“After watching Rion like that, I don’t think so,” Ocean insists, and my chest tightens, agreeing with her thought process, but the worry of not making it is growing stronger.
Reluctantly, I nod in agreement and the three of us head around the outside grounds where another staircase leads higher. Instead of taking it, we stay on the ground level as a flare goes off, strengthening the blue color in the air and confirming their victory.
Dammit. I need to be keeping count.
Biting back a groan of frustration, I try to remain focused when I spy a flickering in the wind nestled among a thick smattering of trees. Darting toward it, I hear both Rion and Ocean call out my name in an attempt to stop me, but my fingers wrap around the pole before they get a chance to.
Heat trails over me from head to toe, stealing my breath as I hit the ground. Screams echo around me as my throat burns and I roll across the grass beneath me, desperate to put the fire out. My vision grows spotty as my movements fall weaker, and I blink up at the painted sky.
“Elodie, what the hell?” Rion snarls, blockingmy view, and in my weakened state, I smile up at him despite the pain rippling through my limbs.
“What the fuck was that?” Ocean barks, eyes wide as fear tightens her facial features.
“I don’t think it’s ours,” I rasp, and she scoffs.
“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” she retorts. If I could glare at her, I would, but I’m in too much pain to make it happen. “I meant, what happened to you?” she clarifies as I try to even out my breathing, the pain slowly subsiding but nowhere near fast enough.
“Fire.”
Her eyebrows gather in confusion. “There wasn’t any fire.”
“She must have felt the heat as if there was one. These flags are fucking insane,” Rion grunts, stroking my hair back off my face as I let my eyelids fall closed for just a second.
Flares whoosh in the air and I groan.
“We need to find our flag,” I mutter, aching from head to toe, but the sudden discomfort of the gloves on my hands is overwhelming, and I have to fight with myself to keep them on.
“It doesn’t look like we have to,” Ocean breathes, and my eyes dart open to follow her line of sight.
Right there, in the night’s sky, is a faintblossoming of purple. Someone found it. Someone actually freaking found it. Disbelief intertwined with relief flickers through me as I gape in awe, quickly remembering that they need to get it to the spoke for it to count.
I groan as I try to lift myself to my feet, but Rion quickly hauls me in the air, cradling me against his chest as he carries me toward the entry point of the fort. Ocean is right beside us, and she squeals with excitement.
“It’s Thorne, he’s got it,” she shouts, and I manage to catch a glance of the tormented shadow fae as he strides off in the distance with a flash of purple in his hands.
A few short breaths later, and another flare takes off, cementing the thick purple color alongside the other victors.
We did it. We freaking made it. With one step closer to ascension, hope blossoms inside of me and I feel like I’m floating.
“Oh, get ready to celebrate, bestie. We’re having a good time at The Hut tonight,” Ocean sings, ecstatic, while I feel like I could pass out. It’s on the tip of my tongue to retract my agreement from earlier, but the pit that instantly forms in my stomach prevents the words from forming in mymouth. I need to shake the pain off, and alcohol might just be the answer.
Rion grins down at me with a knowing smile before he brings his lips to my ear. “No more avoiding me now. I’ll see you there, Petal.”
TWENTY-TWO
ELODIE
The licks of heat that consumed my breath subside, leaving raw adrenaline in its wake. It’s about the only thing keeping me on my feet. But as I enter The Hut with Ocean at my side, I’m still undecided on how much of a good idea this actually is.
In the cute black dress my friend convinced me to buy, I slip among the throng of people filling every inch of the space. It’s set up just like last time, but I can hardly see the bar through the crowd of people, and every inch of the dance floor is filled with sweaty bodies who seemingly had the same idea as we did.
Alcohol.
We beeline for the same high-top tables and I push my hair back off my face as I glance aroundthe room, the music thumping with every pound of the base.
“This is just what we needed,” Ocean insists, beaming as she lets the energy in the room seep into her body. I hum my agreement, but I can’t deny the way my muscles relax ever so slightly when I sway my hips to the beat.
I hate it when she’s right.
