Page 35

Out of all the people who I thought would take Jocasta’s words to heart and focus on entertaining the crowd, Isera most certainly wasn’t one of them.

She never lets anyone bully her into doing something she doesn’t want to.

And performing before a crowd is definitely not something that she would ever agree to do willingly.

So it stuns me to see her sacrifice her pride in order to help us win like this.

“Hurry!” she suddenly yells down at us. “The White Faction is almost at the door!”

Alarm shoots up my spine.

“Fuck,” she snaps. “The Red Faction is coming too!”

We pick up speed, running with everything we have towards the next opening up ahead. My breath rasps through my throat, and Alistair looks like he’s about to pass out after the long run. His eyes glide in and out of focus as we draw closer to the opening.

“The door is right here!” Isera calls. “Go, go, go!”

She reaches the edge of the wall up ahead and then spins to the left.

We sprint through the opening and into a large circular room right as figures become visible in two of the other corridors leading into the room.

“Ryat,” Isera snaps, and tosses the black key at Draven.

He spins around, skidding to a halt, and manages to catch it in one hand before it can hit the sand.

Isera yanks both arms upwards.

Ice shoots up from the ground and blocks both of the other openings.

“Get the door open,” she calls right before blasts of fire slam into her ice walls.

I gasp in desperate breaths as we dash the final distance to the middle of the room. A wide trapdoor, painted white with a large black X in the middle of it, has been set into the ground. There are two keyholes on it. One white and one black.

The ice walls blocking the openings begin to melt at an alarming rate as fire crashes into them from the other side.

Draven yanks out the white key we began with while shoving the black one into Galen’s waiting hands. After a quick nod, they ram the keys into both locks at the same time.

The ice walls shatter.

Shards of ice explode into the room, clattering against the stone walls inside while melted ice sloshes down on the ground in puddles.

Unseelie fae in white and red fighting leathers pour into the room.

“Turn!” Draven snaps.

Isera jumps from the wall.

The crowd gasps as she plummets towards the ground.

Draven and Galen turn the keys at the same time.

Two loud clicks ring out.

“Lift!” Draven calls.

Ice appears underneath Isera’s boots, stopping her fall. She spins around, shooting blocks of ice at the two teams rushing across the sand towards us.

The crowd screams.

We dig our fingers into the gaps along the front of the trap door.

And then we heave.

Wood groans as the trap door begins rising from the ground.

Fire roars through the air, slamming into Isera’s ice. Boots pound against the sand. My muscles strain as we shove the massive trap door upwards. With a push, we throw it back.

“Get in,” Draven orders.

Alistair lets out a yelp as Lyra practically shoves him through it before leaping after him herself.

While Galen jumps down as well, Draven turns and shoves a blast of wind at the White Faction.

They have almost reached Isera, who is jumping through the air across the room from one block of ice to the next.

The winds slam into them, sending them crashing back right before one of them can grab Isera’s ankle as she leaps past them.

She lands on the sand instead, tucking and rolling before leaping to her feet. Draven sends another blast of wind at the two teams, slamming them back against the ground.

Twisting around, Isera raises her chin and looks up at something in the crowd above instead.

My heart leaps when I realize what it is.

Orion Nightbane.

He is still sitting on his grand throne in the otherwise empty section reserved only for him. Even from this distance, I can almost feel him stewing in silent annoyance as he watches us.

Isera summons an ice spear.

And throws it straight at him.

I gasp as the ice spear shoots through the air and slams into the wood of the Unseelie King’s throne. Right next to his head. To his credit, he doesn’t so much as flinch. But I swear I can still see the shock in his eyes, even from this impossible distance.

Down on the sand, Isera spreads her arms wide with dramatic flair and gives the audience a theatrical bow. Then she flashes Orion a wicked grin and blows him a kiss.

The crowd completely erupts .

Whoops and cheers and screams of approval explode across the whole arena. They’re so loud that the very air practically vibrates.

My stomach lurches as a strong hand suddenly grabs my forearm and yanks me down. I half jump, half fall down through the trapdoor with Draven next to me. Two seconds later, Isera leaps through as well.

A jolt shoots up my legs as we hit the soft sand below, but Draven quickly wraps his arm around me, keeping me steady. Tilting my head back, I glance back up through the trapdoor.

From down here, we can see the space where Draven, Isera, and I used to stand for a few seconds before the trapdoor slams shut again.

Two distinctive clicks echo as the locks reset, waiting for the next team to unlock it. Given that both the Red Faction and the White Faction are up there, they will likely be forced to battle each other for the privilege of being the second team through the door.

Behind me, Alistair lets out a low whistle. “Throwing a spear at the Unseelie King and then blowing him a kiss?”

We all turn to face him, even though his gaze and his question are clearly directed at Isera. She just looks back at him, her expression unreadable.

He chuckles and shakes his head at her. “And here I was, thinking I was the drama queen in our group.”

A laugh rips from my lungs. A laugh full of mirth and exhaustion and utter relief.

We did it. We made it through the door first. And now, we will be the team that is invited to the Unseelie King’s celebration, giving us a chance both to woo the crowd so that we will have a better chance to win the final game and also to steal the dragon steel back from Orion.

The others laugh as well, sounding as exhausted and relieved as I am. And even Isera almost smiles before she manages to hide it behind an impassive expression again.

She lifts her slim shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. “We were told to entertain them. So I did.”

Oh, she sure did.

I let out a long sigh.

Now, we just need to figure out how to actually steal the dragon steel back from a no doubt furious Unseelie King.