Page 57 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

Call me a coward, but I can’t even look back at Ray, too scared to acknowledge the very possible near end in her future. Why has life come to this? Playing a game to the death for the mere entertainment of a tyrant Empress and her obedient followers. Why can’t we simply get along?

Life is just one big sick joke that I am clearly missing the punch line to.

The sound of an incoming orb from above aims once again at my pink haired friend. It plops down two seats in front of Ray, marking the fourth seat in her boat.

I hear Cartwell grunt behind me and then shout out, “F Six,” which is the only direction left for him to make, seeing as he has guessed every other side surrounding his first hit. On cue, I hear a loud thunk from the opposite side of the wall.

“Hit!” the Empress shouts to the stars, and for once, I’m not mad at the bitch.

Dread slams into my heart like a sword puncturing my lungs, making it hard to breathe.

This is it, the deciding move of the game.

There is one space remaining in Ray’s boat, except Jade won’t know if the spot left is in the front of the boat or the rear of the boat.

It’s a fifty-fifty chance of her guessing correctly.

If luck has ever been on my side, I pray it’s now. If she guesses wrong, that could leave the game open for Cartwell to secure the win. There’s only one direction he can guess, so his next move will be a sure hit. It just depends if he is shooting at the boat with three seats or five.

A glowing orb crests over the wall, and time moves in slow motion as it dips lower, lower, aiming for Ray. I look away, too scared for the outcome. A loud thunk shatters my heart into a million pieces.

It can’t be; I won’t accept it. But fate is a fickle thing and doesn’t always make sense.

It’s tricky and disguised in ways to make you lose salience in its holiness.

Fate left me with no parents. Fate took away the man I loved, and now, fate is claiming another innocent life from my grasp.

Everything I seem to touch dies right before my eyes, like a sick game on loop, and now, the word fate seems more like a punishment than a destiny.

Slowly, I turn my head to lock eyes with the beautiful ray of sunshine behind me who deserved better, just like Hudson. She gives me a soft watery smile, trying to hide her shaking hands as the Empress screams, “Seize her!”

“Nooooooooo!” I scream at the top of my lungs, ripping my throat to shreds, ready to jump off my boat and swim to her if it comes to it. I can protect her, I will protect her. Giant arms envelop me, holding me in place right as I’m about to launch myself into the water.

“Let me go!” I seethe through a sob as tremors rack my body.

The arms squeeze me tighter, drawing me into their chest as the smell of sandalwood and smoke floods my senses.

“Shhh, it’s me, I’m here. I need you to calm down for me, love,” Hade whispers into my hair as I try but fail to fight the restraints holding me back, slowly battering my weak fists against his arms until they fall defeatedly to my sides.

“You have to save her!” I weep on choppy breaths.

I don’t care how pathetically weak and desperate I sound.

I need this. “ Please , Hade. Save her for me,” I whisper defeatedly.

This could be the final thing that sends me to the point of no return, the final push off the ledge I’ve been teetering on for far too long, free falling to a fate full of destruction and lost humanity.

He grabs my face, tilting my chin until I’m staring into his soft eyes pleading with me to understand him. “I need you to trust me. Can you do that?” he literally begs me.

Those are the only words he offers. My body locks up for a second, drawn back to the last time a man told me to calm down and trust them.

They pretended to take care of me and show me love, only to turn around and stab me in the back.

I look between his perfect, opposite eyes, and my gut tells me I can trust him and everything will be okay.

I hesitantly nod, which sets his body at ease. His shoulders relax, and the worry lines on his forehead wash away. He plops a soft kiss to my temple, and I fight the mixed emotions of grief, betrayal, longing, and death taking over my mind.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a winning team!” the Empress shouts as Jade and Tank appear at her sides, their fists raised, waving to the Illuminists who have been watching the game to later broadcast .

Hade guides our boat back to shore with his shadows and helps me out, gently placing me back on solid ground.

I take a glance over my shoulder to see the Vanquisher tasked as Ray’s guard guiding her boat to the opposite side of the water’s edge, plopping her back on solid ground and marching her out of the Bubble to Empress knows where.

I yearn to run after her, needing one last moment, a proper goodbye.

I’m not ready to let go of another soft spot that wedged its way into my dead soul.

I attempt to take a step in her direction, a list of parting words and praises on the tip of my tongue, but I halt when she turns to look at me right at the edge of the Bubble.

She gives me an easy smile of farewell while mouthing the word ‘flowers’.

I stand frozen as I watch her walk away, and my heart gains another fissure next to the others littering its surface.

Just as her body is about to slip out of the Bubble, she gives me one final glance, and I shoot her a small smile in return, mouthing the word ‘flowers’ back.

It draws a beautiful giggle out of her, even while striding towards death’s door.

Deep in my heart, I know we will meet again in the next life, and the one after that, for the rest of eternity.

The Empress clears her throat and then gestures to the chanting crowd outside the Bubble.

“I think we’ve had enough gore for today, and I’m quite famished, so my Vanquishers will dispose of today’s loser in the dungeons.

Rest up, because there are still two rounds standing between you and being crowned this year’s Reaper Crucible champion. ”

The need to rip her throat out returns full force as I contemplate getting the job done right now. Who complains about being famished when the life of an innocent is about to be brutally taken?

My body vibrates with rage, the calm Hade washed over me disappearing as fast as it came.

I want to scream and cry and plead with the gods for a different fate.

I want to kill and maim and become the embodiment of destruction, but the loss of another friend mostly makes me want to curl into a ball and never emerge again. Death is becoming all too familiar.

Death is just a five-letter word, yet it consumes my entire existence, driving me to the brink of becoming the word itself. And the day that happens, I pray for all those who stand in my way.