Chapter 89Arms aching, Mavis hoisted herself up one more time, then locked her legs around the pillar and paused to rest. Looking up, she judged she'd made it halfway to the top already, with thirty feet to go.
Looking down, she saw that Jonah wasn't doing so well. She could tell he was struggling—from fear, not exhaustion. He was climbing too slowly, holding on too tightly, falling too far behind. He was ten, maybe twelve feet below—and the way he was inching along, he wouldn't catch up anytime soon.
It wasn't like he had time to spare, either. Twenty feet below him, at ground level, Genghis' vampires were surrounding the central pillars. Stanza and Arthur were holding them back, but it wouldn't be long till they broke through and clambered up after Mavis and Jonah.
So the clock
