Page 11

Odessa

T he shadows refused to come out of my fingers no matter how much I willed it.

Frustration laced my chest as I tried again, and again.

The tether I’d felt as tangibly as my own skin, was now decidedly absent.

It felt as if it went into hiding and every attempt to access that magick, failed miserably.

While the rest of the contestants practiced honing their skills with precision, I sat, facing the reality that I might be in real trouble here.

If I couldn’t utilize my power, I would be nothing more than a sitting duck. Ripe for the slaughter.

At least the gods weren’t here to watch my failure.

Come on Des, I told myself, it’s just like when you’re studying for school. You keep at it until you get it. Only instead of worrying about a final exam, I was worried about my fellow contestants. Failure was deadly.

Right about now, I would have been taking those exams that I’d studied so hard for, instead now, I’m far below the city in a musty room full of sweaty bodies training to kill.

I wondered how my family was doing, but most of all, I worried about my mother.

The failure of not being able to secure the one power that might save her ate at my conscious.

Though, technically, I still had time to secure it for myself if I was willing to murder the wearer for it.

My eyes slid to where Marcela sat cross legged, cutting her shin with a knife and using The Mender’s mask to heal the injured skin.

Just one moment with that power, could save my mother from her terrible fate.

All around me, contestants were practicing their power.

The air was rank with sweat and desperation.

Each of us wanted to win, even if we hadn’t wanted to be summoned in the first place— winning meant a lifetime of safety.

Guaranteed riches beyond our wildest imaginations.

And while I had been content with my life, I couldn’t help but want the chance to save my mother.

If I made it home, power and riches intact, maybe, just maybe I could save her.

My team of hearts consisted of two guys and one girl.

Reed, Killian, and Natalia, who preferred to go by Nat.

Reed had the power of flight and was currently floating effortlessly over a pile of foam mats ready to catch him if he were to give into gravity and tumble.

Reed made it look so easy as he flashed his bright white smile down at us.

His blond hair fluttered as he swooped low and landed on his feet like a cat.

Killian had the power to duplicate and had a pile of rocks spread out in front of him. His two-faced mask sat snuggly against his brown skin while his black hair was shaved close to his head. The rocks doubled as his power surged.

Nat had chosen, The Medusa, and was currently turning items into stone with just one look.

She was the one that scared me the most out of our teammates.

She had an edge to her that let me know she would do whatever it took to win this competition.

There was an air of ruthlessness about her that she carried in the way she walked.

As if she would gladly turn my entire body to stone if I were to even sneeze near her.

Nat had a sharp bob cut right at her chin that got shorter in the back.

Her hair was dyed a neon cerulean blue, and her pale skin was adorned with a smattering of freckles.

Her narrow waist moved easily through the obstacle course, dodging each impediment skillfully.

She dropped down into the splits just as a boulder came swinging past intent on crushing her to pieces.

As she reached the end, her eyes found mine and she winked right at me.

I made a note to keep a wide breadth when around her.

While we were technically a team, we all knew that only one person could win this whole thing.

Any of us could turn on the other in a moment, making our fragile connection tentative at best, deadly at worst. I could be in the room with my future murderer right this second.

And there would be no judge and jury to condemn them because it was legal.

We would do whatever was necessary to win.

Even if that meant committing the unthinkable.

At least it was unthinkable to me. I’d never even so much as harmed a spider, choosing instead to scoop it up into a cup and set the creature free outside where it belonged.

While we weren’t allowed to cause other contestants harm during this training period, mysterious accidents weren’t outside the realm of possibility. Which was another reason why having access to my magick was vital. How was I expected to protect myself if I couldn’t even produce a whisp of power?

Reaching inside my core once again, I searched for an ember of that power I had felt before and worried that maybe I’d spent it all during the mask ceremony.

Perhaps we were gifted a finite amount and I’d stupidly used it up But that couldn’t be true since the other contestants were using a fair amount training and no one else seemed to be struggling as much as I was.

“Need some help, Deveraux?” Dex’s voice asked, making the hairs on my arms raise. I hated the way my body seemed to respond to him.

“Not from you,” I grumbled, trying again to make my power work.

“You wound me,” he gripped at his chest as if I’d physically maimed him. I rolled my eyes at his antics and went back to ignoring him. Only, he wasn’t ignoring me. He came up behind me and whispered in my ear.

“Just let go, love. You’re too in your head.” His breath skated across my neck and goosebumps detonated along my skin and my stomach clenched in response. I cleared my throat loudly and took a step away from him which only made Dex chuckle. It was deep almost like a growl vibrating in his chest.

“I’m not your ‘love’. I’m not your anything.” I crossed my arms over my chest feeling my anger rise.

“Yet,” his tone was biting yet playful.

“We’ll see about that.” Though my words were harsh and said with force, they seemed to have no effect on the object of my annoyance. Instead, he watched me even more intensely as I tried and failed to work even a spark of magick to my fingertips.

All night, I had tossed and turned worrying about the dagger I’d hidden, but a thorough check of the space afforded me with the answer that the light fixture was the only possible hiding place.

Meaning Dex still knew its location and could use that information against me if he so chose.

Being in a foreign bed was also difficult.

I’d only ever slept over at friends’ houses and my sister’s bedroom.

Here, I was underground. Alone, and facing the biggest challenge of my entire life.

At least the mask was able to come off at night in order for me to sleep.

I couldn’t imagine trying to get any rest with that thing affixed to my face, digging into my nose and pressing against my forehead.

It was bad enough that it had to stay on all day.

Being made of gold meant it was heavy enough to be a burden.

At least my design was less elaborate than others.

Dex’s must have been giving him a headache with those horns jutting out at the top.

Those long dark eyelashes of his brushed against his mask with each blink and distracted me from the task at hand. No one had any business being that — hot. Fine. I could admit that Dex had a certain allure that most girls would find appealing. Objectively.

“You need to feel it from here.” Dex’s fingers splayed along my stomach as he pulled me flush against him.

Shock reverberated throughout my body at how well we fit together.

The warmth of his hand striking a chord deep inside my core while my breathing hitched, my diaphragm tightened with a mixture of desire and fear.

As his fingers lingered on me, a tiny flicker of smoke danced along my fingertips.

I shouldn’t be letting him touch me at all.

He had no right to, but fuck, it felt amazing.

And the power I felt strumming inside me was just as intoxicating.

Shadows built until I could hold it like a ball in my hand.

“You see how it grows from your emotions? Feed it. Build on that feeling,” he instructed.

My head swam as Dex’s hand held onto me.

I feared that if he were to let go that I would crumple to the floor.

All my emotions flew to the center of my soul where that thin tangible string glowed from within, the power building with each passing moment.

I fed it my fear, my desire, my very essence as the shadows began to leak onto the floor.

Everything in me vibrated with a need for more.

My head tilted back and found the hard planes of Dex’s large chest. He inhaled sharply and dropped his hand as if he’d been burned.

As quickly as he pulled me to him, he let go, backing up a step and putting his arms behind his back straightening his spine. The shadows disappeared instantly from my hands at the lack of contact.

What the hell was I doing? I must have been more sleep deprived than I realized.

“Seems you got the hang of it, now. You’re welcome.”

I raised my chin defiantly, annoyed that he was able to manipulate me so easily. “Why don’t you just leave me the hell alone for once?”

Stumbling over my own feet, I fled in the opposite direction wishing those shadows were back so I could hide inside of them from how embarrassed I felt.

Making a fool of myself was not a part of the plan.

I needed to focus on winning, or at least staying alive.

Being down here, away from the life I always knew, was messing with my head.

Once I felt I was far enough away, I chanced seeing if I could access my power on my own. Sure enough, the shadows appeared easily, as if they’d always been a part of me.

I didn’t know what vexed me more. Knowing that I was able to access them because of how Dex showed me. Or that I enjoyed every second of his instruction.