Chapter 43

The blizzard lashed at their dangling bodies. A bottomless abyss yawned below their feet, waiting to swallow them. Maxi stared down at the misty gorge in a daze before shifting her gaze back up. The heavy snowfall made it impossible to tell how far they had fallen.

"Put your arms around my neck," Riftan said in a strangled voice.

All she could do in response was blink rapidly in terror.

"Now!"

Roused from a trance, Maxi flinched and wound her shaking arms around him. His whole body was as tense as a rock, his neck muscles so strained that she could feel his racing pulse through the bulging veins.

As if afraid he might drop her, Riftan pressed her to him in a suffocating, one-armed embrace while his other hand fumbled the wall. Eventually, he latched onto a protruding rock. He pulled them upward and managed to gain a foothold. Having secured them both to the cliffside, he tightened his arm around her.