by Lan Chan
In a pound-for-pound fight, Max and Kai were pretty evenly matched. But Kai had the ability to teleport and he could fly.
“If this changes anything for you,” Jacqueline asked the contestants, “now would be the time to withdraw.” Nobody moved an inch. Even if they had an issue, there was no room for cowardice. Not with the whole community watching. Jacqueline nodded.
Tiberius glided across the stage. He held a small wooden jewellery box in his hands. Headmistress Carmichael joined him.
“It has been a tradition of the Unity Games to award the winning contestant with a series of prizes,” Tiberius said. “The first is a favour from the Council. The second is a monetary prize. This year, as it is a special year, the Nephilim Council have deemed it worthwhile to add an additional prize.”
With much smug glee, he opened up the box. The mirrors set up on the stage amplified the image as the lid opened. Everything around me stood still.
Gabriel’s Key. The ring didn’t appear any more remarkable than those cheap mood rings from a dollar store. But it had the power to change everything for me.
I jumped to my feet and walked to the stage.
43
Matilda grabbed the back of my shirt. “What are you doing?” she hissed. A murmur of pure anticipation ran through the crowd.
I turned to Declan and Nora. “I want back into the Games,” I told them. My mind latched on to that last day with Kai when I had asked him to take me home and he refused. The ring would solve all of those problems.
Nora’s eyes bugged out. “But...”
I was already halfway to the stage. Somebody trailed behind me. A pair of guards blocked my way. “Move!” I ordered. They planted themselves where they stood.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Tiberius called out. Thousands of eyes were boring into my back. Tens of thousands more were watching me from the comfort of their homes. Nanna was probably screaming at me to sit the hell down. Not going to happen this time.
“I want to compete,” I shouted back at Tiberius.
He stood proud at the top of the stage. I was down in the gallows with an increasing number of guards appearing around me. Story of my life.
“You withdrew,” Headmistress Carmichael said.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, she didn’t,” Declan said.
The Pantheon head was about to go another round of he-said, she-said when Jacqueline cut her off. “Somebody bring out the contract.”
A little ball of purple light shot across the stage. The purple nymph glided to the stop next to Jacqueline. I did everything in my power to avoid looking at Kai. He was doing everything in his power to pretend I didn’t exist. Fine. Perfect.
Jacqueline and the heads went through the contract. The purple nymph gave me a sharp-toothed grin. I could tell by the glint in her eye that she was pissed at me. Sophie told me the Grove had sustained some damage during the invasion of the Academies, but for the most part, the residue of my magic had kept it safe.
I knew they didn’t have a leg to stand on when Headmistress Carmichael huffed. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “She’s not even an Academy student anymore!”
“Actually,” Giselle said, “she’s still a part of Terran Academy. So she qualifies. Unless you don’t consider Terran on par with your institutions.” She gave them all a dead-eyed glare. Her body flickered in and out of reality. A collective hush fell over the crowd. The hairs on my arms stood on end. They still feared her. As well they should.
“She’s been sealed,” Tiberius said. “She wouldn’t stand a chance with the other contestants.”
“Why don’t you allow her to decide that?” a baritone voice said from the edge of the stage. I felt a trickle of a breeze whisper across my cheek. The games were hosted by the Academies, but the trials themselves were devised by members of the elite guards that made up the supernatural world. I didn’t love the Fae I went to school with, or the ones on the Council, but they were a different species altogether from the guards of the Iron Court.
The man in front of me wasn’t in his battle armour, but there was something hypnotic about him that instilled confidence. His golden hair hung down his back. A section of it was tied back and braided in the Fae fashion. A circlet of silver adorned the crown of his head. He wore a simple forest-green tunic of their race. On anyone else the whole get-up would have appeared ridiculous. On him, it fit. I had a feeling it didn’t matter what he wore. You’d be dead before you even took it in.
I swallowed hard when he turned his attention to me. Light blue eyes flashed. “You understand the consequences of your decision?” There was no ridicule in his voice.
“Yes,” I said.
“Then let her compete.”
“But, my lord, Angus,” Tiberius started to say.
Angus turned his back and stepped behind the stage where the rest of the elite guard were collected. I took them all in. One guard from each of the supernatural factions, para-humans included. All of them impassive. What got me was that I didn’t feel like they were looking down on me because I was human.
Why would they? Azrael said in my mind. Every one of them is battle-tested. They don’t live their lives by rule of the Council. Something inside me slotted into place. I had always assumed that the elite guards would be the same as the Academies. That I would constantly have to prove that I wasn’t a monster. Maybe there was hope for me.
“Lex,” Jacqueline said. She beckoned me up to the stage. Declan and Giselle melted back into the background.
As I ascended the steps to the stage, the crowd went wild. I knew most of them were cheering because I was throwing myself at the mercy of the supernaturals. I didn’t care. If I had a chance to master opening and closing a portal, then I might not have to be trapped by the seal forever.
Jacqueline cleared her throat. The crowd quietened. “Well,” she said. “That was an interesting turn of events.” As she surveyed the contestants, I did the same.
Kai, Max, Bradley, and Drake, the captain of Ruby House, had been chosen to represent Bloodline. I bit my lip thinking that if Desi were still alive, she would be up here instead of one of the boys.
Chanelle, Barbara, and the two Fae from Pantheon Academy looked like they had bit into a lemon. All the mages from Dominion Academy appeared to be cursing the no-powers rule.
Andrei stood there looking pleased with himself. His Academy teammates were made up of another vampire and two necromancers. They stood around looking both bored and menacing. I couldn’t help sizing up the other vampire, a female, and comparing her to Andrei. She wasn’t as tall but her skin glowed silver despite the sunlight.
They both wore light amulets to keep the sun from burning them to a crisp. Her skin was smooth, her hazel eyes alert. She had a good amount of toned muscle on her. Vampires didn’t tend to be bulky, but Andrei was just gaunt.
Then there was me. If you looked up foolish in the dictionary, my mug would be stamped right there. Everyone else had dressed for the games. Thank goodness I lived in jeans and sneakers. The problem was that these jeans weren’t that great to run in. And since I had no powers, running was probably going to be the number one trick in my arsenal.
“We’re at an uneven number of contestants,” Jacqueline commented. The elite guards conferred. While they did that, we were led forward to the front of the stage where the mage who had stamped my hand during my entrance trials now stood.
“Single file,” she said. I was shunted to the back of the line. Naturally. One by one she planted yet another emblem on the back of our hands. This time it was a circular image with a shattered heart inside of it. Not ominous at all. When it was my turn, she looked down at me curiously.
“I knew you would be trouble.” My breath hitched as she placed her palm on the back of my hand. Warmth shot up my arm. From what I gathered, the brands would allow the MirrorNet to track us in the arena. It blazed in a soft pink glow that reminded me of Sophie’s magic, o
nly paler. I arched a brow.
“Not blue this time?”
Her lips tipped up just the slightest bit. “Not everything is about you.”
When she was done, Jacqueline re-iterated the rules. “Once you enter the arena, your only way out is to forfeit the games, if you suffer a critical hit by trial or by another contestant, or if you win.”
The crowd went nuts. I didn’t want to think about how many of them were hoping I would be ejected by the first two means. I kept my gaze locked on where the portal to the arena was beginning to manifest. It started as a tiny speck and then grew in size by the second. Soon it was a gaping mouth the size of a doorway. On the other side, I heard the sound of water lapping. Urgh. Was I already having second thoughts?
“The games are predicated on an even number of contestants,” Jacqueline said. “This first trial is to return us back to that state.”
Once upon a time, I would have withered against the glares of the other contestants. Today I just stood there, shoulders back, eyes forward. This was war and there was no room for anything but conviction.
“Let the first trial begin,” Jacqueline said.
Kai and Max both jumped through the portal at the same time. They started a stampede as the others rushed to get through. I was about to step forward when Jacqueline grabbed my arm and held me back.
“Just a second,” she said.
“But I’m going to –”
There was a shocked rabble in the crowd. “Where did she go?” I heard Diana shout. Then another uproar as Charles snarled. In their seats, both Sophie and Cassie had vanished into thin air.
I stood there like a mannequin until somebody touched my shoulder. I turned around to come face to face with a First Order mage. I had a second to register his lips moving silently as he chanted. He reached out with a finger and touched my forehead.
A blast of cold air hit me. It ripped me from where I stood and blew me backwards. Rather than hit the back of the stage, I sailed through the Ley dimension. Sparks of every colour whizzed past. I was there for a mere moment and then the sky opened up again. Grey storm clouds loomed over me, blocking out the direct light of the sun.
I crash-landed on a circular platform with a two-metre diameter. There was no railing of any sort. My back hit the metal pole that held the platform erect. It was smooth and extended about three metres above the platform. I fell to my knees and yelped as my palm touched the warm metal. What the heck was this?
We were on a beach. The platforms stood inside a gaping whirlpool. Around us, the ocean churned in its usual gruesome way. Why was it so hot?
I scrambled to look over the edge. Never look down. Wasn’t that the first rule?
I almost upchucked at the drop that showed jagged rocks sticking just above an ocean of lava. It crashed against the rocks, sending up waves of heat. We were trapped between the opposing forces of fire and water. They fought against each other. Every drop of water that crested over the lip of the whirlpool immediately turned into steam. That steam became a moist fog that made it difficult to breathe or see properly.
Around me, there were sixteen other identical poles. They were spread out in a circular pattern within the enormous crater. Standing on every platform was a person.
“Lex!” Sophie shouted. She stood there with huge eyes, her back pressed against the pole of her platform. Something heavy sank to the bottom of my gut. If Sophie was here then…
“Cassie!” I screamed. A terrified whimper was my answer. I turned around on my hands and knees and found her a couple of platforms away. She was sitting with her back against the pole like Sophie. Her head was braced between her knees.
The lava roared below us. A gong sounded. Above me, an orb appeared on the tip of the pole. It glowed a metallic grey synonymous with the power of an undead magic user.
Nooo. It couldn’t be.
Movement on the beach drew my attention. The other contestants came into view along the ridge of trees that led to the foreshore. Each of them had an amulet around their necks. The colours of their amulets corresponded to the orb on each pole. My eyes ran along the beach until I hit on an amulet with my corresponding colour. Andrei waved at me. The grey amulet around his neck amplified the sickly pallor of his skin. This just wasn’t happening.
I made a rude gesture at him. His grin widened.
“Contestants,” Angus’s disembodied voice rang out. “You deemed these individuals to be the most important to you. Go and get them.”
This was someone’s idea of a sick joke. Andrei didn’t care about me. Then again, his one mission in life was to piss Kai off. He’d done this on purpose.
The gong sounded again. Every single one of them started running towards us.
44
Andrei weaved between the other contestants. They were all halfway down the beach when the first land mine went off. It catapulted the mage who stepped on it five metres into the air. I heard a shrill scream around me from a middle-aged woman. She was probably the mage’s mother.
I sucked in a breath as the mage landed. Thankfully, the elite guards weren’t homicidal. The mage lay still for a few seconds before his body dissolved. He reappeared at the top of the beach where they had all started. All the contestants came to a screeching halt. The beach was booby-trapped. If they hit a mine they’d be back where they started. Getting to us was going to be a problem.
All of that was pushed to the side as a golden arrow sailed through the air in front of my face. It smacked into the pole of the person to my right.
Shouts peppered the air along with the telltale whoosh of more arrows.
Somebody on the beach roared. I didn’t have time to see what had set Max off because the arrows were coming in thick and fast. Explosions went off on the beach.
I flattened myself to the platform and covered my head. That was all well and good except it would still make me a target. An arrow smacked into the pole just above my head. The thing was longer than my leg. It went clear through to the other side of the pole.
Son of a bitch! I scrambled around only to be assaulted with another arrow right where my foot had been. People screamed. I was well aware that if I was hit, it would be a slow and painful death by bleeding out or falling into the lava below. The steam from the crash of lava and water made the platforms difficult to cling to.
Surely this was just a ruse. Almost as though they were testing my theory, a soul-shattering cry pierced my ears. I rolled to the left and found the owner. She was a girl about my age. Her long straight black hair swayed against the breeze. Her face had gone whiter than a ghost. She clutched at her abdomen where a red bloom had appeared around the shaft of a golden arrow. Blood trickled over her lips. Mother of God!
They weren’t playing around.
I crouched to my knees and closed my eyes. There were more explosions on the beach. My eyes snapped open and locked onto Andrei. He stood rigid with sand coating his entire body. So he was one of the idiots who had been exploded. He still had his arms and legs, though, so that was something.
Despite my better judgement, I scanned the beach until I found Kai. Irritation made my jaw clamp. He was at the top of the beach. Chanelle lingered behind him. She tried to sidestep but he flung his arm out and stopped her. His face was etched in lines of contemplation. All around him, the other contestants were in various states of disarray. An arrow grazed my cheek. I squealed and made myself a pancake once more.
Sophie yelped. What scared me was that Cassie was deadly quiet. I peeled open my eyes and saw that her pole was littered with arrows. She scrambled on her hands and knees.
Sophie tried to draw a circle, but nothing was happening. It was no wonder none of the Fae or Nephilim on the platforms had flown away. They were serious when they said no powers.
I dropped into the Ley dimension. A blur of gold light spun past the left side of my head. I veered to the right. “Cassie! Down!”
She ducked the arrow that would have bit into her shoulder. A body thudded onto
my platform. I saw it as a ball of light green in my Ley sight. The flaring of colour was a warning. I swayed out of the grip of the Fae girl and smashed my elbow into her gut. She doubled over just as another streak of gold hurtled towards us. I pushed her out of the way just as the arrow burrowed into the metal pole.
Taking a leaf out of her book, I took a running start and leaped towards the closest platform. The woman who owned it was balled up with her hands covering her head. Ignoring her, I jumped again.
An arrow sailed past me, forcing me to turn mid-air. I lost my momentum. My legs pinwheeled. I lashed out with my arm and touched heated metal that was slick with moisture. My shout could have woken the dead.
I started to fall. Sophie latched on to my arm. She dropped to her knees and then onto her stomach. Hot pain slashed at my calf. I winced, unsure if it had been an arrow or lava that had gotten me.
My weight dragged Sophie forward. Both our palms were sweaty. She latched on to the sleeve of my top instead. Screams echoed in the air. I registered an onslaught of arrows and dragged my legs up to my chest. Two of them shot past below me.
I heard a muffled cry. Sophie’s arms twitched. Something thumped on the platform above her. The sun shone directly in my eyes. I couldn’t see the face of the person who appeared on the platform behind Sophie’s shoulders. I almost shrieked when they bent down and grabbed my other arm. Relief flooded through me when Cassie appeared next to Sophie.
“Now!” Cassie screamed. They pulled me up together. My feet had just touched on the platform when a surge of golden lights burst to the right.
I jumped and shoved both of them against the pole. The point of an arrow scratched my hip as it whizzed by. Pain sliced through me. Sophie hissed at the same time.
With my sight half in and half out of the Ley dimension, I saw everything in a cloud of dense colours.
