He lowers himself until his belly is facing the sky and then drops, disappearing from my vision. I'm not about to venture close enough to the edge to see if he's made it and wait.

Moments later, an arm reappears. I release a breath I didn't know I was holding and kneel. Looping one leg through the chain, I stretch out to help him. He tosses an armful of sheets over the rooftop. I snag them and draw them back, then sit on one hip as close to the edge as I can get in case he falls.

He's too strong to fall. I should know better. When he hauls himself up onto the roof once more, I inch away to give him space. He moves around me and sits close enough for our thighs to press together.

"Tie the ends together," he says.

We sit and fashion a longer rope.

With some dread, I realize what exactly comes next. He's about to toss his battle-witch off the roof again. We finish up and crawl on our knees to the edge. The tower has lost some momentum but is still swinging.

"Ready?" the Shadow Knight asks.

I don't think it matters whether or not I am.

He double-checks the ties at my waist and stands, pulling me with him. The impact of our bodies meeting jars me more than I'm expecting. There is something here that wasn't there before, when I didn't realize I'd started to like him enough to sacrifice my life for his.

"You really need to learn not to manhandle a woman," I tell him, pushing his hands off me. "It might be acceptable here, but it's not where I'm from." I take a small step back to put distance between us. "In fact, from here on out -"

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He takes a step towards me and I instinctively move back.

My foot hits air and I tumble gracelessly head over heels off the roof. I don't have time to scream this time and grunt when the sheet snaps tight around me and I hit a sudden stop.

"You learn slowly," the Shadow Knight calls. "Obedience, witch."

I mutter a few curse words. Hanging a good fifteen feet below the tower, I decide I'd rather not curse him loudly and risk he leaves me here. He's got a really weird sense of humor, barbaric, one I don't comprehend completely.

The first two attempts to swing me end with my sheets colliding with the tower and jolting me. My eyes go to the ocean below and I start to feel sick.

"Have you no sense of rhythm!" I shout at him.




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