Page 149 of Kingmakers, Year One

As soon as I reach the base of the cliff I start to climb.

I can see Johnny Hale right next to me. He’s a stocky, powerful dude, heavy with muscle, and he starts out fast, hauling himself up hand over hand.

He should use his legs. Arms tire out much faster.

I’m not climbing as fast as him, but I’m steady. Leo always said I had an engine that just wouldn’t quit. I’ve never been the fastest sprinter or swimmer, but it’s true that I can keep going almost forever.

So I’m not surprised when Johnny starts to slow down a third of the way up the cliff, and I begin to catch up with him.

I haven’t increased my pace. I’m just moving onward and upward, using all of my body, my fingertips dug into the crevices of the rock, and the strong muscles of my quads and calves helping to shove me up.

I’ve drawn almost level with Johnny when we reach the halfway point. The sun is beating down on us, glinting off his piercings. His face is dripping with sweat. His chest and arms, too. I doubt that’s helping his grip.

Wickedly, I call out to him, “Isn’t this fun?”

“Get fucked,” he growls back at me.

“It’s not so bad,” I say. “As long as you don’t look down . . .”

Irresistibly, Johnny drops his gaze to the sea-battered rocks below. His face blanches and his eye starts to twitch.

You don’t feel the sense of height until you look down. Then the vertigo hits, and you spiral.

I would never look down. Only up.

“See you at the top,” I laugh, climbing faster than ever.

My shoulders are burning, and my palms are raw as they grasp and hold the rough stone over and over. Once a handful of the soft limestone crumbles away in my left hand, and my weight drops onto my right arm with a painful jerk.

I shake it off and continue climbing. This is a one-way trip—once I get to the top, I can run back to the school through the sheep fields. The distance is further, but I think it will be faster than trying to climb down again.

When I’m four-fifths of the way up, I spot an albatross nest on a narrow ledge of stone. The nest is huge, added to year after year by diligent birds until it must be four feet in diameter.

My pulse quickens. I’m sure that’s where I’ll find the prize.

I haul myself up on the ledge, peering into the roughly-woven nest of twigs and mud. Sure enough I find two hunks of gold,identical in shape and size. I tuck one into the front of my shirt, inside my sports bra, where it makes an unwieldy lump a little smaller than a softball. I leave the other in place for Johnny.

I told myself I wouldn’t look down, but I can’t help checking to see how close he is getting.

He’s paused about three-quarters of the way up the cliff, trying to shake a cramp out of his arm. All that muscle is weighing him down. There’s a reason the best rock climbers are lean and wiry.

I’m about to turn around and start climbing again when I see a bright flash down by the entrance to the sea caves: sun glinting off metal. For a moment I think it might be Leo coming out, but I realize it’s someone going in instead. Someone wearing a tank. Someone with white-blond hair.

My heart stops dead in my chest.

He’s gone in an instant, so quick I might only have imagined it.

There’s no reason for Dean to be here. He’s not even competing.

I can hear Johnny grunting and puffing right below the ledge. He’s going to climb up here any minute. I only have a short lead ahead of him.

I’m supposed to take this puzzle piece and run back to the castle. That’s what Leo entrusted me to do. He’s counting on me.

But my skin is sweating, and I taste acid in my mouth, the adrenaline burst telling me that something is wrong.

I swing my legs over the ledge and start to climb down.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Johnny says. “Was it in there? Is it in the nest?”

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