I gazed in the mirror, barely recognizing my reflection.
I wore an intricate light blue gown, with gold streaks running down the bottom half. The material shimmered, as if woven by magic. The top half was a mixture of light blue, gold, and cut-out sections that revealed far more of my skin than I was used to.
It was more scandalous than anything anyone wore on Avalon, and it seemed out of place for first thing in the morning. But Bryan assured me that he knew what he was doing. I trusted him, so I let him continue to do his thing.
He’d wound my hair up in strips of cloth last night, and when he removed the cloth, my hair tumbled down my back in perfect curls. Since I was chosen by a god to play in the Faerie Games, I now had higher status than a half-blood and was allowed to wear my hair accordingly. Bryan had instructed me only to wear my hair up during combat. I was to keep it down at all other times, to show my newly acquired place in Otherworld society.
He completed the outfit with a delicate golden headpiece that dropped down along my forehead, golden arm cuffs of swirling vines, and golden ear cuffs that gave my ears the illusion of being pointed at the edges like a full fae. The ear cuffs symbolized that even though I wasn’t born a full fae, I now had the rank and privileges of one.
The entire outfit, combined with my sparkling wings, made me look strong, confident, and powerful.
I looked ready for the Faerie Games.
If only I felt as ready as I looked.
“Perfect,” Bryan said, stepping backward to admire his handiwork. “Now, remember, I’ll be watching your every move from the orb broadcasts and sending you outfits appropriate for whatever situation you find yourself in. All outfits will be approved by the council and delivered straight to your wardrobe.”
He’d already explained why the outfits had to be approved by the council—so they could make sure he wasn’t sending any notes in the pockets that would give me an advantage in the Games. Because once the other chosen players and I stepped into Vesta’s Villa, we’d be cut off from the outside world. Every move we made in the Games was to be our own and not influenced by anyone on the outside.
“Yes.” I nodded, feeling like I was looking at someone else getting ready instead of myself. I felt strangely numb inside. Like the fact that I was being sent to compete in a twisted game to the death still hadn’t set in. “I know.”
He put shimmery gold eye shadow on my lids in the simple style he’d taught me how to do myself. I was far from an expert with applying makeup, but it didn’t matter much in the Otherworld. Makeup here was only for decoration and self-expression. The magic in our wings enhanced our features in the way humans strived for with makeup and cosmetic surgery on Earth. The fae looked eerily perfect at all times. It was like seeing someone through a filtered phone lens.
“Selena Pearce, chosen champion of Jupiter,” Bryan addressed me by my official title. His eyes were soft, and he looked down at me with a mix of pride and worry. “You’re beautiful, both inside and out. I’m honored to have had the opportunity to help your natural beauty shine.”
“Don’t talk like that,” I said.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re sending me to my death.”
He stood straighter and took my hands in his. “You’re Prince Devyn’s daughter, and you’ve been gifted magic from Jupiter—magic I believe you’ve only just begun tapping into,” he said, each word searing itself into my soul. “Jupiter chose you for a reason. Something tells me that big things are coming in your future. And to get to that future, you’re going to win the Games. So let’s get you out there so you can show them what you’re made of.”
31
Selena
I rode in the flying carriage with Bryan, Finn, Nessa, and Prince Devyn toward the northeast of the country, where Vesta’s Villa was located. The carriage magically expanded to make room for the five of us. But we rode there in total silence.
Devyn refused to talk to me, apparently because he didn’t want to change my current future. And with him silent, the others followed suit. Even Bryan—who was normally as chatty as ever—didn’t say a word.
So I stared out the window and ran through the lessons Bryan and Finn had taught me. There were three main things I needed to do to survive the Faerie Games:
Outwit.
Outfight.
Outlive.
I needed to play a good social game. I needed to fight and defend myself if—and only if—it was necessary. Most importantly, I needed to live.
I could do this. I had to do this. At least, I needed to stay alive until my parents found me and took me home.
Before I knew it, the winged horses started our descent, approaching a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere. It looked similar to the hill with the Stone of Destiny, but there was no stone in sight on this hill.
Here, there were eleven golden chariots, each with a magnificent horse at its head. And apparently Prince Devyn liked to make an entrance, because only one chariot was still empty. Mine.
A chosen half-blood stood on each chariot. Of course, my eyes first went to Julian, who stood strong with his sharp, steel colored wings behind him. My heart tightened, as if it were being physically pulled toward him.
Julian turned around to look straight at my carriage at that exact moment, and I couldn’t help wondering if he felt the same pull toward me as I did to him. His eyes found mine through the window, and I stopped breathing, trapped in his gaze. He looked just as mesmerized by the sight of me as he had that night back in LA. I was sure I was looking back at him the same way.
But then he turned back around, and I wondered if the moment had really happened at all.
My hand automatically went to my right hip, where my birthmark was covered by my dress. I moved it away the moment I realized what I was doing.
Bryan cleared his throat, and my cheeks heated as I looked to him. “Remember one of the most important rules of the Game, Princess,” he said, sounding way more cunning now that we were out in the field. “Don’t fall in love with any of the other players, no matter how alluring they might be. Couples make the strongest alliances, and because of that, the other players fear them. They always get targeted early on. And even if they make it far, it can never end well, since only one player can win.”
It wasn’t an actual rule of the Games. But it was one of the rules Bryan had given me to help me win.
“I know,” I said, although as I looked at Julian again, my heart hurt with the knowledge that if I was going to win, he and all the other chosen champions would have to die.
But I shook the thought away. Because my parents would get here and save me—and maybe the other players, too—before that could happen. They had to.
The Faerie Games were sick and twisted, and they went against everything Avalon believed in. Once my parents learned about what was going on here, they’d have the Nephilim army put an end to it once and for all.
The Nephilim army could be in the Otherworld right now, preparing to attack.
But they weren’t here yet. And so, I got out of the carriage to head toward the empty chariot waiting for me.
Prince Devyn took my arm in his and led me there. “Good luck, Selena,” he said, quietly enough so only I could hear. “And remember—no matter what you’re faced with, always trust yourself and your instincts. They’ll rarely steer you wrong.”
It was the most he’d said to me in the past three days. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, either. So as I took my spot on the chariot, I replayed his words in my mind.
Trust myself and my instincts.
Devyn had said those exact words for a reason. Whatever that reason was, it was sure to be important. Perhaps he was even saying that trusting my instincts was the key to winning the Games.
He was gone before I had a chance to ask, rejoining Nessa, Bryan, and Finn at the carriage. When I looked back at them, Finn gave me a single nod. Almost as if he were saying, “You’ve got this.”
Suddenly
, the sky exploded with a loud boom. All eyes immediately went up, where in a burst of light, Bacchus appeared in his horse-drawn chariot like he had before the Nomination Ceremony.
The glowing orbs dispersed out of his scepter, scattering around the area. One of them zoomed toward me, until it was buzzing about two feet away from my face. All the other chosen champions had an orb buzzing around them, too.
Bacchus settled down to the ground facing the row of us, although he didn’t get off his chariot. “Good morning, Champions!” He grinned for the orb closest to him and let his eyes roam along the lineup of all of us. “You all look incredible. I love seeing the transformations after half-bloods get chosen for the Games. It shows what a true privilege it is to be chosen by the gods!” He grinned again, and the trainers and royal faeries that were representing us clapped from where they stood next to their carriages.
I glared at Bacchus, sure my expression was stone cold. Because even though Jupiter had given me magic, playing in the Faerie Games wasn’t a privilege. Not when it resulted in all but one of us ending up dead.
But none of the other players looked as distressed as I felt. There was something else in their eyes.
Determination. Resolve. Ambition.
All eleven of us intended to win.
“I’m sure you’re excited to step foot in Vesta’s Villa,” Bacchus continued once the clapping died down. “But first, we must show you off to the fae that journeyed here today from all across the citadel to see you in person. They’re waiting along the road that leads to Vesta’s Villa. So follow me, and let’s give them a parade to remember!”
32
Selena
The first person in the line—Octavia, who’d been chosen by Neptune—gripped the reins of her horse and followed Bacchus. She stood strong and proud, her long dark hair flying behind her as she set off.
After her, each player followed in order down the line. I was at the end, which made me last.
A purposeful move of Prince Devyn’s.
I held tightly onto the reins as Bacchus led us around a curve. Once we came around it, the road straightened, the sides of it packed with faeries. Their colorful clothes were woven with gold and studded with jewels, their wings shimmering in the sunlight.
They broke out into cheers of approval when they saw us.
The orbs flew over the crowd to get a better view of the scene. The sides of the road were roped off, but the fae in the front reached forward as we passed, as if we were royalty. There were even kids in the audience, clinging onto their parents’ hands and staring up at us in admiration.
They were all so happy, so excited. But didn’t they realize they were sending all but one of us to a death sentence? Didn’t they care?
No, I thought, recalling what Bryan had told me when I’d asked him the exact same thing during training. The fae believed that because we’d been chosen by the gods, there was a special place in the Underworld reserved just for us. Many even believed that once we died and crossed into the Underworld, we’d become gods ourselves.
In their minds, they weren’t sending us to our deaths. They were sending us to a wonderful future.
The names of all the chosen champions who had crossed over to the Underworld were engraved on golden leaves inside the holiest temple in the capital city, so those of us who had fallen could be worshipped alongside the gods for the rest of time. That was why they called us all champions, even though only one of us could win the Games each year.
Because to the fae, we were all winners.
It was ludicrous. I believed in the Beyond—or the Underworld, as they called it—as much as all supernaturals. But I had zero intention of going there before it was my time.
No way was my time going to happen now, when I was only sixteen years old. And my death sure as hell wasn’t going to happen for the sake of entertaining the faeries and the gods.
I wanted to return home to Avalon and use my new magic for good.
If that meant doing what I needed to do to win the Faerie Games, then so be it. And that was only if the Nephilim army didn’t find and save me first.
I must have been lost in thought, because before I knew it, we crested over a hill and Vesta’s Villa came into view.
With everyone calling it a “villa,” I’d been under the impression that the house would be modest in size.
How wrong I was.
Because it was a palace. An imposing, stone palace with vines and flowers wrapped around it that made it look almost like a part of nature. The main building in the center was three stories tall. Symmetrical wings jutted out of both sides, each decorated with columns and statues of the Roman gods.
The crowd parted at the gates, and Bacchus led the way to the bottom of a grand staircase that led up to the double door entrance of the villa. He stopped and turned around, watching as our horses led our chariots in a semicircle facing out toward the crowd. There was a fountain in the center of the drive, right in front of where Bacchus stood. Although the god was so tall that it didn’t affect his view of the crowd.
Bacchus raised his scepter and shot two bursts of gold magic up into the sky—one to the right, and one to the left. They were giant orbs, and they showed a magnified version of Bacchus standing in front of the villa. Then the images panned around, showing each of us on our chariots facing the crowd.
The orbs were giant magical screens, so the fae in the back would be able to see what was happening. Small orbs still floated around us, and I assumed they were recording us and magically transmitting the recordings to be shown on the larger orbs. They were transmitting to everyone in the Otherworld, too.
Chills ran up my arms as the reality of being watched all the time set in.
But Bryan had prepared me for this. With the orbs watching our every move, I wasn’t supposed to say or do anything that might anger the faeries or the gods. If I did, they’d have it out for me, and I’d risk them creating competitions that purposefully weren’t in my favor.
“The chosen champions are about to enter Vesta’s Villa!” Bacchus said, his voice amplified by the orbs. “But before they do, they’ll give us a taste of the magic the gods have gifted them with. We’ll go in order of their arrival. Which means Octavia, chosen champion of Neptune—you’re up first!” He turned to Octavia and shot her a megawatt grin that was purely meant for the cameras. “Come stand next to me and give the audience a demonstration of your magic!”
33
Selena
Octavia dropped the reins of her horse, stepped out of her chariot, and walked to stand next to Bacchus.
She was only half the size of the giant god, but she held herself in a manner that made me think she could command any room she entered. She wore a stunning deep blue gown that matched her eyes and wings. But despite being dressed up, her expression was fierce and dangerous, like a warrior.
Although that changed a second later, as if she was just remembering not to look like a threat in front of us.
“May I please have some music?” she asked Bacchus sweetly, batting her eyelids as she spoke.
“Of course.” He returned her smile and snapped his fingers. There was a burst of light, and then a black and gold instrument appeared out of thin air and floated into his hand. It looked like a mix between a guitar and a harp, and it was huge—clearly meant to be played by a god. “This harp lute was crafted by Apollo,” he said proudly, propping his scepter against the chariot so he could hold the instrument with both hands. “Do you have a specific song you want to request?”
Octavia gave him another sweet smile. “Just play something pretty.”
“A pretty song for a beautiful girl,” he said. “It’ll be my pleasure.”
But before he could start to play, a girl with long blond hair a few shades darker than mine hopped off her chariot and hurried toward the two of them.
The orbs zoomed in on her, as if asking the question on all of our minds—what was she doing?
“Please excuse me,” sh
e said, smiling up at Bacchus and giving him a small curtsy. She wore a teal, Regency style dress that was stunning against her bright yellow wings. “But may I play and sing a song for Octavia? This way, the two of us can demonstrate our gifts at the same time.” She gave Octavia a friendly smile, seeming to hope the two of them would become fast friends.
Octavia’s lips were set in a firm line, and she glared at the yellow-winged girl in annoyance.
Someone didn’t like her spotlight being stolen.
The yellow-winged girl took a step back and lowered her gaze from Octavia’s, as if just now realizing her mistake. But the offer had already been made. Turning back now would make her look scared and weak. An easy target in the Faerie Games.
All she could do was wait for Bacchus to make his decision.
“What a wonderful idea!” Bacchus grinned, looking back and forth between the girls in amusement. “It’s fitting that Antonia, the chosen champion of Apollo, should play this unique instrument, handcrafted by her patron god.” From the way he looked at the cameras as he said Antonia’s name, he was clearly saying her name for the audience’s sake, so they’d know who she was. “Here you go, Antonia.” He held a hand up and floated the harp lute toward her. It got smaller as it moved, shifting from an instrument meant to be played by a god into one meant to be played by a fae. “I look forward to seeing—and hearing—both of you demonstrating your magic. It’s so nice to see friendships forming between this year’s champions already.”
Antonia sat on the steps and held the harp lute expertly in her hands. She looked to Octavia for a cue to begin.
Octavia remained laser focused on the crowd ahead, her ocean blue eyes storming with anger. The friendliness she’d faked while speaking to Bacchus was gone.
Apparently realizing that Octavia wasn’t going to acknowledge her, Antonia took a deep breath and looked out to the crowd. “This is called ‘The Last Rose of Summer,’” she said softly, her voice light and musical.
The Faerie Games (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 1) Page 10
