“The ladder is disappearing!” she cries, and I pick up my pace.

Hand over hand, we scramble up the rungs as that same cracking and crumbling follow us. The crowd is awake now, screaming and shouting as I aim for the top. It seems like a hundred miles away as I keep climbing, my muscles and my aching shoulder protesting with the effort.

“Faster!” Lor shouts just as I clear the top and look back. The ladder melts out from under Lor, and she screams as she begins to plummet, but there’s no fucking way I’m letting her go. I leap out and reach down to grab her, hauling her up by my good arm just as the ladder completely evaporates.

She collapses against me, our breath heavy and our hearts pounding. I’m shaking all over, and I can feel her trembling against me. A breeze cools my cheeks, and I look up, exhaling a choked breath.

The forest spreads in every direction below, and we’re once again under the mirrored dome, although the screeching crowd is also under it this time. I shake my head, attempting to understand how any of this is happening.

Lor’s gaze meets mine, her dark eyes pooling with uncertainty before we both look up.

We’re on a rocky plateau with a single red rose spinning slowly above us.

We did it.

We’re on top of the mountain.

CHAPTER 70

Cautiously, Lor and I rise to our feet with our hands clasped. Cheers greet us from every side, mingled with boos and hisses. Herric watches us from his box. Everything has shifted, so they’re closer now, forming a circle around the mountaintop.

Is this all an illusion? How is any of this possible?

I don’t really care. None of that matters. All that matters is Lor and getting us out of here. I capture her face between my hands and kiss her deeply as the crowd’s chants swell to a crescendo, their feet stamping so hard I feel it vibrate where we stand.

Perhaps no one can resist a love story.

And if we survive this, ours will be one for the ages.

Lor pulls away and blows out a relieved breath.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“I’m fine,” I say with a wince as I attempt to rotate my shoulder. “Go and get the rose.”

She nods and then runs across the plateau and leaps for the flower.

Suddenly, I’m seized from behind, my arms pinned behind my back as I grunt in pain.

I watch as the rose melts into the air, and Lor lands in a crouch.