“Hang on!” Pain knifed through his wounded shoulder and his body began to shudder. He gritted his teeth. A sword’s wrath, he would nae lose her! He inched back.
Pieces of the waterlogged bank beneath them continued to break free.
Alesia twisted in his hold as the churning torrent rumbled far below. “Colyne!”
“Stay calm,” he rasped. The ground beneath them began to tremble. A large slab of earth tore free, slamming into the raging waters below. Beneath him, fissures split open and widened.
Her body shifted as she dangled over the edge, wrenching his shoulder.
“Alesia, use both hands to hold my right one.”
On a sob, she wrapped her fingers around his.
With his other hand, Colyne caught the bush to his left. The branch bent as, inch by grueling inch, he pulled her up. At his next tug, her head came into view. “When I tell you to,” he shouted, “use your feet to climb out.”
Alesia nodded.
“Now!” he called and pulled with all his might. Another burst of pain shot down his left shoulder. Blackness threatened. Colyne gulped a breath, then another as he gritted his teeth and continued to pull.
Deep lines wedged her brow as she dug her feet into the muck and slowly climbed.
As her slipper came into view, he yanked her over the ledge.
With a gasp, she tumbled against his chest, and they collapsed on the soggy ground, their breathing labored, her body trembling with fear.
He glanced behind her.
Cracked slabs of rock and earth widened.
“We must move farther back!”
The ground beneath them shook, and the bush he clung to tore free.
Colyne shoved Alesia ahead of him and scrambled after her. “Go!” His boot hit air as the bank disintegrated beneath him, but his other foot found purchase on the slick earth. He lunged forward, hit solid ground.
They ran.
Several paces away, a muted roar built in their wake.
“Faster!” he shouted.
The land beneath them heaved.
A sword’s wrath! Colyne grabbed her and dove. A huge tremor rocked the ground as they rolled to a stop. With his heart pounding, his brow soaked with rain and sweat, Colyne held her in his arms as, several feet away, the remainder of the cliff collapsed.
Trembling, he laid his brow against hers. A sword’s wrath! He’d almost lost her.
Eyes wide with fear watched him. “Y—you saved me.”
Emotion tightened his throat as he stared at her, wondered if he could ever let her go. “I would never leave you.” Her eyes searched his with such gratitude that his heart tightened in his chest.
She shook her head. “Non, you would not.”
Desperate for her touch, he slammed his mouth over hers, tasting rain and fear and another emotion he refused to identify.
Lightning flashed.
Colyne broke the kiss. With a rough sigh, he stroked her wet hair, wishing everything was different.
