“I can’t,” Cassie repeated.

Levi pulled her to the right as another shot fired. He whirled and squeezed off a shot of his own, relieved to see guards heading toward the trees.

Trusting the royal guard to deal with the threat, Levi holstered his primary weapon. He wrapped his arm around Cassie’s waist, leaned down, and scooped her into his arms.

She let out a gasp of surprise, and her body stiffened the minute he moved toward the cliffs.

“Close your eyes,” Levi said.

Instead of obeying the command, she locked her gaze on his.

“You can trust me.” Levi took another step toward the nearest bluff. “Close your eyes.”

More gunfire erupted behind them. Cassie squeezed her eyes shut, but Levi couldn’t tell if she was complying with his request or trying to block out reality.

He hurried forward and ducked behind a huge boulder to his left, then let himself fall to the ground, his body cushioning Cassie so his backside absorbed the weight of both of them.

When he saw that he and Cassie were only a few meters from the spot where the land dropped off into nothingness, he used his feet to push himself back, Cassie still cradled in his arms.

Another volley of gunfire sounded, but Levi didn’t dare look to see if the guards had been successful. For now, his only purpose was protecting the woman he held, the woman he loved.

Levi leaned back against the rock. Cassie must have taken the subtle movement as a signal that all was well because her eyes flew open. Her gaze locked on the cliff and the contrast of land against the water below, and she screamed.

Levi’s hold tightened. “It’s okay.”

Cassie twisted in his arms, her feet connecting with the ground. Levi tightened his grip, but she turned and clawed at the ground to pull herself away from the edge and toward the pasture and danger.

“Cassie, stop,” Levi pleaded and demanded at the same time. “Close your eyes. I’ve got you.”

Like a caged animal, she didn’t hear anything he said. She grabbed the edge of the boulder and pushed with her legs again, finally pulling free of his grip.

Levi grabbed for her ankle to keep her from diving back into the danger zone. As he did, he pushed off on his left foot, but the ground gave way. When he started sliding down the incline toward the cliff, Levi decided Cassie’s fear of heights wasn’t so irrational after all.

* * *

Cassie gripped the side of the rock, each breath a struggle. She looked out at the field in front of her. One guard lay motionless on the ground. Another crouched over him and fired a weapon into the trees.

It was happening again. People were fighting because of her, possibly dying because of her.

Levi cried out behind her.

The sound was so unlike him that she turned toward it despite the presence of the cliffs. Her heart nearly stopped beating when she saw Levi’s legs stretched beyond the land and all but his thighs were suspended in open air. Only his grip on a half-buried rock the size of a bowling ball kept him from sliding off the edge and into the forty feet of open space below.