She sidesteps easily, and the flame hits the mirror behind her. It splits into two real fireballs, both careening off at different angles, creating orange trails that crisscross the vault. But in the infinite reflections, it looks like hundreds of fireballs, making it nearly impossible to know which ones are real. The only way to manage is by tracking heat signatures,whileavoiding the actual fireballs,whiledefending yourself from your opponent.
Which is maybe easy for Evie, with her knack for tracking heat signatures, but not for the rest of us.
Sam throws another fireball, trying to catch Nina while she’s dodging. This one also hits a mirror and doubles. Now four fireballs ricochet through the space, each one lasting its full thirteen seconds before dissipating.
He spins frantically, trying to dodge flames that aren’t there, and a real one clips his shoulder. It doesn’t burn him, since we’re all immune to fire, but it breaks his concentration, sending him stumbling into what looks like a painful face-plant against a mirror.
Nina’s moving through the chaos with eerie calm, and when she finally strikes, it’s precise. One fireball, angled to hit a mirror and split into two that will cross directly through Sam’s position.
He’s so busy tracking the other flames that he doesn’t see Nina’s coming. The impact knocks him off-balance, and he goes down with a yelp that’s definitely going to haunt him for the rest of the semester.
Nina flows forward through the confusion, and suddenly she has Sam pressed against one of the mirrors, her thin stiletto blade at his throat.
“I yield,” Sam gasps, and Nina removes the blade, standing with a satisfied, closed-lipped smile.
“Winner: Nina Aldridge,” Kieran announces.
Sam stumbles out looking shell-shocked.
Nina follows, not even breathing hard.
Two healers approach Sam as he exits the circle. One checks him over for injuries, while the other tends to a cut on his arm.
“Next match,” Kieran calls out. “Vera Jackson and Jade Harrington. Void Pit.”
My entire body goes cold, then hot, then cold again. My fingers tremble around the hilt of my dagger.
Vera Jackson?Why did Logan tell Kieran to put me withVera Jackson?Is he trying to kill me before the Council gets to me first?
Electricity crackles through my veins, as if it wants to shock Logan even though he’s all the way in the castle classrooms and I’m all the way out here.
Glass sphere,I remind myself.Keep it inside the glass sphere.
In the future, I need to remember to have Logan tell me who he’s putting me up against as well as what circle I’ll be fighting in.
Vera brings out her weapon and examines her curved blade. “I’ll finally get a chance to put the princess in her place,” she says loudly enough for the entire mountainside to hear, the venom in her voice making it clear that she plans on annihilating me.
Which, to be honest, is an incredibly realistic goal for her.
“Good luck,” Evie whispers, squeezing my hand. “Remember what Kieran taught us about?—”
“About getting my ass kicked with proper form?” I finish. “Yeah, I got it.”
Lauren appears at my other side. “You’ve got this, Jade. Just remember to breathe.”
“Breathing. Right. I’ll add it to my list of things to remember while Vera’s trying to murder me.”
We continue up the winding path, my legs feeling increasingly like jelly with each step. The Void Pit is right after the Mirror Vault, which means less climbing, but also less time to mentally prepare for my impending doom.
“After you, Princess,” Vera gestures mockingly at the steps.
I try to channel Logan’s controlled grace down the steep descent, mostly just managing not to trip. The entire time, I remain aware of Vera behind me, ready to block an attack if she tries anything. She won’t, since starting the fight before Kieran says go would be an automatic fail—and thus, an automatic expulsion—but it doesn’t hurt to be ready.
The buzzing of my magic disappears almost entirely when I reach the bottom of the pit, which luckily feels far less imposing during the day than at night.
“Ready positions,” Kieran calls from above.
I pull out my dagger, adjusting my grip the way Logan taught me. Wider stance. Bent knees. Picture the glass sphere. Don’t let the electricity out. Don’t think about how Vera looks like she wants to use my face as a punching bag until pieces of my brain are scattered across the dusty ground.
