Ahead of them, the road clogged with a crowd of competitors and onlookers. Only a narrow path through remained. Stella pulledShark to a stop and Teddy and Poker stopped beside her, content with their place at the back of the line.
“Jalen and Juliana have always seemed more of a unit,” Stella said.
Teddy nodded. “Jules is smart and so good in social situations, but we just don’t interact as much as we did when we were young. And Jalen, he’s busy with the hunter army.”
Screaming erupted behind them, rushing through the crowd in a wave. Stella wrenched her head around, already reaching for her bow. Hooves pounded against the ground and a horse tore up the street toward them, but there was no one on its back.
It wasn’t until it was almost on top of them, when the brown horse slowed to a trot, that Stella realized someonewasactually on its back.
“That’s Reever’s horse,” Fionn said from somewhere ahead of Stella.
A hunter guarding the line managed to grab the reins and slow the panicked horse to a stop.
Stella gasped at the sight.
A deep red line like a smile was cut across Reever’s throat. The wound gaped open but the blood on his clothing and the saddle was already drying. Reever’s eyes stared sightlessly up at the sky. His body was secured to the horse by several ropes, a dagger jammed into his chest, pinning a piece of paper in place.
Stella’s stomach heaved. She looked away and drew in deep, slow breaths to keep herself from vomiting.
The hunter pulled the paper free and held it up to read. The back of the sheet had the symbol of the Sons of Endros drawn on it in blood.
“‘You were warned, but you did not listen. As these players hunt each other, so too will they be hunted, one by one. Until there are none. Or until we get a seat at the king’s table,’” the hunter read aloud.
The crowd broke out into murmurs and the competitors’ horses shifted restlessly. The beasts were clearly reading the anxiety of the crowd.
The spectators turned their attention to Endros, who waited at the front of the line of competitors, astride a large black horse. Sunlight glinted off his salt-and-pepper hair and his golden armor. He looked every bit the god of war, ready for battle, and that was probably the idea.
He lifted his arms. “Quiet, please!”
The murmurs of the crowd died down.
“The Games must go on,” Endros said. “I’m sure your monarchs don’t want their inability to control their own people to interrupt this sacred tradition.”
The god leveled a smug smile at Kings Marcos and Xander in their makeshift royal booth on the balcony of the Winding Way Pub. To their credit, both kings looked entirely unmoved, but Stella could only imagine the chaos that would unfold once they were behind closed doors.
Endros nodded to the hunter holding the starting flag. “You have seven days to complete this task and return to the arena with your memory stones. Good luck,” he said.
Endros signaled the flag bearer, who waved the white flag.
The competitors took off immediately, but Teddy threw an arm out toward Stella.
“Give me a moment,” Teddy said.
Stella wasn’t so sure that opening themselves up to being ambushed by letting everyone ride ahead was a good idea, but the horror of seeing Reever had taken some of the edge off of her sass.
Teddy watched their competitors ride ahead with singular intensity. A crackle passed through the air.
“How is Shark in a storm?” he asked quietly.
Stella turned to look at the prince as his meaning dawned on her. “He does well with storms. My mother broke him in and she conjures storms when she’s upset.” She looked down the road. “Don’t hurt the horses.”
“You’re too soft for these Games,” Teddy grumbled.
He gave no other warning, simply let his storm gather. A rush ofwind bowed the trees and lightning struck just ahead of most of the competitors. Horses reared and riders fell.
The crowd behind them shouted in awe and shock, but Teddy ignored them. He split the storm, pummeling the riders on the trail and brushing them off to the side with ease.
“Ready?” Teddy asked.
