Page 90

The Saints and the Sinners were bodychecking each other. The players fell in a pile with Killian at the bottom, ice cracking.

“Isn’t that a dirty hit?” I asked, a bit worried for the chaos prince, and looked around. “Where is the referee?”

“This isn’t a mortal ice hockey game,” Bea said. “It’s a way for the heirs to work out their aggression toward each other while showing their subjects their powers.”

“So there’re no rules except not to kill each other?”

“There’re a few technique restrictions, like the players may not forward pass the puck to their teammates with their hands. Don’t worry, the game will escalate as soon as a goal is scored.” Bea smiled as if she was looking forward to it. “You’ll see the princes’ true powers at play. They’ll compete with magic.”

Killian roared, throwing the Saints team off him. Louis rolled away, cursing. The dark-haired Sinners girl was the only one who didn’t join the brawl. She waited to the side. Killian shot the puck from under his opponents. The girl came alive instantly, brought it around at high speed, and shot it toward the Saints’ net while the other players were still untangling themselves from one another.

Dixie lunged from the semicircle, plucked the puck, and tossed it out before it could reach the goal. But Killian had shot forward. He swung his stick, striking the puck in the air with force and precision. It flew in an arc into the net before Dixie could rescue it a second time.

The audience rooting for the Sinners stood up and roared their cheers, but the Saints’ supporters booed in equal measure. The drumbeats pounded, trying to drown out the jeers.

A strong current of water shot toward Killian, but the chaos prince erected his darkness as a shield, starlight twirling around him. Silas shifted to an enormous half-wolf, half-human form. Just as he lunged at Killian with a snarl, Louis tossed wind at Silas and threw him off track. Cade laughed, flinging spells and fire at Killian’s darkness, trying to crack it and find a way in. Rowan clasped his hands together, sending thorned vines surging toward Killian.

25

An ominous sense of danger gripped me, my shoulder blades tingling, chills slithering up from the base of my spine. It didn’t come from the ice rink where the princes fought with magic. The puck spun in the air as they fought to take control of it. I snapped my head to the source of my uneasiness just as a lift slid open, spitting out an armed force, led by a tall noble fae lady, with America by her side.

That was Mistress Ethel, the headmistress, in an impeccable pantsuit. She had made a speech at the Jubilee Haven a couple of days ago and bored me to tears. In her middle age, she still looked stunningly beautiful, though her beauty was on the stern and icy side with light gray eyes as sharp as broken glass.

A druid in a white robe and a squad of academy sentinels rallied around her. They were heading toward me. My heart leapt erratically, and I prayed that they didn’t come for me. I was nobody.

But America’s shouts shattered my hope.

“That’s Little Bob!” She pointed her rude finger at me. “He let in the abominations!”

I’d been made.

I told you that we should’ve eaten that fae female, Sy said. You saved her, and now she’s betrayed you.

America flashed me a smug and disdainful smile, forgetting that she’d been that petrified fae chick who’d peed her pants before I’d freed her from the Shrieker. She wore a fancy red gown, which was overkill for a sports event, but then she was aiming to get all eyes on her, especially the princes’.

She’d schemed and timed this so she could be seen as the hero who caught the bad boy and saved the day.

Fear seared my throat, and icy dread filled my chest. I was now hunted not only by Shriekers but also supernaturals.

“Seize Little Bob!” Mistress Ethel barked her order.

Bea stared at me, her eyes wide. “What’s going on? What did you do this time?”

“Save yourself, Bea,” I hissed. “Leave me!”

The academy sentinels, seven of them, drew their weapons. The druid held two bottles of nasty-looking potions in his hands, ready to toss at me.

I zoomed toward the lift, but then more sentinels poured out of it.

Shit!

I braked and glanced around, the blades of my skates cutting into the ice. They’d blocked every entrance and exit except the north border of the ice rink near the princes.

The audience quieted down. All eyes were on the headmistress, her henchmen, and me. The princes stopped throwing magic at each other, homing in on me as well in confusion and irritation.

“What the fuck is going on?” Silas shouted, starting to skate toward me. “Why the heck are you after my new squire? What did he do?”

The other princes started to come for me as well, narrowing their eyes in displeasure at the interruption.