Although the grassland and trees around them swayed, the bridge remained straight and solid, as if it existed within a bubbleof stillness. Sol watched, entranced as the woman cleared half of it in moments.
“Now, we aren't going to let the Lady of Stone Ledge pass with no fun.” Ezra marched forward from behind Sol, making her jump out of the way with surprise.
She had only spoken to him that time by the fountain, so she wasn’t sure what to expect from him other than an uncanny ability to appear as if from the ground itself. Not surprising from an Earth Caller, Sol supposed.
“Leave her alone,” Cas warned from his spot beside Zeri. “She’s not one you want to mess with.”
“What, afraid you’ll lose the easy fuck?” Ezra glared at him, slowly crouching next to the cliff’s edge in contemplation “I’m sure you’ll survive, Xanthos.”
Sol’s anxiety morphed into annoyance. Sure, she and Cas were iffy right now. But that didn't mean anyone could just speak to him like that.
She was about to remark that if anyone wanted an easy fuck, it was Ezra, and she would out him for the absolute creep he had been the first night when she wandered the halls of the Villa.
Cas seemed to sense it coming, because he glanced at her, then narrowed his eyes.
Don't.
Before Ezra had reached the edge of the cliff, Jonah had his hand on his dagger, surveying. Calculating to see who would follow, to see who else he needed to have on his radar. By the way Phil’s small hands twitched, Sol knew he was identifying everyone and their locations as well.
As if sensing the challenge, Cattya stopped her walk. She turned and smiled at the man with a broad grin. “Come and get it, Ezra.”
“I'm not stupid, Cattya.” Ezra sliced a thin line on his own throat with his Wielder ring. Instantly, it evaporated into mist. “I know you’re gods-blessed.”
Cattya shrugged. “It’s called being a devoted daughter of the Creators. You shouldtry??—”
A spear of stone shot from the deep abyss below, narrowly missing her. It flew over her, then exploded into a rain of pebbles.
As Cattya shielded herself with a forearm, her eyes shone as if made of the hottest flame. “You coward.”
Ezra laughed and made a mudra with his hands. “They didn't say we couldn't use our magic to sabotage. Only we shouldn’t kill with it.”
“Winderlyn doesn't like traitors,” Phil stepped forward, crossing his arms. “The point of the Vows is to gain each god’s favor.”
“Go play with the rocks, kid,” Cade chimed, moving into the circle. “Let the grown-ups talk.”
Cade had been a nearly invisible presence the entire time at the Villa, Sol only remembered his face from the first dinner that had killed Felice and Lucas.
“Watch yourself,” Sol seethed, looking the man straight in the face.
His amber eyes flickered, his gaze running down her body like talons scraping against her skin. She narrowed her eyes at him in challenge.
“Back up, Cade.” Cas was between them in an instant.
A scream laced with terror made Sol spin back to the cliff. Cattya still stood on the bridge, but it now wobbled as the phantom wind protecting her disappeared. The woman was annoying, but she was smart. She took off into a sprint to clear the rest of the way as more spears of stone propelled toward her, shredding parts of the bridge in their wake.
Fuck.
“As long as we honor the rules of the trials, we will get through,” Phil assured. “That has proven true since the beginning of the tradition.”
Ezra laughed, standing from his crouch by the edge of the cliff. “Arnold Semmena made it to the end, boy, and he didn't follow that rule.”
“He didn't win, though,” Jonah smirked. “Draven did.”
Cas's face tightened at the mention of his father, and Sol looked away. Every time she had the misfortune of hearing about hermother’s Trials, the story only got more unbearable. At first, she had wanted to know everything about her and who she was. But now, Sol wanted the opposite.
If she was eventually going to step into this role, like she had already decided she would, perhaps following in no one’s footsteps was better.
She could make her own fuck ups and blame only herself for them.
