Philip dragged Mara by the arm up the rusting stairs, one hand gripping her bound wrists, the other clutching a pistol.
"You think they'll save you?" he sneered. "They'll watch you die,"
Mara said nothing.
Her eyes scanned the second-floor ledge. The open drop. The men below.
Her brothers.
Her husband.
And then Ethan caught her eye. Just for a breath.
He pressed two fingers to his lips, then opened his palm in a slow, gentle wave.
Her breath caught.
A memory came flooding back candlelight, laughter, wedding lace, the old movie they'd watched the night they became one. A woman on the ledge of a skyscraper, leaping for love. Ethan's voice whispering, "If you jump, I'll catch you. Always."
Mara's lips parted.
"I believe you," she whispered. The flash ends, and even when things were no longer the same again she knew if Ethan didn't her brothers would.
Then she jumped. Her brothers were in shock but were ready to catch her no matter what, their hearts drumming in their chests.
