Cordelia claps, taking a step forward as she points toward the golden bowl. “Please, join us. Prick your finger to connect with your bound and engage in the games. Pairings are selected at random and chosen in clusters of twos or threes. See you on the other side.”
They’re gone in an instant, leaving my head reeling.
I press my fingertips into my temple, the action doing little since I can only use one hand. Ocean has claimed the other and there’s no chance of me getting it back right now.
Taking a deep breath, I watch as students form a rushed crowd toward the golden bowl, but before I can even consider taking a step, a shadow casts over me.
“We need to talk,” Kael states, and I shake my head.
“Not right now, we don’t,” I insist, refusing to meet his gaze as I try to step around him, but he plants a hand on my shoulder, rooting me to the spot.
“Elodie,” he warns, and I scoff, still refusing to look at him.
“I have enough on my plate right now. I don’tneed your bullshit as well,” I grumble, whacking his arm away, and to my surprise, he lets it fall to his side. It catches me off guard so much that I tilt my head back to meet his eyes. “I don’t care what you do. I’m not bothered by what you’ve done. I’m furious at the fact you’ve known a vital piece of information that concerns me and you said nothing.”
His lips part as his nostrils flare, but I don’t want to hear it. Ocean must sense the desperation in me because she drops her hand from my side just in time for me to scoot around the vampire blocking my way and head for the challenge.
There’s no one in my path, so I hurry toward the bowl and my eyes widen as I draw closer, noting the sharp glint of gold standing in the center with a pool of blood at the bottom. Before I can change my mind, I press the tip of my index finger against the edge, wincing at the intrusion as my body trembles. There’s no time for me to understand what it means as I’m drawn to the portal. I don’t even manage to capture my breath as I enter, startled when I appear on the other side in a completely white-washed hallway.
It feels sterile.
My pulse pounds in my ears as I try to understand what it is I’m facing when a drop of my bloodhits the floor with an echoedplop. The red droplet is stark against the white floor beneath my feet, but it doesn’t last long before it disappears, leaving no trace.
Running my tongue over my bottom lip, my attention is quickly distracted by the change of clothing I find myself in. The jumpsuit is something straight out of a high-security prison back home, but instead of the orange that you would usually see, it’s purple.
A shudder runs down my spine, making my back arch slightly when a gasp sounds from my left. Wide eyes find mine as my gaze locks on the girl from Institute Thirteen who continues to remind me of my little worth.
Brenna.
“Of course I’m bound to the one girl who can’t do anything,” she grunts, wiping a hand down her face. I want to charge at her and scream about how wrong she is, but instead, I silently vow to prove her wrong.
A huff comes from behind me, cutting through the tense air between us, and I peer over my shoulder to find Kael standing with his arms folded over his chest. “There are three of us?” I blurt when I notice he’s wearing the same color too.
“It seems you can’t escape me no matter howhard you try,” Kael mutters, distracting from the situation at hand, and I shake my head at him.
“I’m not here to listen to you two bitch and moan, and I won’t lose because you can’t get a grip on yourselves. So, let’s fucking go,” Brenna grunts, and I nod in agreement.
Taking off down the corridor, the three of us remain silent, searching for a door or a turn, but every step comes with more hallway before us. Racking my brain, I try to recall what I read about the bloodbound trial, but it seems I overread everything and now it’s all one garbled mess.
It feels like an eternity passes before a door appears on the left side of the narrow space, and my breath hitches as I pick up my pace, charging toward it. It’s a fight for the lead as Brenna shoves past me, but I let her go, refusing to accept her negative energy when I’m sure there are bigger things we’re going to face.
The three of us spill through the door without caution, only to wind up at the end of another whitewashed hall—only this time, we’re not alone.
“Petal.” One word and I’m on the brink of forgetting that I’m mad at all of them. Rion races toward me and it’s impossible to deny the fact that my anger softens as he draws closer.
I’m a sucker for a golden retriever wolf. I’m asucker for a damn asshole of a vampire too, but it seems our desire is fueled by anger instead.
Rion comes to a stop in front of me, his jumpsuit still purple, but more like a lilac in shade. He grins down at me, winking like the insane man he is, but he’s quickly nudged to the side by Ocean, who is wearing the same color as him. Understanding quickly washes over me and a wave of relief settles in my chest knowing she’s in safe hands. I had been so insistent on getting away from Kael that I hadn’t considered the bigger picture, and I only wound up closer to him in the end.
“Are you guys okay?” Ocean asks, wrapping me in her arms for a brief second before she steps back, and I spy a familiar shadow fae behind her. He doesn’t say anything; he doesn’t have to.
“Now that your little reunion is over with, can we actually get on with winning this thing?” Brenna gripes, reminding me of just how fabulous she isn’t.
Ocean glares at her, but I shake my head and nod for us to keep exploring.
“Which way did you guys come from?” Kael asks, a thought I hadn’t considered, and they point toward a blank wall.
“A door from there, but it’s gone. So is yours,” Rion states, pointing behind us, and there’s nothing there either.
