Chapter 73 Solveig
“Ican’t believe that worked,” Westley whispered.
“It only works if it holds me,” Solveig said, bending down to pick up the vine. When she yanked on it as hard as she could, it didn’t budge. Her magic was holding firm. “Only one way to find out.”
“Excuse me, General, but what did you just say?”
“Only one way to find out?”
“Before that,” he said through his teeth. She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re injured,” she said plainly.
“You’re not leaving me here.”
Solveig’s temper rose. They were wasting precious time arguing. “It’s not going to hold us both.”
“If you think I’m going to let you—” Westley started.
“Let me? You can’t even pull your bow back without my help. How do you think you’re going to hold on to a swinging vine?!”
“Funny you should bring up the bow. That’s exactly how I’m going to hold on.” Solveig stared at him blankly. “With your help,” he added.
“Now is not the time for jokes, West.”
“Gods, Solveig,” he said, running his hands through his hair. He paced back and forth on the edge of the cliff. His demeanour shifted, shoulders slumping as he faced her.
“You’re not going to change your mind on this are you?” he asked.
“No,” she said, resolute.
“Then you leave me no choice,” he said, marching straight up to her and pulling her into his arms, holding her tightly against him. He leaned into her, and she thought he was going to kiss her. Her eyes drifted to his mouth, but he didn’t move closer.
“What are you doi—AHHHHHH!” Solveig screamed as Westley lifted her and took a running leap off the cliff. They soared through the air, Solveig clinging to Westley as tightly as he was holding on to her.
“Grab the rope with me,” he yelled in her ear.
“I hate you,” she spat at him, trying to adjust her hold without plummeting to her death.
“This was your idea!” he yelled back.
Solveig cursed repeatedly as loud as she could as the wall of rock loomed closer and closer.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, Westley thought.
Didn’t think this through, did you? she yelled in his mind.
And you did?
I’m not the one who threw us off the godsdamned cliff with no warning!
Seconds. They had only seconds in the air before they’d be smashed against the hard rock face.
Solveig closed her eyes and braced for impact when Westley tightened his arms and rotated them.
Her eyes flew open just as his back took the brunt of the wall and a horrible cracking sound reverberated through his spine.
The breath was knocked out of her, her eyes dizzy as pain radiated through her back.
“Westley!” she yelled, her own body stiff from the aftershock of the impact.
She didn’t know if the gods were still on their side, but she thanked them anyway as her feet found purchase on a narrow ledge. Her gratitude was short-lived when the prince’s body slumped. She held him to her, bending under his weight while trying to hold him up against the wall.
“Don’t be dead, don’t be dead.” He didn’t move. “Damn it, Prince, I told you that you’ll only die by my hand, and this does not count!” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She waited a few seconds, but when he still didn’t respond, terror gripped her. “You cannot do this. We have unfinished business, and if you do not wake up right now I am going to murder you,” she said again, trying to jostle him.
With more force than she meant to use, she accidentally slammed his body into the rock, smacking his head against the hard surface. His head lolled forward onto her shoulder. She didn’t know what to do.
She couldn’t leave him here, but the precarious ledge they were standing on could give out any minute. As if her thoughts had willed the situation into being, the rocks beneath her feet began to crumble.
“No, no, no, no,” she cursed.
“S’okay, Sol, I have you,” a voice whispered in her ear as his arm brought her closer to him.
“West? Oh, fuck you. I thought you were dead!”
“S’no way to talk to the dead.”
“Fuck you,” she said again with a barely contained laugh. “We have to shuffle sideways a bit. Do you think you could do that?”
“Give me a minute and I’ll shuffle wherever you tell me to,” he mumbled, resting his forehead in the crook of her neck, his breath making her skin tingle.
“Hate to break it to you, but we don’t have a minute.” Her arms were still around him and she could quite literally feel his body stitching itself back together.
“How are you doing that?” she asked him as they moved slowly together.
“Doing what?” he asked, voice still weak.
“Healing so fast.”
“I’m not.”
“What?” She tried to pull away to see his face, but that threw them off balance and he gripped her tightly.
“You’re doing it.” He paused, waiting for her to respond. She didn’t. “Your magic,” he said softly.
“No, but I can’t-I can’t heal anyone else . . .”
“You must be projecting it onto me somehow.” He was sounding stronger by the second, and Solveig’s head started feeling light.
“How do you know my magic can work like this?” she asked skeptically.
Before he could answer, they were interrupted by the horrible sound of a crack shooting through the rock followed by a rumbling above their heads.
“Fuck,” Westley swore under his breath. They both lifted their heads to the sky in time to see several large boulders about to cascade down on them.
“Watch out!” he called, deftly swinging them around, flattening Solveig against the side of the cliff as the rocks came tumbling towards them.
Huge stones smashed onto Westley’s barely healed back as he covered her with his body, protecting her.
She pulled him as close to her as she could.
She hardly had room to breathe, but she held him tightly.
He pressed into her. If the situation were different, she might be aware of how perfectly they fit. She definitely did not think about that now—that would be inappropriate, to recognize all the interesting places their bodies lined up.
The rocks continued to pour down until there was nothing more than loose gravel sprinkling their heads. Westley’s uneven breaths sounded in her ear.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Mm-hmm.”
After a moment, Westley brought his forehead to hers as his breathing evened out and their heart rates slowed.
Instead of focusing on the way their bodies pressed together, Solveig brought her attention to the feel of her magic under her skin.
It flowed more readily, and she breathed in the relief of releasing some of the pressure.
She focused on everywhere her skin connected with Westley’s, her magic reaching for him, seeping into him.
He inhaled as her magic hit him and a little of his cool energy passed back to her. Her body ached for more of him.
“Did you threaten to murder me when you thought I was dead?” he asked, clearing his throat. Damn his heightened Fae senses.
“Yes. And I stand by it. If you die before I get to kill you, I will reach into Hel itself to pull you out, just so I can send you right back.”
Westley chuckled softly. “Good to know, General.” They stayed like that for a moment more before he lifted his head, their bodies still pressed firmly together.
He met her gaze and the intensity in his eyes charged the air, the storm thundering above them.
Rain began to fall, but still, they remained locked together.
“We should go,” he said, breaking the spell. She nodded, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.
The rocks became slippery as the rain continued to pour down on them.
They took turns climbing up the cliff, pushing and pulling each other, using the vine rope as leverage where they could.
Solveig’s muscles were screaming by the time her hand reached up and was met with wet, spongy grass on her raw and bleeding fingertips.
She was about to pull herself up when a large cool hand landed on the underside of her thigh, right below her butt cheek. Blood redistributed in her body at the touch.
“A bit close to my ass there, Prince.”
“Just trying to help you up,” he said innocently.
“Somehow I don’t quite believe you.”
With the helpful placement of his hand, she was able to hoist herself up and then reach down to grab him as he climbed the rest of the way. Once they were safely on solid ground, they flopped onto their backs, chests heaving.
“I still can’t believe that worked,” Westley muttered.
“I can’t believe you threw us off that cliff,” Solveig said.
Westley let out a sigh and they burst out laughing, relief and exhaustion coursing through their spent bodies.
Footsteps sounded on the grass and a voice sobered both of them immediately.
“Nice of you to join us,” Maddock said, his large presence looming over them.