We trudge toward The Vale alongside the other students from Institute Thirteen. Everyone's dressed in their uniform, the familiar coloring stitched into their blazers. We merge with the other institutes until we come to a stop in the grassy area before the dining hall.
To my surprise, The Sanctum is already waiting, standing on a platform above everybody else.
My gaze immediately latches on Rikard’s after hearing Thorne’s vision, but if he's aware of it, he pays me no mind as he continues to talk with Cordelia beside him.
Turning away from The Sanctum members, I glance around at the crowd. Every single member of every institute is present, but only four differentcolored badges stand up front while the rest hold back.
Red, pink, green, and deep purple. I know red is Institute One, and I know we’re the deep purple, but my brain is too fried to recall the others. The reality is, it doesn’t matter what color they’re wearing. All that I care about is finding victory in the last game and earning ascension.
My gut twists at the thought alone, knowing full well that's never going to come in the way that I want. It seems The Sanctum are up to things that we can't truly understand, but control is their priority, and it seems they'll stop at nothing to get it.
“Good morning, students of The Vale,” Anya states, beaming down at the crowd as her eyes linger on her daughter, Willow, who is too busy smiling back to acknowledge the burning sensation I'm sure is clawing at the side of her face from my glare. “It is with great pleasure that The Sanctum welcomes you here today for the semi-final of the Institute Games. I'm sure you're familiar with the procedures now, but at this time, it brings me tremendous joy to acknowledge that two institutes will proceed to the final after today’s events, and we all get to bear witness to such a wonderful moment after so many interruptions and disappointments,”she continues, her gaze cutting toward me, and I don't take it as a coincidence. I ignore her withering look as she stands taller, running her hands over her shirt. “It is of utmost importance to remain respectable, reputable, and victorious here today. With that in mind, I feel it is due course to announce the final four institutes that remain, and they are one, four, seven, and thirteen.” She says the latter with disdain.
Her tone doesn’t pierce the surface as I continue to blankly stare at her. Knowing they are just as much the enemies as Jude is, I don't want them to praise me like we're friends, like there's a fake sense of companionship here.
They want to control me just as much as Jude does, they're just going about it differently.
That's the reality.
That's the fact that I let thrum through my entire body as I stand before them, adrenaline coursing through my veins and erasing whatever dregs of tiredness I may have felt before our arrival here.
“Without further ado,” Anya says, swinging her arms out wide in a show of jazz hands. “I can announce, that the name of the games today is?—”
A whistle rings through the air like an arrowseeking its target, and its bullseye comes with a thud as a body drops on the stage.
I blink at the lifeless form four times before I process what on Earth is happening.
Anya gapes in disbelief, her wolf rising to the surface as her claws extend defensively.
Cordelia produces a staff out of nowhere, a steel tipped blade on the end as her eyes darken and magic thickens around her.
Rickard's fangs are on full display, eyes narrowed as his vampire pounds to the surface.
All while Saken purses his lips, not revealing his abilities as he blinks down at the limp body beside him.
Toman.
He's dead.
“Oh no, I feel I should have gone for the one who wouldn't shut the fuck up, but alas, he shall do.”
Everybody's gaze whips behind us to find Jude flanked by multiple men, but the only man at his side is Walker.
My heart races, but not from his presence. It thunders with the desperate need to find Kael.
But he's not here. With every sweep of my eyes, I can't find him.
Unfortunately for me, Jude sees me immediately, a devious grin turning his lips as he beams, his predatory stance all too familiar.
“Now, let's get on with this. Shall we?”
22
RION
Asinking feeling settles in my stomach, burning up my abdomen, throughout my veins, lighting up every part of my body as the truth before me resonates in my mind.
Toman is dead.
