Page 13

Odessa

I ’d been watching the other pairs run through the obstacle course intently— learning from their mistakes.

Going for the rope was a death trap. Only one other person from Dex’s team fell.

The rest found their way over, the most impressive being, Céline, using her power to control water to lift her over the top.

It carried her safely almost the entire way, sputtering out just as she hit the middle of the other side.

She dropped hard into the belly of the water waiting below.

Thankfully, it seemed deep enough to sustain a higher fall since there didn’t appear to have any other way to get down from the top other than to jump off.

Reed and Killian managed to scale it without issue, though, Reed hesitated at the top of the wall.

When he fell, he hit the water stomach down with a sharp slap. It sounded painful.

I made a note not to do that and swallowed hard, knowing that my fear of heights was more than intact. There’s nothing to do about it though, so I’d have to handle it— somehow.

Suddenly, it was our turn. Of course, Dex positioned himself in line to be paired up with me.

I couldn’t figure out what his angle was, and why he liked picking on me so much.

It irritated the shit out of me. I couldn’t think of anyone that could rile such a response out of me.

Normally, my temperament favored a calm and collected one.

But since being here and meeting Dex, a match had been taken to it, burning any notion of me having myself together.

Marley would be thrilled to see her big sister coming apart at the seams. She always did think I was too buttoned up for my own good.

When it was our turn, I took up the spot on the faded white line, one foot in front of the other, ready to make a dash for it.

Dex, however, lazily unbuttoned his shirt as if we had all the time in the world, and I couldn’t help but notice his well-defined chest. That was the body of a man who’d spent time working on his physical appearance, and clearly, it was paying off.

He even had those two divots that pointed in a v shape at his hips.

I quickly averted my gaze to not appear as if I were gawking over his chiseled physique, but it was too late.

He had a self-satisfied grin upon his mouth as his blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

Arrogant prick.

“See you on the other side, Deveraux,” Dex’s sinfully deep voice said, sending a shiver down my spine unbidden.

Fuck this guy, I would make him regret deciding to mess with me.

As soon as Killian said, “Go!” I was off, feet flying effortlessly over every dip in the ground. I met the wall and hoisted myself up using the uneven parts, anchoring my foot against the lowest section.

Sweat pooled between my breasts and my heart hammered hard against my chest, knowing that one wrong move could land me in a heap of broken limbs, just like Nat.

The guards had finally sent a mender to assist, but they took their sweet time doing it.

Right above my head sat a piece of bone that looked as if someone had lodged a femur into the stone. Next to me, Dex effortlessly climbed, his sculpted muscles on display for everyone to see. He was way ahead of me, and with little to no upper body strength, I didn’t stand a chance.

My hands gripped around the bone, shaking with the effort to pull myself up. It took everything I had to move even an inch.

Fuck. Why wasn’t I the type of person that worked out?

There was no way I was getting over this thing on strength alone.

Suddenly, the bone in my hands began to violently shake.

My grip started to slip, and my foot slid out from its position on the wall. The ground beneath was far enough away that if I were to fall, I’d probably die.

Above me, Dex looked down from the top of the wall with his hands on his hips.

Was he using his motherfucking power on me right now?

As if a switch had been turned on inside me, shadows materialized around my body, gripping me about my waist like a harness. They hoisted me to safety and set my shaking form on top of the wall.

I always thought of shadows being mere wisps, not something tangible.

There was no time to dwell on my newfound knowledge though. Time was ticking and I wanted to win.

Dex, starred at me with his mouth quirked up in that annoying way that dimpled his cheeks.

“Try to kill me again and I’ll cut your dick off.”

“Is that a threat, love?”

“That’s a promise, jackass. And stop calling me love.”

We’re so high up— higher than I anticipated and my stomach roils with nausea as I looked down into the inky black water below. It didn’t feel like I could access the shadows with how jumbled up I felt, so I would have no choice but to jump.

“After you, your viciousness” Dex gestured in a mock gentlemanly bow.

I had half a mind to shove him off here, but I didn’t think the guards would take too kindly to me intentionally maiming a fellow player.

Dex might not have cared about getting caught, but I certainly did.

The risk of being arrested wasn’t worth the reward.

Besides, we only had a few more days of training before the games officially started, and then I could maim him all I wanted.

I could make him bleed and beg for mercy.

Right now, I had bigger things to worry about. Like how the hell I was going to make it off here.

With a wink, Dex stepped off the ledge and plummeted below without even breaking a sweat.

Dammit.

I was behind again. The water below seemed to zoom in and out in the field of my vision making my head swim. My toes crept up to the edge, kicking small pieces of the wall off. If I slipped right now, I’d probably crack my head open and die. Goodbye world.

No, I needed to jump far enough away that I cleared the jagged wall, but not too far that would land me right on top of the barbed wire cage. There was only one way down from here, and it was to jump off this wall.

Decision made. I leapt into the air, eyes closed and stomach careening up into my ribs. Wind whipped around my body as I hoped with everything inside me that I would make it.

What seemed like an eon later, my feet touched water and I was enveloped fully into a freezing vat of muddied water.

The cold was a shock to my system, and I fought against the instinct to open my mouth under the water.

Instead, I kicked with a ferocity to break me free of its clutches.

I still had to swim to the other side without getting caught up in the barbed wire, and Dex was already halfway there.

Staying low, I pushed off the wall, took a deep breath, and ducked beneath the surface to avoid the long reach of the wires that dipped into the water like hands ready to grip onto me with one wrong move, just like Killian.

He’d gotten wrapped up in one of the tendrils and now had slices all down his neck and back.

The water was far too cloudy for me to make out anything clearly. My lungs screamed out for oxygen, but I had to keep going. I was almost there, I had to be. Black spots dotted my already limited vision as my body demanded air. Just… a little farther , I told myself putting everything into kicking.

Just as I was about to make it free and clear, a barbed wire that I didn’t see, grasped me by my braid, yanking me back.

My mouth opened, letting in a torrent of dirty water as I screamed soundlessly out in pain. Bubbles escaped as water filled my throat. It burned so fucking bad and panic, hot, raw panic pounded against my chest as I fought to get free.

A small wisp of a shadow emerged then, wrapping around my body and unhooked my caught locks from the wires.

I was able to claw my way out, getting cut down the length of my back as my hands were ripped into ribbons trying to free myself.

It felt like burning knives digging into my soft flesh, but I had to keep moving despite the pain.

If I didn’t, I would die here. Blood streamed from my wounds as I swam.

Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, but I wouldn’t give into the agony.

For myself, for my family, I fought to reach the end.

Finally, my knees hit ground and I crawled out of the mud, covered in my own blood, dripping wet, and half frozen.

Sputtering a breath of oxygen, I wheezed and collapsed onto the finish line as I involuntarily coughed. My lungs and throat felt like they wrecked on fire.

Dex looked down at me, hands shoved in his pockets. His horned mask appearing more devilish than ever in the dark lighting.

“I thought you’d never make it.”

Anger like a hot poker stabbing my chest bubbled up inside me, but I didn’t have the energy for a smart retort. Instead, I glared up at him and wished I was back home, snuggled up in my bed, not stuck down here in this hellscape.

Everyone seemed to be picking up their things and heading to the tunnel, but not Dex. He just stared down at me with the same intense expression that had me wishing I could read his mind. The man was an enigma but figuring him out might be the death of me.

“Here, let me help you up,” Dex said offering his hand.

I smacked it away with what little strength I had left.

“Fuck off.”

He chuckled darkly.

The effort it took to get myself to standing was monumental, but the sweat gathering down my back and dotted across my forehead was worth it to not accept help from a man who would have gladly watch me drown.

I was in desperate need of shower and a good night’s rest, but we still had one more challenge.

With the way I was feeling I didn’t even know how I would have enough energy to even make it back to my room without collapsing.

Each breath was labored, sounding wet with the muddied earth that rattled around in my lungs.

I may have lost to Dex today, but I was still standing. My mom was right, there was a strength inside me that I just needed to cling onto. It might be the only thing that helped me make it through to the end.

The menders patched me up as best they could before they led me down the tunnel where the rest of the contestants waited in an arena.

The room was rounded at the top and had one long ray of light that illuminated what looked like a fighting ring.

There were several slabs of concrete that could be used to hide behind as well as nine sharp iron poles jutting out from the ground that encompassed the outside of the ring.

“Ah, now that we’re all here, we can begin,” a voice called from the lower level.

A woman with large elaborate braids wrapped around her head stood with her hands on her hips.

Her ebony-colored skin glistened in the minimal light.

She was muscular and had a formidable presence.

She was wearing the same standard issue uniform as the guards, marking her as one of them.

The only difference was where most uniforms held a white rib cage, hers was embroidered with a golden hue.

I’d never seen a distinction like that before, but it’s not as if I try to associate with the god’s army.

They were known for their maliciousness.

“I am Captain Thiel. You will address me as such. Now, you’ll be facing off as teams, demonstrating your new powers.

The last one standing, will have won their team a five-minute head start.

You may be wondering why we train our contestants at all.

Well, there was a time before any of us were born, that contestants were sent into the catacombs with no training at all.

However, the gods found that the lack of proper training ended with almost all the contestants dying rapidly.

To ensure that you have a proper chance at winning, we allow three solid days of getting used to your magick.

And then of course you have the masquerade, where you’ll be mingling amongst the gods and goddesses themselves.

It will be a chance for you to win their favor, and that can make all the difference when you’re neck deep in a pile of shit. ”

“Yeah, we’d hate to die too quickly for the god’s entertainment purposes,” Nat quipped, only to earn herself a deadly stare from the captain.

Nat was mouthy and bold in a way I could only dream of.

It was an admirable quality, but in this case, possibly deadly.

The gods’ army members weren’t exactly full of compassion and empathy.

They were cruel. Obedient. Soldiers that thrived on keeping us in line.

Making my way down to where the rest of the contestants were, I almost tripped over my own feet from how exhausted I was.

If my team were to be allowed five whole minutes of access to the catacombs ahead of everyone else, it could make a huge difference.

It might not seem like much, but every second counted when it was a race to the end.

The first one to touch the wall with the engraved word ‘ Fin ’, marking the end, would be declared the winner.

The only trouble was getting there. The catacombs were a maze of tunnels and rooms, filled with booby traps and pit falls.

If your fellow contestants didn’t finish you off first, the catacombs just might.

I found an empty spot next to my teammates where Nat was visibly struggling to stand. How we were supposed to fight against the other teams right now, I had no idea. With Nat still recovering, and myself still reeling from the obstacle course, I was wishing we’d never gone up against Dex’s team.

“Team of Diamonds, please step forward.”

Four contestants stood looking just as beat up as I felt. Clearly, today had been rough on us all.

“Team of Spades, where are you?”

My eyes found Dex easily as he stepped forward with the rest of his team. His gaze caught mine as he walked into the cage and my stomach involuntarily flipped. Nat gave me a wary look, but I schooled my features to feign indifference. What did I care about Dex? Nothing, that’s what.

“You have ten minutes to defeat your opponents. Remember no killing is permitted until the games officially begin. Failure to abide by the rules will result in your immediate removal from the games.”

A shot rang out and the potent taste of magick filled the air all around us. Dread coiled within me. I had an ominous feeling that someone wasn’t going to make it past today. Selfishly, I hoped it was anyone but me.