Page 76 of A Rebel's Shot

He reached out, squeezing her hand gently but not correcting her. “We’ll figure this out, Merritt. I promise.”

She gave him a small smile, but he could see the worry lingering in her eyes. “I know. I trust you.”

Her words sent a warmth through him that had nothing to do with the afternoon sun. He tugged her hand, leading her away from the cliff’s edge.

“Come on, let’s get moving while we still have daylight.”

She rolled her eyes. “Funny, since the sun never goes down this time of year.”

They began their trek along the ridge, the wind whipping around them as they picked their way over loose rocks and scraggly vegetation. Tiikâan kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, alert for any sign of danger or any landmark that might help orient them.

The going was easier than in the dense forest below, but each step still sent jolts of pain through his side. He gritted his teeth, determined not to let Merritt see how much he was struggling. She had enough to worry about without adding his injuries to the list.

As they rounded a bend in the ridge, a sudden gust ofwind caught Merritt off guard. She stumbled, her foot slipping on a loose patch of gravel.

“Whoa!” she cried out, arms swinging out as she stepped back and tried to regain her balance.

Tiikâan lunged for her, his heart in his throat. His fingers grasped empty air as the ground beneath her feet gave way.

Time seemed to slow, stretching into an eternity as he watched her eyes widen with terror.

“Merritt!” he screamed, diving forward as she disappeared over the edge.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Pain shot up Merritt’s arm as her fingers clenched around the sharp edge of what had to be a rock jutting out from the cliff. If she hadn’t grabbed on, she would’ve plummeted to the bottom of the ravine.

“Merritt!” Tiikâan scrambled to the cliff edge, his hand reaching out to hers.

She looked down. Bad idea.

The wind whipped at her clothes, the force threatening to rip her off the ledge she clung to. Trees at the bottom of the valley floor looked like miniature replicas of limbed spikes. The rush of the river echoed up like the roar of an angry beast.

The piece of ground she clung to, only the width of a deck of cards, was all that separated her from joining her parents. Except she wouldn’t hit the ground, would she?

She’d be impaled on a tree like a bug in a collection—her limbs spread wide for everyone to examine. The image made her stomach roil, though whether it was from the fall or the morbid thought, she couldn’t say.

“Merritt, reach up.”

She shot her gaze to Tiikâan’s outstretched hand. He shifted, stretching farther to reach her, and dirt rained on her face. She shook it loose and focused on how the ground under the ledge had all but disappeared, leaving only a thin shelf that he lay on.

“Get back.” She sucked in a deep breath, her chest heaving with fear and the effort it took to maintain her grip.

“Reach up, and I’ll grab you.” The desperation in his voice sliced through her terror.

“Back up.” Her words came out as a half yell, half sob. “There’s just a thin layer of ground on that edge.”

He opened his mouth, clearly about to argue, then slammed his mouth shut as he backed up. Relief, so potent it made her lightheaded, warred with the fear, turning her blood to ice water in her veins.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tears escaping only to be whipped away by the wind. Her fingers ached with the effort of holding on, her muscles screaming in protest. But she couldn’t hold on much longer. She’d plummet to her death, and he’d be there to watch it happen.

The thought propelled her to action. She had to find a way to help him help her. Opening her eyes, she scanned the cliff face, searching for any foothold, any crevice, any sign of hope in this vertical wasteland of rock and moss.

“Merritt, I’m here.” Tiikâan’s voice, closer now, but not from above, sent her gaze darting to her side.

Her heart leaped into her throat. He’d climbed down to a wide ledge a few yards to her right. He was perchedprecariously on hands and knees, carefully paying out a length of rope with a loop tied on the end.

“What are you doing? That’s suicide!” She wanted to scream at him, to beat on the rock until he understood the futility of his actions, but the only sound she could manage was a strangled cry. “Tiikâan?—”

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