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“Because that’s not the training here. You must reach the top yourself, and with what you have.”
“And if I fall, splat?”
He shrugged. “Don’t fall.”
“Don’t fall,” she muttered. “Sure, there it is. Why didn’t I think of that?”
She reached up, trying for a handhold, then a foothold. It took herabout fifteen minutes—with fingers already raw—to manage three feet.
“By the time you get there, they’d have roasted and eaten the children. Had the tiny, squalling babes for dessert.”
“Oh, shut up!”
She reached up, muscles straining. She didn’t hold back the squeal as she slipped a little. Didn’t see the point of it.
“Now they know you’re coming for certain, so mind the arrows that’ll be winging down at you, and the faeries flying out with swords to hack off your hands.”
She just pressed her face to the cool rock and breathed. Then, teeth gritted, she managed another three feet.
Sweat slid down her back, down her face, and into her eyes. It coated her hands, and she hissed when she saw that her raw fingers bled a little.
She should’ve refused, she realized. He couldn’t force her. But, as usual, she just went along. And now she was stuck on the face of a damn mountain. After she glanced down, she clung to the rocks like a lizard with her heart pounding a wild tattoo in her head.
If she fell, she might not be high enough to splat, but she’d sure as hell break something.
Possibly her neck.
“Maybe they’re bratty children, and nasty babies. Maybe they’re all like this kid I had in class once. Trevor Kuhn. Miserable little—”
The rock she gripped gave way, and so did she.
She felt the shock of falling backward, a rush of air and helplessness. Then she hovered, holding the air as she had the rocks.
“And there it is.”
To her shock, Keegan rose up to her until they were eye to eye.
“You—you can do this, too?”
“I’ve been practicing.”
“Why didn’t you say to do it this way?”
“I said reach the top with only what you have,” he reminded her. “You chose the hard way, and the process of it was likely good for you. But sure when you slipped, you called on what you have.”
“My fingers are bleeding, and I rapped my elbow twice.”
“They’ll heal. But you stay here complaining while the children cry for help.”
She looked up. “It’s really high. I’ve never gone that high.”
“Sure I haven’t either, but now, together.”
He reached out for her hands.
“It really sucks the energy.”
“A price, but less to pay if you breathe the air, ask it to lift you.”
