Maybe he’d waited until they reached the Veil to give them instructions on how to get through on purpose. Not that River tended to ignore his directions, but she had to admit she listened a lot closer now the ice canyon was in front of them.

The line they’d secured through the Veil started just above where they were gathered. Per Easton’s directions, they clipped onto the rope, then headed forward in single file. A properly fixed rope would hold them all, as long as an anchor was set between climbers. A simple enough rule to follow in normal visibility but one that would be more difficult in bad visibility. The climb was not without risk…one of which was an anchor pulling loose from too much weight and everyone on the line falling.

At this steep of an incline, one wrong step could start a fall with little hope of stopping. The idea of a pile of them plummeting down the mountainside made the hair on the back of River’s neck stand up.

Easton led them, with River behind, then Jessie and Bree. As usual, Ben took the last position, to make sure someone could help if one of them fell behind.

“Jessie,” Bree said when Easton’s back was turned. “Give me the handheld.”

“No, give it to me.” River beckoned him with a quick curl of her fingertips. “I’ll have the better shot. Only Easton will be in front of me.”

“Here,” Jessie muttered to River before he clipped onto the line, pushing the handheld camera into her hands.

River stepped into the path of the headwind. Almost instantly, the visibility went down to next to nothing. Ben hadn’t been lying when he called the Veil a wind tunnel. River felt like she was trying to walk into a hurricane, bent over to keep from being blown off her feet.

For the first few steps, she could almost make out Easton’s jacket, but despite the reflection off the ice canyon’s walls, the flurries of snow spinning through the Veil blocked him from view. Holding the camera up in one hand, River could barely see her fingers.

Turning it on, she fought her way forward a step, trying to keep the handheld secure against her chest with one arm and using the other hand to brace herself on the line. Every time she let go, the swirling snow immediately ruined her sense of direction.