Kaelric padded to my side, shifting as he came. Smoke curled off his burned skin, but his eyes, still glowing faintly, landed on me.
“You okay?” he rasped, reaching me and taking myface into his hands, probing my brow, my neck, my collarbone. The touch was so soft, so tender, I had to keep the moan off my lips. He was inspecting me for wounds.
I nodded, my pulse still thundering. “I am now.”
His eyes flicked to Valkaryn. “What theHadeswas that?” There was a smile on his lips.
I looked down at the sword, still vibrating faintly in my grip. She pulsed once. Satisfied.
“She got angry,” I said softly. “Because he hurt you.”
Kaelric looked at me like he wanted to say something else. But instead, he reached out, just brushing my hair from my shoulder.
“I think you’re ready for the next trial.”
And even with blood all around me, and dead bodies…
I laughed.
Chapter Twenty
The night train from Grimreach was quiet. Too quiet. Kaelric hadn’t spoken a word on the ride back. But when I finally let my head fall against his shoulder, he didn’t pull away. He sat there, warm and silent, until the city lights returned. Elia was safe, Valkaryn had calmed, and Kaelric hadn’t let go of my arm once. His fingers were threaded through the crook of my elbow, keeping me within arm’s reach.
Whatever happened between us on that battlefield… it got buried the second we returned to Aerlyn Academy. We had barely any time to check in with my family and Cassian before we were on the train to the Steel Mountains.
It was trial day, the second one.
It was obstacle-based, from the look of it.
The stone beneath my boots was slick with morning dew, and there was dried blood from last night on my boots. I stood just behind the iron gate of the arena, heart thudding, Kaelric at my side in human form.
The arena held a hush so deep it made the skin on my arms rise.
Kaelric stood beside me, eyes fixed on the obsidian platform at the far end of the stone field. His jaw was clenched, breath controlled, focused. But I could feel the tension coiled in him like a wire pulled too tight.
Above us, the raised stone dais overlooked the arena, and the sponsors sat in tall-backed chairs, robed in their house colors. Cassian was dressed in sharp black and dark blue, one hand resting lightly on the curved hilt at his hip. His eyes scanned the field and locked on me.
He dipped his chin once, just enough to be noticed. He didn’t seem too mad at my ditching him in the middle of the night to go to Fenmyr. For that, I was grateful. I needed to keep him as an ally.
The magistrate’s voice rang out from a smaller stone podium on the dais.
Her voice echoed across the stone field: “Today marks your second trial. This trial is known asThe Gauntlet. A timed obstacle course designed to test the bond between wolfkin and weapon-bearer. Youmust reach the crystal at the center of the course.Together. If one of you fails to reach it, both are disqualified.”
She paused, letting that sink in. I peered to glance at Kaelric, but he didn’t look back at me, so I faced forward again.
“Magic is permitted. Interference with another pair’s bonded wolf, or weapon-bearer, is not. Violation of this rule will result in immediate execution.”
Execution!For messing with another initiate?Whoa.
There was a flicker of movement on the dais as someone laughed.
Probably House of Vexalor. They loved executions.
Magistrate Corvessa’s eyes swept over us. “The goal here is to weed out the weak. Only the mountain will know if you are worthy of its gift.”
That landed like a blade in my gut, the entire reason I was here: to get magic for my whole family and change their lives for the better. I stood a little taller then, imagining the mountain watching me, assessing whether or not I was worthy of the power it wanted to impart.
She turned toward the dais. “Sponsors, confirm your observation.”
