The Balkan Escape (Short Story): A Cassiopeia Vitt Adventure

down,” he yelled.Another burst of cannon fire annihilated the bridge between him and Cassiopeia. One moment the wood-and-rope construction existed, the next it was gone in a cloud of debris.He sprang to his feet and realized the entire span was about to collapse. He could not go back, so he ran ahead, the final twenty feet, clinging to the ropes as the bridge dropped away.The Cobra flew past, toward the opposite end of the gorge.He held tight to the ropes and, as the bridge divided, each half swinging back toward opposite sides of the gorge, he flew through the air.He slammed into rock, rebounded, then settled.He did not give himself time to be terrified. Slowly, he pulled himself upward, scaling the remaining few feet to the top. Rushing water and the thump of chopper blades filled his ears. He focused across the gorge, searching for Cassiopeia, hoping she’d managed to make it up to the other side.His heart sank when he saw her clinging with both hands to the other half of the bridge as it dangled against the sheer cliff face. He wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could do. She was a hundred feet away. Only air between them.The Cobra executed a tight turn within the gorge, arching upward, then began another run their way.“Can you climb?” he screamed over the noise.Her head shook.“Do it,” he yelled.She craned her neck his way. “Get out of here.”“Not without you.”The Cobra was less than a mile away. Its cannon would start firing any second.“Climb,” he screamed.One hand reached up.Then she fell fifty feet into the rushing river.How deep it flowed he did not know, but the boulders that protruded along its path did not offer him any solace.She disappeared into the churning water, which had to be nearly freezing, considering its source was mountain snow.He waited for her to surface. Somewhere.But she never did.He stared down at the roaring gray gush, which carried silt and rock along with a swish of foam in a formidable current. He wanted to leap after her, but realized that was impossible. He wouldn’t survive the fall, either.He stood and watched, disbelieving.After all they’d been through the past three days.Cassiopeia Vitt was gone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

STEVE BERRY is the New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor’s Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, The Amber Room, and the short story “The Balkan Escape.” His books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and sold in fifty countries. He lives in the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida, and is at work on his next novel. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have founded History Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving our heritage. To learn more about Steve Berry and the foundation, visit www.steveberry.org.

CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF COTTON MALONE?

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THE TEMPLAR LEGACY

THE ALEXANDRIA LINK

THE VENETIAN BETRAYAL

THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT

THE PARIS VENDETTA

THE EMPEROR’S TOMB

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THE AMBER ROOM

THE ROMANOV PROPHECY

THE THIRD SECRET

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