Chapter 79 Seeing The Spikes
Calix Pov
The rope continued to fray. Maddie was still climbing. She didn't notice yet. She didn't realize the danger.
Then suddenly the rope snapped. The fibers gave way completely. Maddie dropped. Twenty feet straight down toward the hard ground below.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw her fall. Saw her eyes go wide with shock. Saw her body twist in midair trying to catch herself.
My wolf exploded to the surface. I was already moving. Already shifting halfway. Already preparing to catch her before she hit the ground and died right in front of me.
But Maddie was faster than I expected. Her hand shot out as she fell. Her fingers caught the edge of the platform at the top of the climb. Her body slammed into the support beam with brutal force but she held on.
She pulled herself up onto the platform with shaking arms. She was alive. She was safe. For now.
I forced myself to stop shifting. Forced my wolf back down. Forced myself to stay human and hidden.
The crowd was gasping. Officials were running over to examine the broken rope. The announcer was calling for a brief pause to check equipment.
But Maddie didn't stop. She moved to the next obstacle. The balance beams. She was going to keep going. She was going to face the next trap.
I scanned the rest of the course again with new understanding. If the rope climb had been sabotaged then everything else was too. Every single obstacle had been modified. Made more dangerous. Made deadly.
The balance beams would be slippery. She would fall. Then the climbing wall with its hidden spikes. Then whatever other traps had been set that I hadn't discovered yet.
This course was designed to kill her. And she was still running it.
I looked at the official who had refused to stop the event. "You need to pull her off the course. Right now. Before she gets to the next section."
"She's fine," the official said. "She caught herself. The rope was just old. Equipment failure. These things happen."
"That wasn't equipment failure," I said. "That was sabotage. And the rest of the course is sabotaged too. If you don't stop this someone is going to die."
"I'm not stopping the event based on your paranoia," the official said. "Now step back or leave."
I had two choices. Stand here helpless and watch Maddie die. Or break every rule I had set for myself and intervene directly.
It wasn't really a choice at all.
I started moving toward the course. Toward where Maddie was about to attempt the balance beams. Toward the next deadly trap.
"Sir you can't go on the course," another official said. He stepped in my way. "Only competitors are allowed during active events."
"Get out of my way," I growled. My eyes flashed gold. My wolf was right there on the surface ready to take over completely.
The official took one look at my face and stepped aside. He was smart enough to recognize a wolf on the edge of losing control.
I ran toward the balance beam section. Maddie was just stepping onto the first beam. I could see from here how unstable it was. How her foot slipped slightly on the oiled surface.
"Maddie," I shouted. "Stop. Don't cross the beams. They've been sabotaged."
But the crowd was too loud. The music was blaring. The announcer was narrating the action. She couldn't hear me. She just kept going. Kept trying to cross the deadly obstacle.
Her foot slipped again. She wobbled. Her arms windmilled trying to maintain balance. She almost fell but caught herself at the last second.
I ran faster. My legs pumped. My heart pounded. I had to reach her. I had to get to her before she fell. Before the spikes at the bottom of the climbing wall caught her. Before everything fell apart.
"Maddie," I shouted again. Louder this time. Desperately. "Stop. Please stop."
This time she heard me. She turned her head. Our eyes met across the distance. I saw confusion flash across her face. Saw her wonder why I was shouting. Why I was running toward her. Why I was breaking my own rules about staying away.
Then her foot slipped again on the oiled beam. This time she couldn't catch herself. Her balance was already compromised. She fell.
She dropped toward the ground. Toward the mat below that should have been safe but probably wasn't. Toward whatever other trap was waiting.
And I was still too far away to save her.
I pushed my body harder. Faster. I shifted partially. Letting my wolf speed take over. Letting the supernatural strength flood my muscles.
I reached the beam section just as Maddie hit the ground. She landed hard on her side. The impact knocked the wind out of her. But she was alive. She was conscious.
I dropped to my knees next to her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Maddie stared up at me with wide shocked eyes. "Calix? What are you doing?"
"Saving you," I said. "The course is sabotaged. Every obstacle has been modified. Someone is trying to kill you."
"I know," Maddie said. She sat up slowly and winced. "The rope. It was cut. I felt it breaking."
"It gets worse," I said. "The beams are oiled. The climbing wall has spikes at the bottom. The whole course is a death trap."
Officials were running over now. The announcer was calling for medics. The crowd was buzzing with confusion and concern.
"You need to withdraw," I said urgently. "You need to pull out of the event right now."
"I can't," Maddie said. "If I withdraw people will ask why. They'll investigate. They'll discover the sabotage. They'll wonder who it was targeting."
"Let them wonder," I said. "Your life is more important than keeping secrets."
"Is it?" Maddie asked. She looked at me with pain in her eyes. "You've spent weeks telling me to stay away. Telling me we can't be together. Pushing me away for my own safety. Now suddenly my life matters?"
"Your life has always mattered," I said.