The door creaked open, and Julian walked inside, followed by Felix. Felix shut the door as quickly as possible behind him.
I sat straighter. Since when are Julian and Felix friends?
“Hi, guys.” I looked back and forth between them, trying to hide my confusion. “What’s going on?”
“Felix came to me while we were both in the bathhouse,” Julian said. “He has an interesting proposition he wants to make.”
I turned my focus to Felix, saying nothing as I waited for him to speak.
“I’m the one who saw you practicing last night,” Felix cut straight to the chase. “Or should I say, I saw the two of you practicing.” He looked pointedly at Julian, and then back at me.
“You’re Pierce’s source,” I said.
He nodded, although I already knew it was true.
“Why’d you do it?” I stood and looked at him head on, wanting us to be closer to the same level. Felix was taller than me, but it was better than nothing. “If you were going to rat me out to Pierce, why not take Julian down with me?”
“Because now Pierce thinks I’m his little lapdog.” Felix sneered. “But it was never his trust I wanted to build. It was yours.” He looked away from me to glance at Julian, and then at Cassia. His gaze lingered on hers for a moment too long, and her porcelain cheeks turned pink. “All of yours.”
I so badly wanted to roll my eyes and walk out on him. But earlier at dinner, I’d said I was open to listening. Sticking to my word was important. So I needed to at least hear him out. What did I have to lose?
Julian gave me a single nod, like he was proud of me for thinking before reacting. My heart swelled, and I hated myself for it.
But Felix was the one I was concerned with right now. Not Julian. And so, I turned my attention back to him.
“Ratting me out was a terrible way to try earning my trust,” I said. “But get talking.”
“I have no official alliances in the Games.” Felix spoke quickly, like he knew my patience was wearing thin. “The other guys—and probably Antonia, too—will send me to the arena without thinking twice if they get Emperor of the Villa.”
“Even Pierce?” I asked.
“Maybe not yet,” he said. “But at the end of the day, Pierce’s allegiance is with Emmet and the others.”
I pursed my lips, since that much was obvious given the comfortable way Pierce and Emmet interacted with each other. They were a duo.
Which meant they needed to be broken up, quickly.
“So you want an alliance with us,” I guessed.
“You got it.”
Cassia stood up from the couch and brought her hair around her shoulders. “It’s a good idea,” she said, staring at Felix with her wide, doe-like eyes. “Especially since we’ll need someone to replace Bridget.”
I gave her a sharp look. “We don’t know for sure what will happen in the arena tomorrow.”
She bit her lip, like she wanted to say something but was holding back.
Felix actually had the nerve to chuckle. “You and Julian were practicing together last night,” he said. “You’re clearly planning to work together to take out Bridget.”
My chest panged, and I said nothing. The truth of it was too terrible to speak out loud.
“What does Bridget have to say about all of this?” Felix continued in that annoyingly mocking way of his.
“Nothing,” I said. “She’s avoided talking to us all week.”
“So she knows.”
I stiffened and pressed my lips together. Because one of Bridget’s gifts was prophecy. Of course she knew. And the fact that she was avoiding us terrified me.
What does she have planned?
“Let’s say you’re right that Selena and I are working together.” Julian’s steely gaze was fixed on Felix. “What do you have to offer us?”
Felix’s lips curved up into a small smile. “Perhaps we should sit down?” He motioned to the couches.
“No,” I said. “I prefer to remain standing.”
“All right, then.” He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. “The three of you have strong magic,” he started. “But your strength is mostly physical. What I offer the team is something different—something the three of you need. Mental magic. The ability to coax other players to do my bidding.”
“Only the females,” I was quick to retort.
“Most of them,” he corrected, and I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to will him into silence about my immunity to his magic. “But yes. My magic works on all of the females who aren’t in our alliance.”
Julian looked at Felix with interest. “It doesn’t work on the ones in our alliance?” he asked.
I stared at Felix harder. Don’t tell him, I thought. Say nothing, and maybe you’ll gain a bit of my trust.
It was stupid, really. Because Julian wasn’t my soulmate.
But I still didn’t want him to know about my immunity to Felix’s magic.
“I never said that,” Felix said. “But I won’t use my magic against my allies. At least not until the four of us are the only ones left in the Games. If you take me up on my offer, of course.”
I relaxed slightly. That might not have been much, but it was a start.
Maybe Felix was worth teaming up with, after all. But there was one big catch.
“Do you think you can use your magic to help us take Octavia down?” I asked.
“I know I can.” He smirked. “I’ve spent every night with her in her suite this week. She’s in love with me already.”
“And you feel the same about her?” Cassia broke in, frowning.
Felix’s eyes softened as he gazed at Cassia. “Of course not,” he said, his voice calm and reassuring. “I wouldn’t be in here proposing an alliance to the three of you if I were.”
Cassia continued to gaze up at him, like she wanted it to be true, but also wasn’t sure if she should believe him. “So why spend so much time with her?” she asked.
“To make sure she didn’t send me to the arena this week,” he said. “And it worked.”
“It did,” I said, and while Cassia agreed as well, she didn’t look pleased. “So, you have Octavia under your control. Assuming you’re not in an alliance with her—”
“I’m not,” he said with so much force that I couldn’t help but think he was telling the truth. “Octavia might want to protect me in the Games, but I don’t intend to do the same for her.”
“Let’s say I believe you,” I said. “How exactly do you plan to use your influence over Octavia to help us take her out?”
“I’m glad you asked.” He smiled. “Because the next time one of the three of you wins Emperor of the Villa, I assume you’re going to send Octavia to the arena again.”
“That’s the plan,” Julian said.
“Good.” Felix’s expression turned more serious than it had since he’d first entered the room. “Because I want you to send me in there with her.”
“What?” I sputtered. “You can’t be serious.”
“We won’t do it.” Cassia crossed her arms, standing her ground. “At least, I won’t do it.”
Julian stepped forward, and all eyes went to him. “We can, and we will,” he said, and the orbs buzzed around him, eating up his every word. “And we’ll send someone much stronger than her in there with the two of them. Someone who isn’t in Octavia’s alliance. Cillian.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Felix said, turning his attention back to Cassia and me. “It’s sweet that the two of you want to protect me, it really is—”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I cut him off, scowling. “All I said was that your proposition is crazy.”
“It’s not crazy,” he said. “It benefits me long term.”
“How so?”
“Because Octavia won’t fight me,” he said confidently. “Which means she’ll fight Cillian. Cillian’s stronger than Octavia, and he won’t take kindly to her attacking him. They’ll fight, Cillian will win, and boo
m. Octavia’s taken care of, I’ll earn protection and trust from the three of you, and we’ll plow our way straight to the final four.”
“So you’re offering yourself as a pawn.”
“I am,” he said. “In return for your loyalty for the rest of the Games.”
He exuberated excitement, and I glanced at Julian and Cassia. Cassia was hanging onto Felix’s every word. Julian was much harder to read.
“It’s a solid offer,” Julian finally said. “If we accept, do you promise to stop using your magic on Selena and Cassia?”
“Yes,” Felix said. “I promise.”
Julian nodded, apparently satisfied, and turned to me. “What do you think?” he asked.
The three of them watched me expectantly. I couldn’t believe this. If someone had told me last week that I’d be considering an alliance with Felix, I would have thought they were nuts.
I also wouldn’t have thought that we’d be forced to turn on Bridget so soon. But here we were. And I needed to do whatever was necessary to keep myself, Julian, and Cassia alive until the Nephilim army found its way into the Otherworld and put an end to this.
“To the final four,” I said, putting my hand in the center of our circle.
“To the final four,” Felix said, adding his hand into the center. He was followed by Julian and Cassia.
And just like that, our new alliance was formed.
35
Torrence
I’d mentally prepared myself for a drawn-out, multi-course meal.
Luckily, it was only three courses. A soup, a giant steak, and a caramel flan for dessert.
We were served by scantily clad human women, and from their sickly pale complexions, they clearly also served as snacks for the vampires of the Tower. I wished I could do something to help them, but overthrowing the entire kingdom of the Tower unfortunately wasn’t on our agenda today.
The steak was as delicious as King Devin had claimed it would be. And after having not eaten for over twenty-four hours, we devoured every last bite of it.
It was easy to remember the Tower’s rule that women should only speak when spoken to when I was busy eating such mouth-watering food.
The wine was delicious as well, although we made sure to only drink enough to be polite. We needed our heads clear for the discussion we were about to have with the king.
King Devin made polite conversation throughout the meal, mainly with Thomas. He rarely directed any questions toward me or Sage, and Reed wasn’t a talkative guy. So we all ended up hearing about how Thomas and Sage had met when Sage was young, and weren’t reunited until many years later. Sage even blushed a few times, sharing a few knowing glances with Thomas as he recounted the story about how they’d been torn apart multiple times, but love ended up winning in the end.
“I seem to have taken over the conversation with all this prattle,” Thomas said after describing his and Sage’s wedding. “What about you? Do you still visit the faerie princess you met at the crossroads?”
The king’s eyes darkened, and my hand froze right before digging my spoon into another bite of flan.
Wrong question.
“No,” the king said, his voice clipped. “A few years after we fell in love, she met her soulmate. I haven’t gone to her since.”
Awkward silence descended upon the table.
“This dessert is delicious,” I said, needing to say something to clear the air.
“Is it a specialty of the region?” Sage sounded way more bubbly than usual.
“It is,” he said, apparently so relieved about the change of subject that he wasn’t even angry at us for speaking out of turn. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”
From there, Thomas shifted the conversation back to more pleasant, mundane topics.
Finally, the servers cleared our plates and brought us each a cup of coffee called tetero. I’d never loved the taste of coffee, but this one was tolerable, since it had far more hot milk than espresso.
“Now,” King Devin said once the servers left us alone with our coffee. “It’s time to get down to business.”
I immediately perked up, my knees bouncing as I waited for him to continue.
“I have four matching items in my possession that will transport you directly to the Otherworld,” he said. “But like I told you last night, I won’t give these items to you for free.”
“What’s the price?” Reed asked.
King Devin smirked, and I had a feeling we weren’t going to like what was coming. “I require that you bring me four specific items,” he said. “The hide of the Nemean lion, Circe’s staff, Aphrodite’s girdle, and the egg of a phoenix.”
We were all silent for a few seconds. Was he crazy?
“Those items don’t exist,” Sage said what we were surely all thinking.
“I enjoyed you much more when you had your legs spread out on my table.” King Devin sighed and glanced at her breasts. He’d been staring at our cleavage a lot through the meal, and I had to swallow down disgust each time. “Your ignorance is shining through, my dear.”
Sage snarled, and the tips of her fingers shifted into claws under the table.
A huge part of me wanted to watch her shred the king’s smirk right off his face. But the other part—the logical part—knew that wouldn’t get us anywhere.
Sage knew the same thing, because her claws quickly shifted back into human form.
“My wife is correct,” Thomas said firmly. “Those items are myths. We can’t bring you things that don’t exist.”
“What exactly is a ‘myth?’” King Devin leaned back in his chair, brought his thumb to his chin, and studied us all. “Some would say the Holy Grail is a myth. Many would claim that Excalibur is a myth. Yet, you have both of those items at Avalon. Do you not?”
“We do,” I said, and Thomas gave me a look to remind me that I was speaking out of turn.
But King Devin just gave me a knowing smile. “Why are the items I listed any different?” he asked.
I pressed my lips together, since he made a good point.
“Your jacket,” Reed said suddenly, his gaze boring down upon the king. “You said it was made with threads from Arachne’s silk web. And Arachne’s from Greek mythology, just like the objects you requested we bring to you.”
“Ah.” King Devin sat straighter to take another sip of his coffee. “I’m glad one of you was paying attention earlier.”
I scowled, because of course we’d all heard the king say his jacket was made with threads from Arachne’s web. I just hadn’t believed him. I’d assumed he’d been tricked into paying a hefty price for something spelled by an extraordinarily strong witch.
“I’m sure your jacket is one of a kind,” Thomas said delicately. “But can you prove it’s truly woven with Arachne’s silk?”
“It’s indestructible.” He removed the jacket and tossed it onto the center of the table. “Do what you want with it. Nothing will harm it.”
“Reed has the most powerful magic of all of us,” Thomas said. “If anyone can test to see if the jacket is a forgery, it’s him.”
“Perfect,” the king said. “If your mage destroys the jacket, I’ll give you the four items that will take you to the Otherworld right now. If he doesn’t, then you’ll seek out the objects I requested and only return when you can deliver them to me in exchange for the items that will take you to the Otherworld.”
“Deal.” Reed stood up and studied the jacket, his dark eyes as intense and focused as ever. Unlike a witch, he didn’t need to chant a spell to bring his magic to the surface. He just raised his arms and shot a beam of bright yellow magic out of his palms. His dark eyes glowed, and in that moment, he looked truly terrifying.
But nothing happened to the jacket. His magic didn’t seem to touch it.
Reed cursed and threw his magic simultaneously toward two silver candlesticks that were also on the table. They shattered on the spot.
He shot another beam of magic toward the jacket, but this t
ime, he held it for longer. He pushed more and more magic into the beam, and it pulsed with the intensity of his power.
No matter how hard he tried, the jacket remained unaffected. It absorbed the magic.
Whatever material the jacket was made of was more powerful than a mage.
Reed grunted, sweat dripping from his brow as he forced even more power into his magic. Then he stopped. He flexed his fingers and dropped his arms to his sides. “I can’t do it,” he admitted, sitting back down and refusing to look at any of us.
“Of course you can’t.” The king stood up, lifted the jacket off the table, and put it back on. “Ah,” he said, wiggling around a bit. “It’s back to fitting slightly incorrectly. Do you want to do that spell again?”
He looked to me, and I knew it was a demand instead of a request.
I hated that we were at this disgusting man’s mercy.
But I did as he asked, chanting the spell and flinging my purple magic at his chest again.
“Thank you.” He smiled and returned to his seat, folding his hands on top of the table. “Would the four of you like to enter into a blood oath to finalize our agreement?”
“We would,” Thomas said.
“I assumed so,” he said. “I’m a man of my word, so that won’t be a problem.”
After working out the exact phrasing of the blood oath, we each went through the ritual of slicing our palms, saying the words of the oath, and sealing the deal with the king.
It was official. We weren’t allowed to return to the Tower without the four objects King Devin had requested, and he wasn’t allowed to refuse to give us the four items that would bring us to the Otherworld once we completed his task.
If any of us went against the oath, that person’s blood would turn against them and burn them to death from the inside out.
“I’m glad we were able to reach an agreement.” King Devin finished the last of his coffee and dabbed the corner of his lips with his napkin. “Now, I’m sure you’re itching to get started. I’ll send for my head witch so Torrence can teach her that magnificent spell. Then, Prince Gustavo will see you out so you can be on your way.”
The Faerie Pawn (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 2) Page 14
