by G. Bailey
“Stop talkin’,” he snaps, and a flash of magic flickers in his eyes.
It makes me smile to know that I can get him close to losing his shit. He waves his hand over the lock and the door pops open. The cool evening air brushes against my skin, and I take a deep inhale, savouring the freshness. Two guards on the other side nod at Luke before they head back through the door. It closes behind them with a loud thud, and I look up at the high-gated field we are stood in.
“What we are doing out here?” I ask him softly.
Luke holds his pass to the front of my collar, and it beeps. “You have an hour to shift and run about. Don’t bother shiftin’ into a bird of any sorts, or tryna to escape, because they will shoot you out of the sky.”
For a second, I’m in complete shock, touched by his kindness. The moment doesn’t last long though before my wolf demands to be set free.
I so badly want to be free, too.
Allowing my wolf to take over, we shift effortlessly and she takes off across the field, running and frolicking in the wet grass. Even in a cage, there are moments of freedom it seems.
“Can I have a moment with her?” I hear Axel ask my warden in an uncharacteristically nice voice.
That isn’t normal for him.
I look up from where I’m sitting on my bed, and Axel is all up in Luke’s space. Ah, nice voice, scary as shit face. Of course. Now that makes more sense.
“Luke…” I gently say, and my voice snaps them both out of it.
The warden moves aside and turns his back to the cage. Axel grins and jumps on the bed beside me, holding a plastic cup of fruit.
“Axel, did you come here to cause trouble?”
His naughty grin says it all, really.
“I wanted to wish you good luck and hope that I see you on the other side,” he answers honestly.
“Have you won before?”
“Sure, but I’m special. I saved the Gov’s life once and earnt a damn good room and protection.”
Interesting. I wonder if Axel could be another way of getting close to Gold. I know I shouldn’t use him like that, but I have to get myself out of here. I’m sure I could convince Gold to take Axel with us anyway.
Axel throws a blueberry into his mouth and chews. “And, little miss trouble, you best get any thoughts of using me to get Gold’s attention out of your pretty little head.”
Shit. Can he read my thoughts or something?
“You think I’m pretty?” I say around a grin. “How sweet.”
“Don’t fuck up today. I’m getting used to seeing your very pretty face around here,” he whispers in a more serious tone, leaning closer to kiss my cheek.
Heat rises into my face, and my grin turns into a coy smile. It’s wiped away when Luke smacks his baton on the cage door.
“No touchin’ other inmates! You know the rules, Axel.”
Axel winks at me as he stands up, taking his time to lazily stretch his arms. I fully appreciate the view for a moment before he walks past Luke, whispering something that I can’t hear but it really, really pisses Luke off. I jump off my bed, rushing over and blocking his view of Axel walking away.
“Luke, aren’t we meant to go to the Blood Trials for round two?”
“Yeah,” he mutters, shaking his head and storming off without me.
Men.
This is a prime example of why I’ve only ever had one boyfriend, who took my virginity and two weeks later I found him in bed with my step-sister. After that experience, I decided guys my age weren’t a good idea and then I moved to Shadowborn Academy where every guy only had eyes for my step-sister anyway. The fucking irony.
If Willow was here, I’m sure I’d be forgotten about as per usual. Then again, Luke’s comment about never seeing Willow flickers into my mind and I almost pause mid-step. Maybe I was choosing to only see the bad in every guy I ever spoke to?
I certainly did with Luke, and now he’s here protecting me when we both know he must have better things to do. He might be my warden but that doesn’t make him my babysitter. He’s always around me. He’s always worried about me. I stay a few feet away from Luke all the way to the doors of the arena, which are strangely open even though we are early. Luke comes to a halt a few inches away from the door and I go to walk past him but his hand shoots out and grabs my wrist.
“You’re too good to die in a place like this.”
I step closer, well aware I shouldn’t with all the cameras around. “That’s the problem, Warden Luke. You think I’m good when I’m not. I’ve been bad since I was born and the world always knew it. In this prison, I’m figuring out that maybe I knew it all along, too. The only difference between good and bad is the person the title belongs to.”
I tug his arm away, ignoring the shock in his eyes.
“You didn’t kill those wardens, did you?”
His voice is like a whisper sinking its way into my ears even as I get to the door. I only look back once, knowing I’ll see Luke’s broken eyes.
I put on a brave face and smile at him. “Oh, Luke, you know the answer to that or you wouldn’t be my friend!”
I don’t get to hear his reply as the door slams shut behind me and the second round of the Blood Trials begins.
After being shoved into a locker, I find a bunch of clothes and weapons suitable for snow. The thick, fur-lined jacket, snow boots, and insulated trousers are a dead giveaway even if the pickaxe wasn’t. Clipping on my belt of knives, I carry the pickaxe out into the room that had all the weapons last time. There aren’t any other players this time. I guess they all died in the last round. That means my only opponents are Coen and his wolves.
A woman’s voice, the same one from the last recording, starts to speak.
“Welcome to the second round of the Blood Trials. In this round, you will be tested on not only your survival skills but your luck. To win, you must find the ice that cannot be missed in the snow. If the gods favour you, you will survive and be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. May Selena herself watch over you.”
The steel door of one of the holes snaps open, and there is a blue orb floating in the middle. As soon as I step closer, it flies to me, attaching itself to my leg and shrinking in size all over again. I sit on the edge of the hole before closing my eyes and pushing off, tumbling straight down until the freezing cold air assaults my lungs. I gasp from the shock as the hole spits me out at full speed and I drop into the snow face first.
Ouch.
The sound of someone laughing hurts a little more. Mysterious laughing is never a good sign. I sit up and blink through the thick snow, instinctively grabbing one of my knives.
“You dropped this.”
A grimace up at the tall guy overshadowing me, dropping my pickaxe into the snow in front of me. He’s cute, enough that most girls would drop their knickers in a moment’s notice. I grab the pickaxe and quickly jump to my feet, pinning the sharp edge right under his neck. He doesn’t move as I look into his piercing grey eyes. He looks somewhat familiar with his shaggy brown hair. My eyes fall onto the scar on his lip and stray down to his clothes. He has similar winter items to what I’m wearing, so I know he’s another player in the Blood Trials. When I see the green orb on his leg, I know I should kill him. But I hesitate. Why am I hesitating?
“Kill me when we both get to the end,” the boy says, raising a machete in supplication. “What’s the point of trying to kill me now and losing help?”
The statement makes me halt more than his commanding voice. He even sounds familiar, but I don’t know where I’ve heard him before. Either way, I haven’t seen this guy around the prison and he’s hardly easy to miss.
“How can I trust you not to stab me in the back, pretty boy?” I growl, pushing the pickaxe just a tad harder. The vein in his throat pulses under it, threatening to release blood.
“Take my weapons,” he suggests, his smooth tone without a scrap of fear.
“You could still strangle me,” I resort. “Nah, I think I had the
right idea the first time.”
“Wait!” His command stops me for a moment. He reaches up, wrapping a hand around the end of the ax and pushing until thick drops of blood drop onto the snow. The wind picks up my hair, blowing it at my side as I watch him hold his hand in the air. “I swear on Selena to not harm you until we find the end of this trial.”
The blood promise is binding, everyone knows that. The gods might not be around anymore, but their magic definitely is. Anyone that breaks a blood promise ends up going crazy or their magic eats them alive from the inside out.
One or the other, and neither of them are pretty.
With a deep sigh, I lower my weapon and tug my eyes away from him. It’s clear we are on a mountain from a quick glance around. The pressured feeling in my chest says we’re near the summit. I get a feeling we need to head down rather than up. Why else would they drop us off more than halfway up? If the end of the trial took place on the summit, it wouldn’t provide much entertainment for the fae since it’d be over too soon. No, I think we’re supposed to head south. The landscape is definitely the last I expected Gold to pick. At least the air is warm unlike the snow itself. Good thing, too, because my kit didn’t have any gloves. It’d make wielding my weapons all the harder and so would frostbitten hands.
“What’s your name?” I ask, spotting a line of trees not far away. Odd for this far up a mountain. We should stay in the tree line to avoid the other players the best we can.
“Alexander, or Alex. You?”
Nice name for a pretty boy. “Izora, but call me Iz.”
I don’t wait for him as I wade through the thick snow towards the trees, only slowing down when the trees cover us. I hold on to the trees for support to stop myself slipping down, and the rough bark scrapes against my palms.
“So why are you in the Blood Trials, Iz?”
I turn back, seeing that Alex is well and truly keeping up with me.
“I want a nicer room,” I lie, and he chuckles.
“I’m going to ask you once not to lie to me,” he warns and I stop, facing him. “The next time you lie, you will not like what I do next.”
“Don’t like lies?” I slide him a glance, not quite buying that. “Even sweet little white lies that do nothing but keep people happy?”
“I hate lies, period. That’s my truth,” he snaps, stepping past me. I follow behind him. “Tell me your truth. Something you don’t tell anyone else.”
“I was never loved by anyone,” I answer, the words spilling out of my mouth. I try to catch them but I just…keep talking. I suppose if I’m going to open up to anyone, it’d be someone I need to kill later. “My mum put up with me but every time she looked at me, I never saw love. I saw obligation, possibly loyalty to her blood, but not love. My step-father, my step-sister and everyone in my life have always seen right past me like I’m not there. Some days, back home, I wouldn’t speak to anyone for so long that I began to think it was impossible for anyone to love me. That maybe I am the problem… but then I went to Shadowborn Academy. A school full of kids like me that have never been loved, and they showed me how to embrace that. Being loved is nothing until you learn loving yourself is everything. Is that ‘tell me your truth’ enough?”
He looks over his shoulder and smiles. “You are wiser than you look.”
“Not just a pretty face.” I snort, then arch a brow at him. “Your turn.”
His voice is gravelling, almost lost. “A lie ruined my life but if I could do it all over again, I would. Lying that one time saved someone I loved but it cost me.”
“Cost you what?” When he doesn’t answer, I add with a smirk, “You’re a peculiar guy, Alex.”
I slide past him, my boots sinking into the snow. He still doesn’t say anything, but I feel his eyes on me all the way through the forest and to the bottom of the mountain. It takes forever to reach the bottom. My legs ache and I feel tired down to the bone, but I won’t give up. You’d think our kit would’ve had some water.
The dark clouds eventually give way and it starts to heavy snow. My lashes are flecked with snowdrops, and I realise that being out in the open isn’t the best idea in weather like this. The clouds are too thick anyway and the wind is picking up. We need to find shelter and figure out where we should go next.
“There’s a cave over there. Maybe it could be another way down,” Alex shouts over the wind, stretching his long arm in one direction. I just manage to see a small black cave in the distance. I don’t think you would know it’s there unless you look right at it. “It’s too fucking cold to stay out here. Freezing to death is pointless.”
“You’re right. We should go to the cave,” I agree, hoping we can find something better in there.
“Watch out!”
I barely register his words when I’m tackled off my feet. The air is kicked from my lungs with the impact and I land on my side, half-submerged in the snow. I roll over and grab my daggers on instinct, but the crushing weight that steps on my foot has me screaming into the blizzard. With all the snowdrops collecting on my lashes, I struggle to see it.
But then I can hear it—the powerful roar of an enormous beast.
“Izora!”
The fear in Alex’s voice is palpable, mirroring exactly how I feel inside. Shaking, I thrust my dagger out like a shield, hoping to catch what I can only assume is a polar bear. The beast lifts its paw and swipes the air. Alex darts effortlessly, just managing to avoid its claws by a hair. I scramble to the side and onto my feet, taking up the rear in an effort to help him. My breathing has become laboured, each breath I drag in like ice clawing at my lungs. I know I need to act fast. This bear might only be a simulation, but we can still die in this game. It’d be game over for the both of us.
I move to the side, aiming my knife at the bear’s stomach. It’s impossible to get a clean shot with all the snow. Fuck!
“Alex?” I call out, hoping he’s still alive. I may not trust him, but there is safety to be found in numbers, just like right now.
I can’t see Alex with all the snow. I can only hear the bear roaring. I wipe my face and search through the snow the best I can. A blurry figure moves around the bear, and I know it’s Alex. At least he’s still alive. Gripping my dagger tighter, I go to attack the bear’s vulnerable side, but then it lets out a piercing roar before collapsing into the snow. Its blood oozes out from its skull, where Alex has thrust a machete, pinning it to the snow. As quickly as the polar bear died, it erupts into dust just like the tiger did.
“Did that… did that really just fucking happen?” I pant, staring in awe at where the beast had laid just seconds ago.
Alex picks his knife up and wipes the blood off in the snow. “Yeah, it happened. Let’s get going before any more nasty surprises jump out at us.”
Even with the wind and snow, I can hear how calm he is. How can he be so calm in this situation? Fake bear or not, that was freaking intense. He turns toward the cave and I follow him, hoping we don’t find another animal wanting to kill us.
By the time we reach the cave, the snow is so heavy that I can barely feel my fingers. We both run inside and pause to shake all the snow off. I grip my pickaxe tightly in my numb hand and look around the deep cave riddled in dampness. There is a dim light shining from the depths but it’s silent, so I doubt there is a creature in here.
Only one way to find out.
I freeze as Alex steps closer and lifts his hand, placing it on my cheek. For a second there’s a buzz from his touch that I can’t explain, and instantly I feel like I don’t want him to let go.
“If you think you have a chance of sleeping with me, think again,” I warn, narrowing my eyes into slits. “I don’t like an audience or fucking strangers.”
But he doesn’t move his hand away as he closes his eyes. Umm. Okay, maybe this guy is crazier than I thought.
His lips twitch in amusement before he starts softly saying words I don’t recognise or understand. Slowly, a hot glow spreads from my cheek and rapid
ly fills my body, making me feel warm. I lift my hand to see my skin is glowing with a soft blue hue.
“Light magic. How the fuck can you do that?” I demand, stepping away from him. He doesn’t explain himself as he starts to glow the same as me, and he heads into the cave. Gritting my teeth, I jog to catch up to him and swing my pickaxe under his neck once more. “Tell me how!”
“I won’t answer you if any answer I give is going to be a lie,” he calmly replies, like he doesn’t have something sharp pressed against his neck; like I’m a normal girl and not an inmate who is accused of killing five men.
At this point, I don’t know which of us is crazy.
“Then don’t lie!”
He shakes his head, the blade sliding against his skin. “Kill me because this is an answer you cannot have,” he taunts, and I all but growl as I lower my pickaxe.
Crazy bastard. He must want me to kill him.
“If your answer puts my life in danger at any point, I’m going to chop off your precious jewels first,” I counter and swiftly turn around, heading into the cave with his laughter following me.
The cavern gets bigger the more we walk into it until we reach the middle, or near enough, and see where the light is coming from. The centre of the mountain is a long open pillar of ice, stretching from the tip of the mountain and right down to the bottom I suspect. Light bounces off the ice, illuminating every inch of the cave, but it’s still pretty dark in places. The ice is harsh, jagged in many places and I wonder if at one point this was a waterfall. I inch closer to the edge, looking down and seeing the ropes on the other side. There must have been a bridge at some point as two long ropes hang down the ice. It’s weirdly mesmerising.
“We should see how long the rope is and head down. The pickaxes will help us get through the ice there,” he suggests like the threat of me killing him is completely forgotten.
“It’s too dangerous,” I reply.
“And the only way. We will die in the snowstorm.” He states, heading around the ice. Kneeling on the edge, he starts pulling on the rope.
