“The only other alternative is you dangling ME off the edge of the cliff, and as strong as you are, I don’t think that’s possible,” Kilian reasoned, shrugging. “I’m not trying to make this hell for you or anything. You don’t have to follow me if you aren’t really determined to figure this thing out.”
Grace wrapped her arms around herself, shivering a bit as the icy winds picked up in speed and became more unpredictable. “Perfect weather we’re having to risk our lives, isn’t it?” She sighed in resignation. At least she’d have the next clue in her hands first and could get a head start on its location, she figured. And if Kilian dropped her or she managed to slip off the cliffside into the ravines below, well...at least it’d be quick.
“I won’t let you fall,” Kilian said softly, in a rare moment of tenderness. “I mean it, Grace. I know you think I’m just some dickhead cop most of the time, but I really care about finding this...with you, I guess, for better or worse.” He had stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Kilian,” she said quietly, allowing herself to be vulnerable around him. “It’s cold and wet and dark, and I don’t know if I can do this. What if I can’t reach it? What if I lose my balance?”
Kilian looked downat the slightly muddy ground, frowning. “I wish there was another way, and I wish I could say I was just screwing around with you about the location of this clue. But I’m sure of it. If I could get it myself, I would do it.” He stepped a bit closer to her, pulling off his jacket and putting it around her shoulders. “Here. Warm up and calm down for a bit before we give this a go, okay? If you don’t want to do this...you don’t have to. We can leave.”
Grace blushed slightly, pulling the jacket tightly around her. The two now stood only a few dozen yards or so from the rocky cliffside in question. “I can handle it,” she said, nodding to herself in an attempt to psych herself up. “I can handle it,” she repeated.
“Here. Let’s sit down for a minute, okay? I know this sucks. It’s cold and storming and generally just a terrible idea all around to even be here.” Kilian sat down on the side of a cracked boulder nearby, patting the space beside him. “Let’s think about how we’re going to approach this first.”
Grace plopped down next to him on the giant rock, staring out over the edge of the cliff. “I just hope you’re right about this clue.”
Kilian looked her in the eyes. “I’m positive. I can’t really explain why, but I know it’s there. I’m pretty sure it’s tucked into the side...near a branch that’s supposed to have a ribbon on it or something. A cloth, maybe? It’ll be marked, anyway.”
Grace reluctantly leaned into Kilian’s side. “I’m only doing this because I’m cold, just so you know,” she mumbled sarcastically. “Just give me a minute. I’m going to do it, I just...need a second to compose myself.” Her hands were still trembling--whether from the cold or her sheer terror, she wasn’t sure.
Kilian slowly brought an arm around her shoulder, giving it a gentle and reassuring squeeze. “I know. I know Grace Walsh wouldn’t back down from a challenge. You’ve taken on way worse things than this. This’ll be a cakewalk for you, and I won’t let you fall, no matter what.”
The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, watching the occasional lightning strike in the distance. The rain was thankfully a mere drizzle, but the freezing air made each drop feel like tiny, icy needles on their faces and hands.
“Well, here goes nothing, yeah?” Grace said, finally standing up and shaking off Kilian’s jacket. She rubbed her hands together and swallowed a growing lump in her throat. Her stomach was in knots, and she was fighting back tears, but she wasn’t about to let Kilian see her back down.
“You ready?” Kilian asked, getting up and following her as she approached the edge of the precipice.
“As I’ll ever be,” Grace laughed breathlessly, her voice small and afraid. She leaned over the edge slightly, peering down to get a closer look. Sure enough, a lone, gnarled branch jutted out from the side, a few feet down, with a piece of tattered red cloth tied haphazardly around it. It flapped in the wind, occasionally changing direction as the breeze shifted. “Well, I’ll be damned.” Grace said in amazement, pointing at the branch. “You were right.”
Kilian’s face lit up as he noticed the clue location marker. “Holy shit,” he laughed. “It’s really there.” He leaned as far as he could over the edge of the embankment. “I can’t see if the clue is there, but it has to be.” He grinned proudly, his laughter echoing out into the cold, lonely night.
“All right. I guess you should hang onto one of my arms, and I’ll try to climb down it as best I can.” She crouched down next to the edge. “There’s a little ledge I think I can balance at least one foot on. From there, I might be able to look underneath the branch and see if there’s any sign of it.”
She held out an arm, looking into Kilian’s eyes meaningfully. She wasn’t a particularly trusting person, and for her to put her life - literally - into his hands was a difficult feat alone for her, possibly more difficult than scaling the cliff itself.
Kilian grabbed ahold of her arm tightly as she lowered herself down onto the ledge. “Okay, I’m going to reach--shit!” She hissed, her foot sliding a bit on the rain-slicked ledge. She flailed a bit before finding her balance, one hand clinging to the branch and the other hanging onto Kilian’s muscular arms.
“What’s wrong?” Kilian asked, unable to see what Grace was struggling with below him. “Are you okay?”
Grace was quiet for a moment before calling out, “Oh, my God. It’s here! It’s here!” She screamed, her voice giddy and ecstatic. “I think I can--lower me down a bit more.” She removed one foot from the ledge and steadied it against the edge of the cliff, leaning in close underneath the branch.
“I can’t get much closer without falling down there with you,” Kilian warned, but he inched closer anyway. “That’s as far as I can go. Can you reach it?”
“Almost,” Grace replied, stretching out an arm towards an envelope wrapped carefully in waterproof plastic neatly wedged into the cliffside under a false rock. “I can touch it,” she said excitedly. “I think I’ve got it.” The envelope was between her fingertips. She pulled it closer, grasping it tightly in her free hand and shoving it in her pocket quickly before grabbing hold of the muscular cop’s arms with both hands. “Time to pull me up,” she said cheerfully, surprised at how easy it was to trust Kilian in such a situation.
Kilian pulled her back up over the cliff, Grace pushing herself up off the ledge to help him along. With one final tug, he pulled her up over the ledge as she tumbled on top of him.
The two awkwardly rolled into a patch of wet grass and lay there, laughing breathlessly. She clung to his chest, grinning as she yanked the envelope from her back pocket. “Look!” she exclaimed, burying her face in his chest for a moment to release a few unexpected tears. She laughed as she cried, shaking her head, baffled the plan had worked.
“Wow,” Kilian replied, staring reverently at the envelope for a moment before redirecting his gaze to her. They lay there, chest-to-chest, their hearts beating uncontrollably together in a frenzy. “I can’t believe it.”
“I do,” Grace said, smiling proudly. “What, you doubted me?”
“Not at all,” Kilian chuckled warmly. “Open it so we can read it.”
Grace rested her head on his chest as she carefully unwrapped the note from its plastic wrappings and pulled it from the envelope inside. A postcard and a clue tumbled out onto Kilian’s chest.
“Ross Castle,” Grace whispered, holding up the postcard so both of them could view it in all its glory. “Looks like we know where we’re heading next.”
