I planted my hands on my hips. “It’s okay formeto rideyou, but you won’t consider doing the same thing with Mari?”
His mouth opened and closed twice before he gave up and deflated.
“Ookay,” he said.
Mari undid the thick belt that cinched her tunic at the waist, and she strapped it around her chest before turning her back to him. “Hop on. You can hook your claws into my belt. It’s tough enough to hold.”
“Hoopefully,” Matt grumbled. “But what aboout my hind claws?”
“Just let them dangle,” Mari suggested.
Matt’s ears lay flat on his neck as he climbed onto Mari’s broad back. She was big, but so was he. He hooked a foreleg beneath one of her arms, and over her neck with the other, in an awkward bear hug with his claws sunk into the leather belt.
“Are you sure you can do this?” I asked Mari. “No heroics here. We could leave Matt to last and tie the rope to him. Haul him up.”
“This will work,” Mari insisted, gripping the rope. And with that, she began to climb.
I wasn’t the only skeptical one. I spotted Tyrez hovering above us, ready to come to the rescue if need be.
Sebastian broke his silence when she was halfway up. “She’s very strong,”
“She’s amazing,” I agreed, wishing my own talent was more useful.
When they vanished over the top, Sebastian gestured to me.
“I’ll go last,” he said.
“Well, you’ll either be waiting for me here, or up there. You might as well go ahead of me. If I lose oomph, you can pull me up.”
He didn’t smile, but his eyes gleamed at me. I watched with envy as he flew up the rope like a graceful squirrel.
I sighed and began my climb.
Almost immediately, someone began to pull in the rope. I ended up wrapping my forearms in it and clinging while they hauled me up.
It slowed down when I neared the top, and I resumed climbing. When I glanced up, Sebastian stood in his customary observer’s stance. Then Mari stepped past him and boosted me the last few feet.
She grinned at me, her orange eyes shining.
I met the Bellati’s gaze as I said, “Thanks for the lift, Mari.”
Sebastian’s long lips pulled straight, and he turned away. What a jerk. How could I ever have been attracted to him?
The ridge wasn’t done with us yet—the other side was a tumble of fractured rock all the way to the ground.
“Do ya want to ride, Angel?” Matt asked.
I stared at the route to the ground. “Think I’ll embrace my inner monkey—thanks anyway.”
He looked vaguely disappointed as he headed off, jumping between the peaks with ease.
Sebastian went with him, lightly leaping from boulder to boulder. It left Mari and me to clamber and climb, slipping and sliding our way through.
Matt reached the bottom, and then retraced his steps to hover over us, even though there wasn’t much he could do to help—paws weren’t like hands. But he called encouragement as we progressed, which I appreciated. And the Dragon escort above was reassuring, too.
By the time we reached the bottom, I was bruised and gasping for breath. Sebastian had watched the entire thing without lifting a single finger to help. And now, he turned away as though he didn’t want to have anything to do with me.
Teamwork, I reminded myself. It was all part of being a team. And Sebastian wasn’t really on it. His attitude meant nothing.
