“Our alliance allowed us to play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” he continues. “To confuse and surprise our enemy for the first time in centuries, and it was a success! So let’s give a big round of applause to vanquishing our enemies.”
This time the crowd claps, but there’s a buzz of confusion in the arena.
“To celebrate this newfound partnership, I invited our human partners here today to give them a taste of our strength and to celebrate this new path we’re taking,” he explains, and a feeling of dread fills me. “Stand up and wave!”
Mathias’ fist clenches, and I see him scanning the arena.
Some stand; others look around with fear on their faces. Several move to the aisles to leave. It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck and not being able to do anything about it.
“Stop!” They all halt, and Frederick smiles. “To the new age of vampires!” In a single move, the humans raise their hands and slice their own necks. Blood sprays on the vampires around them, and all control is lost.
Horrified, I swiftly begin counting. 15, 35, 63, 80. I stop. Almost a hundred humans. Gone in one stroke.
I look across and see Hawthorne, Jamison, and Gatlin under a shield of magic as chaos reigns around them. Thankfully, there are no humans in our section.
The woman next to me grabs my arm, but I calmly look at her and point to Mathias. “Careful. That’s my mate.” I use the word mate knowing it’s the only thing she’ll understand even though I haven’t got a clue.
Her eyes dart from him to me, then she drops my arm to leap into the section next to us and join the frenzy.
Someone new grabs my arm, and I scream, but Mathias quickly puts a hand over my mouth. “We’re going to slowly move to the end of the aisle and out the exit. Understand?”
I nod several times and take a deep breath, trying to still my racing heart.
“Good, that’s it,” he says in a soothing voice. “Where’s the phone?”
I hand it to him, and he shoots off a text to Jamison. “They’re leaving too. Don’t worry. He has his invisibility cloak. They might smell them, but it will be hard to locate them.”
“Our time of hiding is over!” Frederick shouts. “The gods be damned!”
The arena pauses, as if it’s holding its breath, and in that split second, they become divided. Arguments break out between those who remember the war with the gods and those who don’t want to hide anymore.
It takes us ten minutes to reach the exit. When we get there, Frederick is standing in front of it with a contingent of guards. “They’ll escort you to your quarters. Can’t have you running off before we make a deal, can we?” He laughs and waves us off.
Hand tightly held by Mathias; I numbly stumble along behind him, but all I hear is the roar for violence. All I smell is the coppery taste of blood. All I see are human faces blissfully slicing their own necks. Frederick must have had them under a compulsion.
The guards unlock the door for us, and I glance at Mathias. They’ve removed the digital lock he installed, which meansthey now have access whenever they want. I walk toward the bedroom with only one thought on my mind. Getting out of this cursed dress.
Mathias follows, a look of concern in his eyes. He steps forward, but I back away and turn my head to the side, afraid I’ll throw up on him.
Hurt flashes across his face before a blank mask drops.
“Not…blood.”
Understanding dawns, and with a grimace, he pivots toward the bathroom.
I immediately yank the dress from my body and kick it into the corner along with the shoes. Wearing Mathias’ scent and shirt, I sit on the bed and curl into myself, wrapping my arms around my legs, trying to hold myself together. Images from the arena threaten to break me, but I keep shoving them away.
Time passes, but I’m sort of drifting in a fog. I look down to find Mathias’ dark eyes full of concern. Hair wet from the shower, he’s kneeling in front of me, wearing a pair of black boxer briefs. His finger tentatively reaches out and smooths back my hair.
“Did I scare you? The Mathias you witnessed during the match? I swear I’m not…I tried to make Gregori’s death quick.”
“Everything about today terrifies me,” I admit, my voice slightly raspy from the emotions I’m holding back. “Except you. You’re the only thing that makes sense.” I take a deep, shuddering breath. “I want you to make me forget it all—the blood, the screams, the taste of death. I don’t want to know where I end and you begin. I need you.”
32
MATHIAS
She falls into my arms, wrapping all her arms and legs around me, and I carefully stand. Then I pull out my phone and find the playlist I made that reminds me of her. The first song begins to play: “We Go Down Together” by Dove Cameron and Khalid.
