They must believe that Vita had the plague.
Idiots.
Bacchus’s chariot hovered above the center of the arena. He raised his scepter, and the audience quieted. “As you can see, we took some inspiration from the Minotaur for the final showdown,” he said. “A labyrinth! Except unlike a traditional labyrinth, once the champions enter this one, there will be no pathway out. The only way out is to be the last champion standing.”
The crowd roared with delight and toasted with their wine.
“The biggest threats they’ll face will be each other.” Bacchus smiled down at us wickedly. “But that’s all the information I feel like giving. They’ll discover what else awaits them once they’re inside. So now, let the first round of the final arena fight begin!”
41
Selena
The glass door of my box opened unceremoniously.
The ground looked harmless, so I took a careful step out, holding my breath and waiting for something to happen. A bomb to explode, or some other surprise. But there was no bomb, and nothing burst from the dirt to wrap its tentacles around my ankles. There was only silence. I could no longer hear the crowd, and when I looked up, I saw only the sky.
It was just me and the maze.
Something tickled my back, and I jumped and spun around, coming face to face with vines that must have grown out of the hedges. The tips of the vines pushed against me, pricking my skin and nudging me forward.
While they didn’t exactly hurt, they were irritating. So I did what they seemed to want and walked forward.
It didn’t take long before I reached a point where the path branched into two directions. The annoying pricking of the vines ceased, and they pulled back.
I looked one way, and then the other. Right or left? They both looked the same.
I needed to see the layout of the maze from above.
So I picked a random side—left—and ran forward. Once I had enough momentum, I jumped.
My head smacked into something hard, and I crashed to the ground. Pain reverberated up my legs because I hadn’t prepared myself for the fall.
What the hell? There definitely hadn’t been anything in my way when I’d jumped.
But when I looked up, there was a thick branch sticking out of the hedge. The branch moved back into the bush—like it was growing backward in super speed—and disappeared.
I could try again and shoot lightning up to get past the branch. But that would alert the others to my location. It was too early to risk doing that. I needed to get my bearings, and figure out what I was up against in the maze.
So I ran back the way I came. This time when I jumped, I had my hand above my head, ready to incinerate any branch that came out to block me.
The branch shot out further down than where the other one had, below my hand so it smacked into my forehead.
My butt crashed down onto the ground, and the world wobbled around me. I held my head in my hands for a few seconds to steady myself.
Trying to get a view from above wasn’t working, and I was wasting time. So I walked back to where I’d started—the point where the original path broke into two. I looked right and left. Maybe I was missing something that would give me a clue about the direction I should go.
But both paths were identical.
Suddenly, something whooshed behind me. I spun around just in time to see the hedges closing up, blocking the path that led to my glass box.
Great. If I wasn’t good with mazes to begin with, I definitely wouldn’t be good at one where the paths changed.
Looked like this was going to be up to chance.
No, I realized. Not chance.
The gods had designed this maze so I’d cross paths with whoever they wanted me to find first.
Fine by me.
If it was Felix, it wouldn’t be hard to defeat him. And if it was Octavia, I was ready to take her down.
“You can’t control me.” I looked straight into one of the orbs buzzing around me, speaking softly to make sure the others wouldn’t hear. “Only I can control my fate.”
It was time to do just that.
I’d learned in one of the many television shows I’d watched on Avalon that if you were in a maze and always chose the path on the right, you’d eventually find your way out. Even though there was no path out of this maze, it seemed as good of a technique as any.
So I turned right, and then right again, and again.
I hit a dead end.
I started to turn around. But something moved out of the corner of my eye. I turned back around and saw a sword emerging from the hedge. It floated about a half foot forward and came to a stop.
The blade was made of sky blue crystal. A matching gemstone was encrusted in the handle.
The sword was beautiful. And it was made for me.
I walked forward to take it. But then I stopped and lowered my arms back to my sides.
Is this a trick? Will something terrible happen if I grab the sword? Something that pretty and tempting rarely comes without a price.
I hated this labyrinth.
But then my lightning sparked in my palms—a reminder that it was there. Despite my skill in sword fighting, swords hadn’t helped me once in the Games. My magic was far more powerful than any other weapon I could yield.
The sword could have truly been made to help me. But was it worth risking it if it wasn’t?
No. The answer came to me quickly. All the power I needed to win a fight was inside of me.
I backed away from the sword, my eyes locked on it with every step.
I don’t need you.
I stepped out of the short path. The hedges on both sides of the entrance to the dead end grew inward, meeting in the middle and shutting completely.
I slowly moved my hand out to touch it, curious if the hedge would open again. Once I was about halfway through, thorns brushed against my palm. I yanked my hand back and examined it. The skin on my palm was fine, although from the sharpness of the thorns, I suspected it wouldn’t have been if I’d pushed my hand through any quicker.
Don’t fall into the bushes, I told myself. A ton of prickly thorns tearing through my skin might be more painful than a sword through the gut.
I continued forward, about to turn right at the next intersection. But something soft brushed around and between my ankles. I jumped back—making sure not to jump toward the hedges—and looked down.
A fluffy white cat with sharp topaz eyes sat down in front of me. It looked up at me and meowed, like it was asking me to pet it.
No way. No freaking way. It’ll probably bite off my finger.
I loved cats… but not ones that appeared out of nowhere in a labyrinth the gods had created in a game designed to kill me. However, the cat made no sudden moves. I could always shoot a bolt of lightning at it and incinerate it before it had a chance to do anything bad. But I couldn’t harm a potentially innocent animal. I doubted anything innocent awaited me in the labyrinth, but there was no way I was attacking the cat first.
Anyway, maybe it wasn’t there to kill me.
“Is there something you want to show me?” I asked the cat, speaking softly again to avoid being heard by Octavia or Felix.
It stood up, meowed, and turned into the right side of the path. It walked forward, its tail moving as if motioning for me to follow.
The cat was sent to me by the gods.
The gods wanted me to go right.
So I glared at one of the orbs, turned left, and picked up my pace.
I needed to stop getting distracted by shiny swords and sweet cats.
Because the longer I spent slowly exploring the maze, the more time Octavia and Felix had to find each other so they could gang up against me.
42
Selena
There were more shiny, sky blue weapons designed for me. There was an adorable Pomeranian puppy. There was a stunning group of gold and silver butterflies that landed on my arms and tried to get me to follow them. There
was a dead end with a garden of roses that smelled so sweet I was tempted to lie down in it and breathe in the heavenly aroma. There was even a platter of colorful bite sized cakes that made my stomach rumble just from looking at them.
I ignored it all and marched forward, continuing with the plan of always turning right—unless the creatures tried pulling me in another direction. Then I went against them.
I turned into another dead end, with another garden.
Felix was lying in the middle of this one. He’d pulled a bunch of roses toward his nose, smiling as he inhaled their sweet scent. A rose quartz sword was on the ground in front of the garden.
Lightning crackled in my palms, and a breeze blew against my face. It would only take one long, forceful bolt from my hands to kill him.
I raised my hands and gathered my magic.
Then, he turned his head and looked straight at me.
I waited for him to get up and grab his sword. It would be less of a burden on my conscience if I killed him while he was pointing a weapon at me.
But he just smiled and continued lying there, defenseless.
“Selena,” he drawled, his voice silky smooth. “Aren’t you going to go find Octavia?”
I stepped forward. “You know I could easily kill you right now,” I said.
“You could. But you won’t.”
I narrowed my eyes, not letting my guard down. Because Felix was fighting, in his unique way. With his words. He was trying to lure me into conversation. He was trying to distract me.
I spun around, ready for Octavia to jump out and attack. But there was no sign of her. And the hedge behind me closed, trapping Felix and me in the creepy fae garden.
“Get up,” I said, and surprisingly, he did.
Once he was standing, he opened one of his hands. Crumpled rose petals fell out and fluttered to the ground. “Smells delicious, doesn’t it?” he asked.
I stood there, saying nothing.
“I thought I’d lie there until you and Octavia finished duking it out,” he continued. “I still can. You know they want to see a fight—a real fight. If you try to leave, the hedge will probably open back up for you.”
He truly was a meek, pathetic little mouse. “You weren’t even going to try to find her?” I asked.
He looked baffled. “Why would I do that?”
“To help her,” I said. “You might not be much of a fighter, but I didn’t expect you to just…” I glanced at the garden behind him and the sword still at his feet, since I wasn’t sure what he was doing. Enjoying himself, from the look of it.
“She was already here.” He smirked. “I let her have some fun with me in these flowers. Let out some stress, if you will. Then I sent her back off to find you. Given your arrival here now, I guess she wasn’t successful.”
The sight of the crushed roses in the garden made me even more disgusted than it had before. “You’re a sad excuse for a man,” I said. “Lounging around here instead of trying to help the person you claim to love.”
“My presence would be more of a hindrance to her than a help.” He shrugged. “She’d be worried for me, which would take away her focus from trying to kill you.”
“Trying to turn your cowardice into selflessness.” My words were as sharp as steel. “Pathetic. Pick up your sword. At least try to fight me. Maybe the blade will be strong enough to deflect lightning.” I smiled as electricity danced around my fingertips, taunting him.
He glanced at the sword, but made no move to pick it up. “It’s a shame you’re immune to my powers.” He stepped over his sword and prowled toward me with a predatory gaze that he probably thought was seductive.
My magic lit up my hands and arms, stopping him before he got too close.
“You’re beautiful, Selena,” he continued, tilting his head and studying me. “We could have had fun together, you and I. We could still have fun together, here in these flowers. Let me give you some pleasure before your final fight. Just like I did for Octavia.”
He reached forward to touch my cheek, and I flinched back.
Enough was enough.
I pushed my lightning out of my palms and hit Felix in the chest, throwing him backward. He convulsed, his eyes bloodshot and wide, his body a bright lightbulb of electricity. I moved my hands higher, and the lightning moved with them, lifting him off the ground and pushing him further back until he hovered above the rose garden. His eyes rolled back in his head as he seized, and I threw more magic into the bolt, sending it into his heart.
Finally, he stilled.
But hurricane-force rage swirled within me. Rage at Felix, at Octavia, at Prince Devyn, at the gods, at the Games, and even at my parents, for never telling me the truth of what I was. I held onto the bolt, releasing more and more magic into it, holding Felix’s dead body up in the air as it shook and blackened.
“Stop!” someone called from behind me. “He’s dead. Please, just stop.”
I released the last of my lightning, and Felix’s charred body dropped into the garden. The flowers touching him turned black and disintegrated. His hair was gone, and his skin was so burned that it was impossible to tell it was him.
I turned around slowly. The hedge had re-opened the path, and Octavia stood in the entrance.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, her chest heaving as she tried and failed to hold them back.
I held her gaze, waiting for her to attack. If she did, that would be it. Attacking another champion in the arena after one of the three was dead was against the rules. She’d immediately be eliminated.
But even when she was inches away from hysteria, Octavia was smarter than that. A few long, deep breaths, and she regained control.
“I hate you,” she snarled, baring her teeth at me like she was a shifter. “And I’m glad I saw the end of what you did to him. How you attacked him even after he was dead. Because now, I’m more ready than ever to kill you.”
43
Selena
Everything around me blurred. The ground disappeared from under my feet, and I was floating in a void of nothingness. It was similar to how it felt when being teleported by a witch.
My vision cleared a few seconds later.
I was back inside the glass box. The door was closed, and I was staring out at the path lined with hedges.
I knew the gods were powerful. But did they just send me back in time?
My breaths came faster, the glass walls more confining than ever. I looked around in panic.
Felix’s family was gone from their box. Julian was gone from the Royal Box.
I hadn’t been sent back in time. Of course I hadn’t. Supernaturals were capable of a lot, but time travel was impossible.
Bacchus floated in his chariot in the center of the Coliseum. “Felix—the chosen champion of Venus—has been defeated!” he said, his voice booming through the arena. “His soul is on its way to Elysium, where he’ll be honored as a god for all eternity. May his crossing to the Underworld be a peaceful one!”
“May his crossing to the Underworld be a peaceful one!” the crowd said in unison.
Bacchus was solemn for a few seconds. Then, he grinned. “But the fun is only just beginning,” he said. “Who’s ready for the final fight of this year’s Faerie Games?”
The crowd erupted with excitement. Faerie fruit and colorful rose petals floated down from the canopied ceiling and into their waiting hands. Honey wine rained down, and the fae raised their glasses to catch it. It only stopped raining wine once their glasses were overflowing.
“As you know, this arena fight is different from the previous ones,” Bacchus continued. “Because the chosen champions of Neptune, Mars, and Jupiter will fight until only one of them is alive. And that champion will be the winner of this year’s Faerie Games!”
More applause. Glasses clinked together, and wine was chugged. Feet stomped so intensely that the ground shook.
“But this maze will be different than the previous one.” Bacchus pointed the pinecone tip of
his scepter downward. Purple magic came out of it with the force of a smoke machine, until my glass box was surrounded by it. All I saw was purple.
The mist lifted, and the green, flowery hedges no longer lined the path. They’d been replaced with twisted, gnarled branches wound so tightly together that they were as solid as walls. The path was narrower, darker, and more sinister. An eerie shiver ran up and down my spine at the thought of stepping foot inside of it.
The gods and the fae don’t want to see monsters kill the champions, Vejovis’s words from earlier echoed through my mind. They want to see the champions kill each other.
I couldn’t let the new surroundings affect me. The only true threat in that creepy maze was going to be Octavia.
“That’s better.” Bacchus looked mighty pleased with himself as he admired the maze. “Now, let the final fight begin!”
The glass door swung open. And just like last time, when I stepped onto the ground, the cheering crowd disappeared.
I didn’t waste time trying to jump to see an overview of the maze. I needed to be faster this time. So I ran down the first path, turned right, and then turned right again. On my third right, I reached a dead end.
An ocean blue, crystal key emerged from the twisted branches and floated at waist height before me. The same color as Octavia’s wings. It was slightly larger than my hands, and the top of it was decorated in curly spirals.
What does it mean?
I didn’t know. But Felix had taken his sword in the previous maze, and it hadn’t seemed to have done anything bad to him. Maybe I should take it? It was only a key. How could it harm me?
Plus, leaving without the key didn’t feel right.
I glanced up at where Prince Devyn sat stoically in the Royal Box. His eyes were fixed on me, but he made no attempt of motioning to give me a clue.
Trust yourself and your instincts. Do that, and you’ll have the best chance at winning the Games.
He’d said that to me when he’d told me he was nominating me for the Faerie Games. And right now, my instincts were telling me to take the key.
The Faerie Mates (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 3) Page 17
