Bryan and Cane lying on the ground. Cane’s leg was bent at an unnatural angle below the knee, and Bryan was bleeding from a huge gash on his side. Bleeding heavily.

All of the blood drained from my head. Huge waves of icy pain vibrated off of the guys, stabbing me in the gut. Between the crazy emotions emanating from them and the tinny scent of blood in the air, my stomach roiled with nausea.

“Bryan!” I cried, rushing to him and dropping to my