“Do you think Blackfire will share his?” I laugh, and she chuckles. “I mean, I might need to steal them and pretend they aren’t his and they have been mine all along. It would be fun to make him lose his mind a little bit.”
“I’m pretty sure he is losing his mind over you already, Mere.” She laughs.Mereis Tannith’s nickname for me, and I’ve never heard anyone else call me it. I need a cool nickname for Elizabeth too. Lizzy might work. I’ll have to ask her. “If his scent is anything to go by. All three of them are—” The ground shakes, cutting her off, and we both quickly stand up, moving to the centre of the platform so the shaking doesn’t knock us over the edge.
I cling to Elizabeth, trying not to fall over as two rows of small rock pedestals shoot up in the air between us and the statue. They are quite a bit away from each other, all different lengths, and some are covered in sheer ice, while others look patchy with holes, and the last one is the worst. A climbing wall of sharp, icy rocks jutting out, right under the goddess statue.
I groan out loud. I am going to have to climb, aren’t I? Fuck my life. A voice echoes in the air, cutting off my internal breakdown over exercising in the slightest. The voice is ancient, a hint of cruelty woven through it, and I immediately want her to stop talking. Each word is like a dagger slammed through my head. “You must climb the stones with trust and honour. Balance is key. One ventures too close to the edge, the rope of my heart will tighten and cut. Only two shall pass, or you will snap.If you part too far apart, death will take you to my sisters and me. You must work as a team to survive, and those alone will die.”
I wince as I look at the rope and the two rows that look like paths, and I work out quickly that we need to walk on both of them. Orion has two paths in front of him, and I know he’s going to die. Something stirs in my chest, and I rub at it. Even though I hate him, even though he’s definitely my enemy, who has attempted to kill me and made it very clear he wants to make me suffer, something unsettles in my gut at the idea of just leaving him there. Orion doesn’t even look my way. It’s like he’s accepted he is going to die. His shoulders have dropped, he is staring at the ground, and for a second, he looks like a fallen prince of the night, right out of the books I read.
I glance over to see Reed and Ayan have already figured out a way to help Blackfire. They’ve thrown the middle rope to Blackfire, who’s tying it to his rope before chucking it back, making all three of the ropes attached to each other to make one line. Reed looks at me and nods at Orion, pleading. I remember Reed jumping in the river for me, saving me, and I know I owe him this. I nod once back, and his smile could make the coldest bitch in history feel warm.
I grit my teeth, but it’s not me that has to offer to save him. Elizabeth has thrown the rope to Orion already, and it lands with a smack on his platform. She looks back at me. “We have to help him like they’re doing with Blackfire. I know we don’t get along, but I can’t let my brother die. You’re going to have to go in the middle. Orion and I are going to be stronger on both sides. We won’t let you fall, but it might hurt. The rope burns when I touch it.”
I freeze, terror making me silent. Orion snarls across the gap. “I don’t want either of you to help me. I’d rather fucking die.”
“Don’t be a stubborn brat!” Elizabeth shouts back. “I get it; you’ve never had to ask for help once in your spoilt life, so I’m giving you the help you need, anyway. You are my brother.”
Orion’s laugh is cruel. “You stopped being my sister the moment you ripped our father to pieces.”
They stare at each other. The energy between them is hostile, to say the least. Tannith and I aren’t siblings, but she is the closest I will ever come to having a sister, and I know that love doesn’t just disappear. “I’m going to help him, but we’re not doing it for free.” I shout his name, and his furious green eyes lock on mine. The colour always takes my breath away; the green is so vibrant and ethereal. “Tie the rope so we can all leave.”
“You want to save me now? I thought Sleeping Beauty didn’t have a heart.” He watches me. “You know I am still going to kill you for saving her. There will never be peace between us. I will never like you or want anything but blood spilt between us.”
“I’m not doing it for the goodness of my heart or because I like you!” I snap. “You will make a promise in exchange—a vow like I’ve heard wolves do.”
“Will I?” He crosses his thick arms, that heartbreakingly beautiful face taunting me. It’s not fair he is so pretty, and it’s too distracting. Someone screams, and I turn, seeing one of the chosen has fallen, the rope pulling and tugging at his selected. He holds on for a second longer before being pulled to go straight down. There isn’t a thud. There isn’t a noise as they hit bottom, but instead, smoke builds up in the air, ash blowing in the wind. I realize they’ve burned alive at the bottom of whatever this place is, and I can’t hold back the whimper of fear that escapes my throat. Orion laughs at me, and my cheeks flush. “Scared, Meredith?”
I narrow my eyes at him, anger overthrowing my fear. “Well, unless you want to end up like that…” I point down. “We need tomake a deal. We’ll help you, but you have to make a vow not to kill Elizabeth in the Folkland.”
His face goes from shocked to pure anger. He is practically vibrating with how angry he is, and any sane person would piss themselves. Luckily, I’m not sane. “You don’t know what you’re asking. What she did!”
“I don’t care what sibling rivalry is going on between you two. I don’t care that she killed your father. As far as I’m concerned, all alphas are assholes who treat my kind like slaves, cause wars that create chaos, and their heirs are no better!” I make a pointed look at him, and he actually seems to calm. “And I’m not a fan of wolves either. She wants to save you, so we will, only if you make a vow, or we’re leaving you here.” I’m a liar, but I hope he doesn’t see that. I don’t know why but leaving him here makes me feel sick.
His teeth snap. Reluctantly, he pulls a green-bladed dagger out of his black jacket. “I will hate you forever for this, and you will owe me.”
“I thought you already did.” I roll my eyes at him. “And I owe you nothing.”
He moves his eyes from me to Elizabeth. “I vow not to hurt or kill you in the Folkland in exchange for your aid in this trial.”
His words are filled with such hate, cruelty and nastiness that I feel them right down to the very core of my broken soul. He cuts his hand, and I don’t know why he did that. Maybe it means more to wolves than just blood.
Elizabeth sighs low and whispers to me, “The royals make vows in blood, and they cannot be undone. Not without risking losing their wolves.”
“Well, now that’s done.” I clap my hands, mostly to make sure they haven’t fallen off in the cold. “Let’s get going.”
I pick up the rope and remember instantly that it burns. The minute I touch it, I wince, dropping it immediately.
Elizabeth is picking hers up, but she frowns. “Can you do this? I know you won’t heal like us, but if Reed survives, he should be able to help. It will just burn for a short time, I think.”
“Yes, I can do this.” I don’t have a choice. Tannith is waiting for me, and I promised to keep her safe. I can’t die here and never see her again. No one would look after her, and Blackfire’s uncle would kill her the moment the Folkland is over. There isn’t a world I want to exist in if she isn’t in it. Sometimes I think she is my last string of sanity.
The look Elizabeth gives me is worrying because she almost looks like she believes I can do this, and she really shouldn’t have belief in me. I’m a fucking mess, and I can’t do this.
Elizabeth ties hers around her stomach, and I wince at the burning smell as it cuts through her clothes. Orion ties his around his waist too, his other side of the rope waiting for me. I can see the wince, the paling of their skin as it cuts into them, burns through them. I lift both of the ropes and wrap them around my wrists, knowing I need to be able to control the balance, and I won’t use my waist. My skin is too thin from the damage already, and I don’t want them to see how ugly I am under my clothes. Thankfully, the burning is the least of my worries, and I can barely focus on it as my wrists start bleeding. The rope, the red vein-like rope, tightens as I step onto the first ledge and focus on the fact I need to jump.
“We jump on the count of three together,” I suggest as someone needs to say it. Another chosen falls in, another scream echoing in the air, and I try to ignore them.
“Who put you in charge?” Orion has to say something to piss me off.
