“You don’t have a choice.”
“I’ll defend myself, but fuck them,” I insist, and Rion snickers.
“That’s my girl. Let’s go,” he roars, taking charge as we join the small group of Institute Thirteen students marching toward the peak leading toward The Vale.
Ocean releases me and I know I have no choice but to follow, hurrying beside her with nothing on my feet, wearing a flimsy pair of shorts and t-shirt pajama set I bought. They were supposed to be for sleeping in, not fighting.
“Has this happened before?” I breathe, keeping at my friend’s side, and she grimaces, her blonde hair a little more unruly than usual.
“Yes.”
“Does it happen often?” The look in her eyes tells me it does, despite the fact that no words leave her mouth. “This is insane,” I mutter, adrenaline keeping me on my feet as I try to stay focused, but it’s clear I’m nowhere near as prepared as everyone else.
Despite the charge running through my body, the whispers of my dream cling to the outskirts of my mind, attempting to lure me back. I’d do anything to recapture the warmth I felt only moments ago, but the chill in the air and the frazzled eeriness of panic that swarms everyone keep me firmly present in a reality I’d rather escape.
My fingers clasp tighter around the sword as I take a shaky breath. “Am I supposed to know what to do with this thing?” I ask, my steps slowing as Kael and Rion continue ahead.
“I thought a sword would be simple enough,” Thorne states, his words so soft the breeze almost sweeps them away.
Glaring at the man in question, I sigh, walking beside him begrudgingly. “Unfortunately, my combat classes have consisted of drama and jogging laps with a weighted vest on. There was no sign of a sword.”
I’m captured in his deep, green eyes as he staresat me intensely, his stare only growing more purposeful with every passing moment.
“Your survival instincts have kicked in once before; they’ll do it again,” Kael hollers from his spot five strides ahead, pulling me from the depths of the shadow fae’s stare-off.
I clear my throat as I turn to the vampire, a knowing glint in his eyes, and I instantly understand what he’s referring to… the reason I’m here.
I’m a murderer.
My gut twists at the stark reality of it, but to my surprise, his words offer me a sense of strength.
Taking a deep breath, I trudge the final few steps to the peak of the pathway that leads to The Vale, but before I can catch a glimpse of anything, a dark shadow casts over me as Thorne steps ahead, blocking my view.
“Hey,” I grumble, poking my finger into his side with a huff, but he doesn’t even bother to acknowledge my existence. My face heats, embarrassment threatening to rise to the surface as shouts and jeers grow louder in the distance, and I falter under the stark truth that I’m well and truly out of my element.
Inching to the left, fear coating my skin in goosebumps, I glare at the man before me as he shifts to continue to block my view. It’s on the tip ofmy tongue to berate him when realization washes over me.
He’s not being an ass; he’s blocking me, defending me.
Me.
I almost drop the sword from shock as my face pulses with an array of emotions I’ve never bared witness to before. I can’t bring myself to decipher how I feel right now, especially when my incessant curiosity fights its way to the forefront of my mind like always.
I trick step him to the left before darting to the right, making sure to keep my sword aimed at the ground as I stare at The Vale. The sea of students that fills my vision is overwhelming and dizzying as I look in every direction, realizing that every other institute has reacted the exact same way.
Seeing where all of the noise is coming from only imprints the moment into my memory forever as I wait for the invasion they spoke of. Bodies of students wave their weapons in the air, beckoning the mayhem to come as I gape in a mixture of horror and disbelief, when an explosion ricochets from the center of The Vale.
I choke on my breath as the sound is quickly followed by a burst of color across the sky. It dances and fizzles in an eruption of shimmers, followed byanother, and another, one color leading into the next until thirteen colors brighten the night sky; one for each institute.
My lips part, ready to demand to understand what the hell is going on, because this sure isn’t what it looks like when a gang invades the trailer park. Far from it. Any battles I’ve borne witness to were blood baths that had me hiding in a closet, not standing outside in the dead of night under an array of fireworks.
“What in the Fourth of July is this?” I blurt, eyebrows raised as my fingers flex around the sword, and Ocean shrugs, just as bewildered as I am, when a voice booms through the air.
“Institute students, neighbors, The Vale, you are cordially invited to your mandatory participation in The Institute Games.”
SIXTEEN
ELODIE
