Page 84

Chapter 23

Ifurrow my brows and stare into the eyes inches from me. They hold the same intensity I feel.

“You ready?” Halen’s chipper voice breaks my concentration.

I pull my attention from my vanity mirror and whip around. “I can’t believe the trials are today.”

“And you’re going to kick some serious tail!” She whacks me on the back.

“That’s the plan.” I grimace, thinking of the final trial. However, I should be more concerned about the other trials—the ones I know nothing about. I have to get through those before facing my dad and surprising him with my plot twist.

“Your stomach hasn’t been bothering you?”

“Not since I’ve been preparing daily for these trials.”

“Good.” Halen runs her hands along one arm of my skin-tight leather fighting suit. “This thing is so cool. You know what’s going to happen, don’t you?”

“It’ll protect me from a sea dragon bite?”

She bursts out laughing. “No! All the little kids are going to race around in imitation suits, pretending to be you on Halloween.”

I shake my head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Wanna make a bet?”

“Not really.”

Knock, knock!

My stomach twists. It’s probably the driver to pick me up and take me to the arena in the middle of Valora. I’m so not ready for this. Not that I have a choice.

The day is here.

Halen flings open the door. “Oh, hey!” Her tone holds a song to it.

Curious, I peek around her. Instead of a stuffy castle servant, Bash stands at the door, wearing a suit and tie.

I freeze in place. Seeing him just reminds me of how much I have to lose if things go wrong today. If I end up dragon food, he’s stuck with a tattoo of my name on his chest. He’ll lose the one person he’s ever been able to trust fully.

He looks me over slowly. “You look amazing.”

I swallow. “So do you. What are you doing here?”

He moves past Halen and wraps his arms around me. “I came to give you a good luck kiss.”

“Do you think I’ll need luck?”

His only answer is to press his lips on mine. “Everyone will be rooting for you. Everyone. You’ve got this.”

“Yeah, of course.” My tone reveals my doubt.

“You don’t think so?”

“I don’t know what to expect! This event hasn’t been held for thousands of years.”

“And you’re more ready than Queen Sirena was. You’ve got her trident which has been through all of this before, plus you have her powers. They too have the previous trials under their belt. Plus, I’ve seen you in action. Everything you’ve done has been preparing you for this.”

“Maybe.”