Kon’s loosened his safety ropes enough to swing wider. The winds tearing around this corner of the cliffs are bashing poor Boris viciously against the rocks and he’s barely conscious.
“Keep climbing!” Lucca shouts, “Your focus needs to be onourteam.”
He’s talking to all of us, but I know he means me. Bracing my feet, I make sure Carlo, who’s above me, has his spikes hammered in before pulling up Marcel from below. I can’t stop watching Kon, and Lucca can’t blame me for that, I know he’s watching too.
The muscles in Kon’s thick thighs flex as he pushes off the rock face and swings over to Boris. I’m watching his single rope stretch, holding in a scream as another wind gust smashes Kon into the cliff face.
Oh, fuck his ribs, his ribs this is so bad oh fuck…
He’s got his arm looped around Boris’ leg and he’s yanking him back to the others. Tatiana throws one of her ropes to him, looped on the end. There’s another vicious flurry that slams them back against the rock before they can reattach to the rest of the team, and the brief flare of agony on Kon’s face is gone in a second.
“Climb!” Lucca roars when Kon and Boris are safe, “We are so close to winning this!Go!”
He’s right, the two teams above us have both just discovered their equipment failures and while they struggle to regain their foothold, we all move faster. The sweat from my forehead is stinging my eyes and my arms are shrieking in agony, they won’t be forgiving me for this anytime soon.
So close so close so close…
I chance a look to my left and see that Kon’s team is making up for lost ground. They won’t catch up to us though, and within minutes, we’re there. On sacred, flat ground. I now know why sea-farers throw themselves from the ship and kiss the beach.
“Why is your face pressed into the dirt?” Ansel wheezes, still trying to catch his breath.
“Because it’s flat,” I groan. “It’s not moving. And it’s flat.”
“You already said that,” he points out.
“It bears repeating,” I gently pat the pebbles I’m lying on.
Chapter Fifteen
In which Mariya discovers that the worst possible time to discover a phobia is while she’s experiencing it.
Deep Blue - William Black & Monika Santucci
Konstantin…
In an unexpected act of mercy, Dean Christie and Professor Fukumoto are giving us two hours to warm up and bandage our wounds. And there are plenty. The agony from my ribs is as steady and hard as a drumbeat and I hope I can re-wrap the bandages before the next task.
We’re in the dining hall, the only place big enough to keep all the teams separated. The servers are rushing in hot drinks and high-protein snacks as a cranky Dr. Giardo makes his rounds.
“Any injuries?” he asks me, lips tight. I’ve never seen a doctor more offended about having to treat his patients.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Go check on Boris. He almost got knocked unconscious when his belay failed.”
Dr. Giardo makes an irritable grunt and moves to Boris, who’s lying on the floor next to the table.
I see Mariya and Lucca both looking at me, but when she tries to come over, one of the guards stops her. “There is no interaction between teams until the challenge is over.”
“I’m not imparting state secrets,” Mariya says crossly, “I’m just checking on my roommate, Tatiana.” But she’s looking at me as she says it. I give her the slightest shake of my head and she sighs, returning to Lucca’s table.
“It’s so thoughtful of the Dean to give us a couple of minutes between near death and what is likely certain death,” Tatiana murmurs to me, shooting Mariya a sympathetic smile and a small wave. “This is insane. Have you ever seen such a dangerous challenge before? Two of the guys on Lauren Birch’s team broke their legs on the cliff challenge when their belay split. One of the new freshmen on Carlson’s team panicked during the skydiving task and pulled his ripcord too soon. He was the one with the tampered chute and their flight instructor barely got to him in time.”
“Dean Christie’s never been this vicious,” I agreed, trying to ignore the burn in my ribs. “It’s almost like she’s trying to make a point. I just don’t know what it is.”
“That she’s a sadisticsumasshedshiy,a madwoman?” Boris grumbled quietly.
“Look, everyone eat something, and drink as much water as you can,” I addressed the table. All nine of my people looked exhausted. “Coffee, let’s try a lot of coffee. We are two-thirds through this challenge and we are all still here. We came in second to Toscano’s team. If we take this third task, we will have won the most impossible-”
“Brutal,” Tati said.
