Page 58 of Centaur Bolt

Despite my wish that they go last, the twins were already climbing for their anchor ropes by the time we got organized, and had to stop to wait for us. I slid back twice before I managed to reach my anchor, and Kiko took four tries to make it. Vali’s talons helped her reach the rope in one go.

It surprised me that the twins waited for me to take the lead once we were properly anchored. I gritted my teeth as I continued to climb—told myself that with everyone hooked in, at least we wouldn’t fall to the ground.

We met our first challenge about thirty feet up—the rockwall swung outward, meaning gravity tugged at us as we searched for hand and footholds.

I’d just found decent ones when Kiko gave a little shriek and slipped.

“Everyone, hold on!” I yelled as the Satyr went from slipping to freefall. The anchor rope was designed to stop her from hitting the ground, nothing more. She came up against the rope holding her to the rest of us with a sharp jerk that almost tore me loose, too.

She thrashed, trying to grab hold, but the angle of the rock kept her suspended away from it.

“Are you guys okay?” Vali called from above.

“Yep. Think so,” I answered.

Tareal was next in line beyond Kiko, and he clung to the stone. “If she can’t get a grip, get her to cut loose.”

“If she keeps thrashing like that,” Lora snapped, “She’ll pull us all down. Roping us together was stupid.”

“The point of this is teamwork,” I reminded her. “Just hold on while I get this sorted.” To Kiko, I shouted, “Stop moving. We’ve got you, just hang there.”

The Satyr’s eyes were wild, but I locked my gaze on hers, and saw it register. She stopped thrashing and hung suspended.

“Vali, can you move over past me, and place an anchor for Kiko?”

“I can try,” the Dragona said. She began to move across the rockface.

“Tareal, you and I will have to hold on. Can you do that?” The Satyr was heavy, suspended like that, but it might be doable. Maybe. My fingers ached.

“Hellfire,” Tareal cursed through gritted teeth.

“Just get her to unclip her coupling,” Lora snapped. “The anchor rope will get her.”

“We are not dropping her,” I insisted. “Kiko, just hold still until we can get an anchor in.”

I could see the whites showing all around her dark eyes, but she nodded. “Okay.”

My fingers hurt like hell. Vali lowered herself to come right beside me.

“Can you hold on and set the anchor?” I asked.

In answer, she sank the talons of one hand directly into the stone. My mouth would have assumed its now customary position if my teeth weren’t gritted. I watched as she placed the anchor into the crevice.

“Make sure you have it oriented properly.” Ryan’s calm voice came over our earcomms. “Clip the rope on, and then tug on it.”

I assumed this used up one of our questions, even though we hadn’t asked. Vali removed the device and set it at a different angle. Clipped on the spare line, and tossed it down to Kiko.

“Snap onto it.” My arms shook with effort, and I held my breath.

Kiko grabbed the rope and hooked herself up. Then she began to climb.

Relief flooded me as the rope went slack, but when Tareal went to move, I stopped him with a hand gesture.

He glared at me but froze, and we waited while Kiko climbed up. I exhaled when her fingers got hold of the rock.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I need sex,” she replied.

---