Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“I will carry him,” Pashov says easily. He continues to stroke my cheek, doing his best to soothe my panic. “Will that make you feel better?”
“An elevator would make me feel better,” I say with a watery, nervous laugh. I’m trying not to lose my cool, but it’s hard. All I want to do is turn around and run…which is stupid. We’ve traveled so far and there’s nothing to go back to. I try to look over at the canyon again, and the sick feeling clenches in my belly once more. “I think I need a minute to prepare.”
He nods and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I will help them unload. Can you hold Pacy until we are ready?”
I take my baby back and hug him close, ignoring his little cry of protest at my tight squeezing. The wind picks up and whips my leather tunic around my body, and I shiver, imagining the earth underneath my feet moving like it did in the earthquake. It feels very fragile and unstable here on the edge of the cliff…but that just might be my imagination. I feel like if I lean too far over to one side, I will tip over the edge and tumble into the ravine. Which is crazy, considering I’m standing about twenty feet away from the side, but I can’t help the way I feel.
I watch as the three hunters unload the sled, casually tossing bundle after bundle of furs down to the bottom of the gorge. They fling things over with abandon, and then Bek grabs the rope and climbs down after. Harrec helps Pashov dismantle the sled, and they toss down the long bones, which will be re-used for other things, because the sa-khui waste nothing. Harrec then disappears over the ledge, and then it’s just me and Pashov and Pacy up here.
Pashov turns to me. “You go first. I do not like the thought of you up here alone while I am down below.” He holds his arms out for the baby. “Let us put my son in his carrier on my back, and I will climb down after you.”
I nod, trying to hold back my nervousness, even though the urge to throw up is growing stronger by the moment. I don’t like this. I don’t like the thought of Pacy going down the gorge, either, but I know that’s just my anxiety speaking. He’s going to be perfectly safe on Pashov’s back because Pashov won’t let anything happen to him. I tuck Pacy into the carrier and triple-check the straps. The baby’s in a good mood, waving his little fists in the air and babbling happily to himself. I wish I could be so carefree. I check the straps one more time, and realize I’m stalling.
There’s nothing I can do now, except go down the rope. I suck in a deep breath.
Pashov turns to me and cups my cheeks in his warm, warm hands. “You will be fine.” When I give a slow nod, he continues. “Take off your mittens so you can grip the rope tightly. Move as slowly as you need to. Brace your feet on the wall to help you move.”
“Got it,” I breathe.
I move forward to the edge of the cliff and grab the rope. There are knots tied every few feet, so it makes it easier to climb up and down, but my hands are shaking so badly and my palms are so sweaty that I nearly drop the rope.
“Stay-see—”
“I’m fine,” I tell him. “Really. I can do this.”
I grip the rope again, and then peer over the edge. There’s a scatter of bundles down on the snowy ground below, and Harrec and Bek are walking away, burdened with our things. I can’t stop staring at the ground, though. It’s at least twenty or thirty feet down, though my brain gets a little woozy at the sight. Twenty feet might as well be a hundred. It’s also a completely sheer drop. I wiggle one foot closer to the edge and try to figure out how to get my feet braced on the wall, like Pashov said.
My hands slip and my foot does, too. My body skids backward. Suddenly I’m flat on my stomach on the ledge, my legs dangling in midair over the lip of the canyon. A terrified whimper escapes me.
“No!” Pashov cries out. “No, Stay-see. Stop!” His hands grip my upper arms, and he hauls me back over the ledge. “Stop,” he tells me again. “There must be another way.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, trembling. I cling to his neck, burying my face against his chest as he holds me tight. “I’m trying.”
“I know.” He strokes my hair. “I know. Let me think.”
I cling to him. “I wish I wasn’t so afraid of heights.”
“You are who you are. Make no apologies for it.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I would change nothing about you.”