“Gods, he really went for it, didn’t he?” Dex asked, swiping his finger along the wall. When he pulled it away it was stained pitch black. He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying.
“How do you think he’s able to access that much power?” I asked aloud in wonder. It really was impressive he was able tohold so much at one time and keep it going. Meanwhile, I had a hard time getting mine to do what I wanted it to.
Dex shrugged, his head tilted to the side to keep from hitting the rounded ceiling.
The voice in my mind was quiet, but its words still rang in my mind, wondering if I could trust Dex. I’d given him my body and had fought alongside him throughout the entirety of the games so far. Why would the voice find it necessary to warn me about him?
I couldn’t trust some random voice either, especially since I had no idea what its agenda was.
To see you win, of course.
Get out of my head!I yelled at it. Maybe it was the magick. Could magick speak to you? I found myself wishing I had better prepared for the games. Maybe researched what to expect instead of going off what I’d been told by others throughout the years. There’d been a few cases of contestants going mad over the years, but it was always dismissed by the harrowing ordeal they had endured. Everyone knew that Nocturne was a bloodbath. But what if it was because of the masks and their powers?
Unease skirted around my middle as we walked, head lost in thoughts I was too scared to utter aloud. I resolved to not talk back to the voice, even if it showed back up again. That seemed the right course of action. Talking to it would only validate its existence, and I didn’t want to have come this far to only lose myself to some chattering voice that probably wasn’t anything.
You keep thinking that…
Ignore it. All I had to do was ignore it and keep walking. We had to find our way out of this hellhole sometime. The winning gong hadn’t been rung yet. Meaning, we still had a chance to win.
“Let’s rest here,” Dex said, pulling out a squashed ration of food. I gladly inhaled the crumbs that were once a whole piece of granola. Dex’s piece was no better, in fact it looked like his was mostly powder, but it was all we had.
I leaned on the wall, slipping down into a sitting position. My eyes felt heavy, and the closed on their own.
“One of us should keep lookout,” I murmured, feeling sleep pull at me.
“I’ll do first watch, get some sleep.”
I barely had time to register his words before I was fast asleep.
“Odessa.”My shoulder was shaken, and I jolted awake, hitting my fist out in the air as if I could take whatever it was that had startled me, down by weak punches. “Woah, slow down there, killer. It’s just me,” Dex said catching my fist in his hand.
My eyes focused in the dark, and I saw him there, crouching just next to me holding my fist inches away from his face. He let my hand drop and I sat up straight.
“I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. Mind taking over the watch?”
“Yeah. Yep,” I said, wiping at my face. My mouth felt so incredibly dry. It had been far too long since I’d had a drop of water.
As if reading my thoughts, Dex said, “There’s a bit of nectar that’s in my canteen.”
It was better than nothing. I eagerly reached for his bag as he settled on the wall, head tilted back with his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful like this.
Most of the time, Dex’s face was hardened. He was constantly on the look for danger, sweeping his gaze around every corner. Never settling. But with how tired we both are, he finds the spot next to me, legs kicked out and crossed at the ankle, his head resting on the wall behind him. He shoulders slump as sleep finds him.
His breathing slowed and his long eyelashes kissed the tops of his cheeks. I’d kill for eyelashes like that.
You could kill him right now… just take out that dagger that’s stowed in your boot and end it.
The voice was back and even louder after I had spent the rest of my time yesterday ignoring the beastly thing. It seemed even my sleep couldn’t free me from its clutches, and a part of me wondered if it was here to stay.
I carefully undid my mask, put it down next to me, and waited.
Hello?I asked.
A few moments passed and nothing.
I tried again, this time with more force.Hello?
Nothing.
