Then the arena begins to flood.
Water rushes in, seeping up from the ground and shooting out of massive boat-sized spigots on the walls of the arena. The ticker flashes with the odds, the crowd betting on her chances of surviving and who she’ll save if she lives.
Celine doesn’t hesitate.
Looping the speargun’s strap over her neck until it hangs against her chest, she darts toward the small grove of trees. Her wings shoot from her back, and she launches herself into the air right before they transform into heavy blades.
The momentum is enough to propel her to the lowest of the thick branches.
She grabs on, glancing up at her options, then down at the rising water. I wince. The rope on the speargun isn’t infinite. I don’t know what the range is, but it has one. Celine needs to stay out of the water while remaining close enough to kill whatever comes out of it.
A ferocious vibration shakes the arena.
The trees tremble, their needles quivering, then raining down on the water. My platform shudders. It’s not enough to disrupt my balance, but it is noticeable—and I’m nowhere near the source.
A wake appears, parting the water on both sides. Fifteen feet long, it churns through the man-made swamp, circling the trees one at a time.
Celine loops her left arm around the tree trunk and looks at Luca. He points at the water, then covers his eyes, leaving space between his fingers.Either the monster is blind or close to it?Celine nods and adjusts her grip on the speargun.
I eye the weapon, and my stomach flips. Hopefully, it’s as simple as point and shoot. Anything else will be hard to figure out while fighting for her life. Especially in this environment.
New snow is falling. It lands on the water and treetops, turning the arena into a bastardized winter wonderland. Even sealed in by the invisible barrier, I’m freezing my ass off.
I glance at the ticker; Malach’s favor with the gamblers has shifted.
Alistair is winning the poll today.
I don’t give a shit. If there was a way for every person in the stands to lose all the money they came here with, I’d root for that option.
The wake circles a tree about twenty feet from Celine, and I shake my head. The dumb thing will never find her this way. The fish, eel, or whatever the fuck it is, is basically in a barrel. Once it gets close enough, she’ll stab it, and we’ll be done with this twisted game.
Then the tree shudders. A horrifying squelching sound echoes up from the water as the trunk sinks—no, it’s not sinking, it’s being sucked down—gobbled up by whatever is lurking beneath the surface.
Mouth open, palms prickling, I watch the tree disappear until only the tip is visible. The next tree in line, one closer to Celine’s perch, gets the same treatment. My heart skips a beat. I was wrong. The monster isn’t the fish in a barrel; Celine is. It won’t need sight or strategy if it eats her hiding places.
Celine watches the trees between her and the beast disappear like clockwork. If she’s scared, she doesn’t show it. When there are only two trunks left between her and it, she points the speargun at the tip of the wake, lines up her shot, and shoots.
A normal person would miss.
Celine nails it.
The wake flattens out as water rolls back into place with a few gentle ripples.
My shoulders dip.Is it over? Please let it be over.
I wait for Riven to call the fight; except he doesn’t. His eyes are glued to the water, and his face is glitching—bands of static overtaking the smooth amber mask.
Nausea crawls up my throat.
The surface of the water trembles, then explodes. Massive waves crash against the remaining trees and slam into the walls of the arena. The spectators in the first few rows get soaked, groaning and squealing as they find themselves unexpectedly in the splash zone.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the thrashing stops.
The line attached to the spear slackens. I let out a shaky breath, but no one cheers. Riven stares down without blinking, and his hand curls around the podium’s edge in a white-knuckled grip.
A strange anticipation spreads.
In the silence, I hear a low gurgle, water circling a drain, but on a massive scale.
