Dread trickles down my spine as my eyes meet those of the man who had once sentenced me to death. A small smile pulls at his lips, and my hands catch fire.
“Serafina,”Nyxa says in my mind,“I do not have a good feeling about this.”
Neither do I.
A pulse erupts from the center of the arena, and a deafening sound follows, roaring in my ears until I don’t hear anything at all.
My fire goes out, and I cover my eyes as dust from the dry dirt flings past me, encasing me, encasingeveryone.
But then it settles, and I take a stumbling step forward, as if coming out of a drunken haze. My hearing feels off, like pressure needs to be released.
I smack the side of my head until it is.
What the hell was—
“Essentari will hold an advantage no more!” the same voice from before calls out, and I freeze.
He cannot possibly mean…I stare down at my hand and will my flames to emerge. I try to feel them, feelanything, but nothing happens.
My fire is gone, my ability to connect with the flames, tocommandthem, is gone.
I look at Jax, wondering if the same is true for him, and when his gaze leaves his own fingers and locks on mine, I know it is.
We’re both powerless.
“What just happened?”Nyxa’s words are frantic in my mind.“What was that?”
“You felt it, too?”I try to swallow my panic, but I also wonder how that’s possible with her being so far away. The last time we spoke of it, she was close to reaching the palace, which means the journey to my village will still take herweeksto complete.
“Just barely. It felt like…like…”
“Likewhat, Nyxa?”
“No, never mind. It’s not possible. The Ether gradient doesn’t exist anymore. They were wiped out years ago during the…”Her voice fades as if she’s realizing something truly horrifying.
“During the what?”I demand.“What the hell is the Ether gradient?”
“It nullifies your ability to wield your element. Serafina, you need to get out of there. Now.”
“I think it’s too late for that,”I tell her right as palace guards flood the arena, the royal red of their uniforms giving them away.
The king must have been planning this for weeks to get them all here in time.
He was never going to let me live. He hadn’t meant to keep his promise to Ryjax even for a moment.
Fucking bastard.
The Enforcers stand aside, looking at each other like they have no idea what to do, what to make of this, and the contestants are all doing the same.
“Not only must you survive each other but also Velegoria’s most well-trained Elite. As our world continues to suffer—continues to struggle to keep those who deserve to livealive—the royal family has decided—” His voice cuts out, but then I can hear the low sound of him clearing his throat. “They have decided that one hundred winners in today’s trial are simply too many for our society to withstand.” He speaks with no emotion, his typical flare gone, and a weight settles in my chest, pressing down, down, down until I’m forced to pull in another breath.
What?
This…this isn’t right.They’re going to kill us.
Allof us?
They can’t do this.
