Page 96 of The Hero Within
And wasn't that a thought? All that water, the concrete groaning against its weight....
"I used to climb the tors as a girl," she admitted, a little breathlessly. "Hunting rocs where they nest. But that was a long time ago."
And her thighs and calves were already aching.
Arik and Johnny exchanged glances.
"I can haul her up if we harness us together," Johnny replied.
Arik nodded shortly. Clearly it would have to do. He and Lincoln began tugging an assortment of ropes out of their packs.
Johnny held the harness out, allowing her to step into it. Arik had supplied the climbing equipment. Apparently it was what teens in Shadow Rock did for fun before they became adults and were expected to climb freestyle.
Johnny's tanned hands snapped the harness into place around her waist and thighs, testing the give in it. He worked the carabiners efficiently, and hooked the pair of them together with a thick, stretchy rope that had about twenty feet in it. "If you fall, I've got you."
"Who's gotyou?" she snorted, rubbing her hands together nervously.
A faint smile flickered over his mouth. She loved this particular smile of his; a drollha-haon the surface, with a shyer undertone of shared amusement. Johnny held up his hand, forcing his claws to extend. "Trust me, darlin'. I won't fall."
It was kind of gross.
In a fascinating, unusual sort of way.
Adam couldn't manage the partial shift; he'd spent years denying his nature. She'd seen Luc go claws out once or twice, but never up close. Eden sucked in a breath, staring at Johnny's suddenly monstrous hands. His fingers were covered in thick, dark fur, and his claws gleamed like obsidian.
He stiffened as he noticed her interest.
Eden reached out slowly, brushing her fingertips over the sleek fur. It thinned out where his hand met his wrist, becoming nothing more than the dark hairs on his arms. Softer than she'd expected.
"I've never seen a warg up close," she admitted.
Silver streaks flared out around his pupils like a corona in the dark field of space. "Trust me, you don't want to."
I know.But she turned his hand over, curious about the difference in anatomy.
Something so hateful, she'd spent her entire life running from it.
It was merely a set of claws.
"Let's do this," Arik muttered, staring up at the inside of the hollow tower. There was a narrow ladder embedded in the wall, but it started about fifteen feet up. Water sluiced over it.
Johnny's claws retracted, the hair absorbing back into his skin, revealing a normal hand once more.
Lincoln knelt, cupping his hands together. His brother stepped into them, and Lincoln threw him up into the air. Arik only just caught the bottom rung of the steel bars embedded into the concrete. Biceps flexing, he hauled himself up with pure arm strength, catching the next rung. Pulling himself up, arm over arm, he began the climb.
Oh, heck.
In Absolution, Eden managed to run several mornings a week, purely for stress relief. It had been several weeks since she'd fit one of her runs in though—thanks to her sudden busy workload—and as she stared up through the hollow core of the concrete tower, doubt began to creep through her lower abdomen.
Eden knew three things: A, it was a long way up; B, she was a human, not a warg; and C, while the strength and precision of her hands was undisputed, particularly with a scalpel, her upper arm strength had been crafted purely from lifting a spoon of cake to her mouth.
She liked cake.
"I don't know if I can make it. My arm strength isn't my best quality."
"Sure you can," Johnny replied. "You're going to go in front of me, and I can help you when your arms start getting heavy. Once we hit the ladder, you can use your legs too. You'll be fine. The one thing I don't doubt is your determination."
Eden wiped her sweaty palms on her cargo shorts. She stared up at the first rung. It was a long way away.
