Death Sworn(78)

The ground dropped away abruptly, as if it had been sliced off by magic. Below them was a vast darkness, a space so wide and deep she couldn’t see any hint of rock formations either across or below.

“She must have gone another way,” Ileni suggested hopefully. But Sorin already had the rope out, and was tying it firmly around her legs and waist.

“You’ll have to go first this time.” His fingers skimmed over her tunic as he tied the rope, and lingered briefly at her waist. “It will be easier for you if I’m controlling the rope from up here.”

Ileni looked down into the chasm, then at Sorin.

“All right,” she said.

His quick, surprised grin kept her from balking, until the rope was secured around her and she balanced at the edge of the cliff, her back to the gaping emptiness behind her. Then panic rose in her, so swiftly she couldn’t fight it. “Sorin—”

“Lean back. Once you can feel the rope holding you, you won’t be afraid.”

He actually seemed serious. She started to twist around, and Sorin said sharply, “Don’t look down. Look at me.”

She looked at him. His eyes were as black as the space behind her, his features sharp, shadowed lines. He looked fierce and dangerous, but he was waiting, patiently, for her. His strong hands were clenched firmly around the rope.

She kept her eyes trained on his and leaned back, even as her instincts screamed at her to stop before she fell.

Sorin was right. As soon as she had passed the point where she should have fallen screaming into the abyss, she felt the rope tighten around her, holding her aloft. She braced her feet against the cliffside, suspended horizontally above the emptiness.

Sorin’s eyes sparkled, and suddenly he didn’t look dangerous at all. “Push off with your feet.”

She bent her knees and pushed her feet away from the cliff. Sorin let the rope out, and she arced out into the darkness before landing back against the side of the cliff, several yards lower. She laughed aloud, and pushed off again even before she heard Sorin’s answering laugh.

It felt like flying. Exhilaration surged through her as she pushed herself harder and harder against the cliffside, flew out farther and faster, until she could barely see Sorin’s form above her.

And then the cliffside ended.

She realized it a moment before her next swing took her down and under the rock. Her head grazed the lower edge of the cliff, and then she was swinging uncontrollably through the darkness, waiting for the crash that would tear her loose and send her plunging to her death.

“Ileni!” Sorin shouted from above.

Her reply was a strangled gasp. The cliff had veered inward so sharply she could no longer reach it, so she had nothing to brace her feet against, no way to slow her motion. Panic seared through her.

Then, as she swung wildly away from the rocks again, the rope jerked upward, bringing her back up to where the cliffside was within reach. She put her feet out and they thudded against rock. She whimpered, bending her knees, swinging away again without wanting to—but not as far, this time, and not as fast. Another two swings and she was stable again, her feet braced against the rock, the rope trembling but still.

She would never have believed this could feel like safety. But it did. She didn’t look down at the cavernous emptiness below her.

“There’s no more cliff,” she called up. Her voice trembled.

“Then I’ll lower the rope slowly until you hit the bottom. Hold on tight.”

“Wait—” But the rope was already letting out, and her feet slid across the rock and dangled into emptiness. Her body jerked as she clung tighter to the rope, and it began to twist, swinging her sickeningly from side to side as she was lowered deeper into the cave.

Then, with a jerk, the downward motion stopped. The twisting didn’t, and Ileni’s stomach turned upside down. Luckily, since she hadn’t eaten for hours, there was nothing to spew up.

“Sorin?”

“We’re out of rope.” His voice was distant but clear. “Just a second.”

Something whizzed past her, and she heard a splash from below.

“Good,” Sorin said. “That distance should be safe to jump.”

Ileni thought wistfully back to the time when she hadn’t cared much whether she died. Then, trying not to think about what she was doing, she began extricating herself from the harness.

She needn’t have worried about giving herself time to think. In the struggle to untangle herself, she lost hold of the rope. A brief, terrifying plunge downward, a short scream, and then frigid liquid sprayed into her face as she pitched forward on her hands and knees into shockingly icy water.