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“Your name?” he demanded.
“Acari Kate. ” Her eyes were fever bright. It made her look like a junkie whiffing a fix.
“All right, Acari Kate. You’ve climbed before?”
She nodded, pleased with herself. “A lot. ”
“Have you ever done a free climb, climbs-a-lot-Kate?” There was a hint of derision in his voice, like he’d seen her type before.
Her lip curled. “That’s all I do. I’m from Colorado, and there we—”
“So you know to imagine your path before you begin,” he said, cutting her off. Acari Kate didn’t like it, but I did, guessing that it was for the benefit of those like me who’d never scaled a rock in their lives.
Shielding his eyes with his hand—the glare can’t have been easy on vampire eyes—he pointed up the face. “Search for the shadows along the rock. Those are the cracks and ruts that will be your handholds. ”
“I know,” she said, and took off.
Carden’s smirk spoke more to his disgust than amusement. “This is not a race. If you try to compete with Mother Nature, you will lose. ”
We watched her climb, and she was impressive, scrabbling up the cliff side. I made a mental note to beware if I ever found myself facing her in a combat ring—the girl had killer fingertips.
She paused at a difficult point, searching for a handhold.
“See how she finds her center,” Carden told us. “Her breath, her movements…She remains composed and even. ”
Kate bent her knee to her chest, nestling her foot in a crack, then lunged, stretching high for the next handhold.
“Ah, there. Did you see how she used her legs?” His gaze lingered on me as he said, “You must let your legs do the work. They’re stronger than your arms. ” I felt his hand over my heart again, even though he was several feet away. A phantom caress soothed me. Reassured me. “You must never think your arms weak. You’ll only panic. Trust your legs—they have all the power you’ll need. ”
I believed he’d catered his comment to me, the person who’d just recently managed her first series of successful pull-ups.
When he glanced back up, Acari Kate was near the top. He shouted, “That’s enough. You’ll be unable to make it all the way. ”
But Kate upped her speed, calling down, “No, I can make it. ”
“My role is not to scold you like wayward children. ” He set his jaw in a grim line as he faced us. “The intention was to discuss climbing. I fear this has become a lesson about pride. ”
I’d been mesmerized by the sight of Kate scaling the rock like a spider, but Carden’s tone demanded my full attention. What lesson would he teach Kate when she came back down? I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to have to see this side of him.
I hadn’t realized Priti stood behind us until she announced somberly, “Pride kills more surely than the fiercest competitor. ”
Dread prickled my skin. So sure they were. But why?
Pebbles crumbled loose, skittering down the rock wall, and we all swung our heads, looking up the cliff. What did this girl think she was trying to prove?
“Almost there,” Kate shouted with satisfaction. More rocks trickled down. “Whoa. ” She laughed, a rolling, self-satisfied cackle that sounded crazy. I wondered what was wrong with her. The wind carried her laughter over our heads to the sea.
Carden stalked from the cliff face, looking disgusted. We parted to let him through. His arm brushed mine as he passed, and breath whooshed into my body, my traitorous lungs sucking in air, trying like an animal to catch his scent.
“I can reach the top,” she shouted, sounding determined. Maybe she wasn’t nuts—maybe she just had something to prove. Hell, maybe she just really liked climbing. She was mere inches from the top now.
“Vanity outlives the man,” Carden muttered behind me.
“Acari Kate,” Priti called. “You will return. Now. ”
“A Scotsman said that,” Carden went on, sounding as coldly impassioned as any vampire. “Robert Louis Stevenson. ”
“Okay, okay,” Kate shouted. “I’m coming back down. ”
