A flicker of movement at the far end of the arena caught my eye, near the shadowed gate. Tiny. Likely a scrap of fabric caught in a breeze.
My mouth curved in a slow, slick smile. Heat surged beneath my skin, a rush of something dangerously close to exhilaration. I dug my fingers into the stone armrests and made myself loosen my grip before someone noticed.
I glanced toward Isi.
Our gazes locked across the arena, the distance between us collapsing until it felt as though we stood chest to chest. Recognition passed between us, a shared secret that neither of us had chosen but both understood.
Her eyes held mine, daring me to blink first, to look away from what we both knew was inevitable.
The challenge in her gaze sent a jolt through me that was half irritation, half something I could not deny.
I didn’t care who was watching. I didn’t care about duty or kingdoms or the wasteland creeping closer. All I cared about was the woman standing in my arena, the one who refused to be cowed, the one who’d survived despite the odds.
The one who belonged here, whether either of us wanted it or not.
21
ISI
The cold stone beneath seeped through my boots like winter fingers. But the chill couldn’t touch the dread coiling around my ribs, creeping into my lungs until each breath felt stolen.
We stood in the narrow alcove behind the arena, six bodies pressed against ancient walls that had witnessed centuries of terror. Each of us took turns peering through the jagged slit carved into the stone, a window designed by cruel architects who understood that anticipation was its own form of torture. Just enough view to see death coming. Never enough to prepare oneself for it.
One by one, the groups ahead of us had faced the pit. Some emerged bonded, stumbling through the exit gate on the opposite side with their new companions. Others…didn’t leave as they’d entered. Guards took them out. They did it in a humane way, but did it truly matter if you were dead?
The crowd’s hunger pulsed through the thick walls. Cheers rose and fell in waves, punctuated by the screams of fellow recruits. Wild applause was followed by sudden silence. All of it filtered throughthe stone until it sounded like joy shattering the solemn quiet of a tomb.
Through the slit, I’d watched enough to understand what was going on. A massive beast with tusks like sword blades had trampled a man mid-sprint, leaving behind only crimson-soaked stone and shredded fabric. A woman with braided hair had screamed as fangs pierced her chest, her voice cutting off as she crumpled to the ground. But then there was the tall, slender man who’d dropped to his knees with his hands outstretched. A winged bull-like beast had descended, lifting him all the way to the ceiling before dropping him.
I had to say one thing for the audience. They’d remained silent for that one.
My stomach clenched, bile crawling up my throat. I pressed my forehead against the stone wall, letting the cold sink into my bones. Revulsion sat in my gut like poison, but beneath it, fire was building.
My fear had been a wire pulled taut since I’d first arrived at this place. But now it snapped, and fury rushed in to fill the void.
I hadn’t grown up here. I didn’t understand their traditions. If I had, maybe I could’ve prepared better.
No matter what, I refused to die here.
I’d survived those givingmercyto anyone with a hint of magic in my homeland. I’d dodged the seekers slipping through palace corridors like ghosts, eager to catch someone moving an object without physical effort. I’d endured the knives that found their way into dark corridors, or spent countless nights holding Addie’s trembling body while she fought nightmares I couldn’t chase away. All that suffering, all that survival, would not end with me a stain on that arena floor.
I had promises to keep. Names to uncover. Blood to avenge.
I’d unravel this court’s pretty lies thread by thread until the whole tapestry came apart in my hands, then go home and do the same with my own court. Because neither was better than the other.
It was past time to burn everything down from within, and it would start here, in this pit of their making.
Trumpets rang out inside the arena, a call for more blood. The sound settled in my spine like a death knell.
Our turn.
I pivoted from the wall to face my companions. Lexie’s face had lost most of its color, but her jaw remained set, sweat beading at her temples. Kerralyn’s hands trembled as they tightened on the bag hanging from her shoulders. She’d carefully tucked her journal inside, stroking it one final time, whispering,I’ll write in you again soon. Bryson stood with his shoulders squared, but tension locked his jaw. Derren leaned against the wall, drumming his fingers on his thigh.
There was steel in them all. Fates help us, there was steel.
“They want a show,” I said. “Let’s give them survival instead.”
Lexie pulled me into a fierce embrace. “See you on the other side,” she whispered.
