Chapter 9 - Falling Toward Big SurAva looked down.
The ocean no longer filled her entire view.
A narrow shelf of dark rock extended from the cliffs ahead. Waves crashed against its lower edge, sending white spray high into the air.
Beyond it stood a steep slope covered in scrub and twisted coastal trees.
If the main system deployed, she might steer toward the shelf.
If it failed, she would strike either rock or water at lethal speed.
The torn stabilization canopy snapped above her.
Ava reached beneath her blazer again.
A second control rested near her waist.
Her fingers were numb from the safety rail.
She could barely close them around the tab.
The wrist device pulsed three times.
Main deployment available.
Altitude decreasing.
Wind direction unstable.
Ava looked toward the helicopter.
It had turned.
The aircraft was coming back.
For one hopeful second, she thought the pilot had seen her.
Then she noticed the violent movement inside the cockpit.
Ethan was fighting him.
The helicopter dipped toward the cliffs.
Ava forced herself to look away.
She could not save the pilot.
She could not stop Ethan from above.
She could only survive the next several seconds.
Ava pulled the second tab.
The stabilization canopy detached.
Her body dropped again.
Then the compact main wing exploded open overhead.
Air filled its reinforced cells.
The cream-colored material stretched into a curved shape.
The harness tightened around Ava’s body, distributing the force across her shoulders, hips, and thighs.
Her fall transformed into a steep forward glide.
The sudden deceleration crushed the breath from her.
She nearly blacked out.
The ocean rushed sideways beneath her.
Ava opened her eyes and found the steering loops.
One was partially tangled.
She pulled with both hands.
The wing turned toward the rock shelf.
Behind her, the helicopter descended erratically.
She could hear its rotors above the wind.
Two lives were falling toward the same coastline.
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Only one aircraft had an engine.
👉 Ava’s hidden wing was finally carrying her—but Ethan’s struggle with the pilot was sending the helicopter toward the same cliff.
