Ahead, the arena loomed again, cold stone, darker than I remembered.
Kaelric stood in front of me, already in place, his wolf form tense as if he sensed what was coming. Valkaryn pulsed at my side, her presence calm but alert.
The house sponsors were already seated, their robes stiffer, faces tighter than before. I scanned each and every face until I landed on the empty chair of the House of Draven.
Where was Cassian?
My heart hammered in my chest as my gaze flicked to the opening in the mountain where he normally walked out.
Where was he? Was he punished for helping my people after the fire? I thought back to the conversation where he’d confessed that other house sponsors had been asking him to “get rid of me” before the final competition. He’d dropped off supplies for us and then… did I see him leave? Didn’t he say he’d be back? I couldn’t remember.
Magistrate Corvessa stepped onto the dais, her expression unreadable.
“You’ve made it through the gauntlet,” she said. “You’ve proven your bond to the mountain. But a true bonded pair cannot just survive a moment offire. They must endure it.”
A hush fell over the arena. A moment offire? Was she… was that a dig at the Dregs burning? Fury uncoiled within me, and for the first time, a crazy thought came to me.
Did she cause the Dregs fire? Is that why the Elitedidn’t help? Because they wanted it to happen? They’d planned it?
“This final trial will take place here within these very walls. You will be separated from your bonded wolves, and only if you are strong enough to free them will they live.”
My gut twisted.Separated.
Only if I were strong enough would Kaelric live? What did that mean?
I heard the rumbling in Kaelric’s chest from where I stood.
“There is one objective,” she continued, “be the first to retrieve your wolf. Then the mountain will find you worthy of its gift.”
Kirk Vexalor cursed under his breath as he scowled at his wolf-bonded.
“Prepare your wolves for departure.” Corvessa’s gaze swept over me, and a tremor of unease prickled down my spine.
Kaelric spun to face me, and I swallowed hard. “Where is Cassian?” I asked him.
His face said the one thing I had been thinking.
“No,” I breathed.
“They may just have him locked up. Punishing him for bringing aid to the Dregs after the fire.” Kaelric’s hand swept out and brushed the hair from my face.
“Punish someone for bringing relief to people without homes? They’re evil. I hate them,” I growled. Valkaryn vibrated at my hip in agreement.
Kaelric nodded. “Which is why you need to win. You have to bring magic to your people and show the Elites that they are not the only ones deserving of it.”
Watchers stepped out of the openings in the mountain and walked towards Kaelric and Kirk’s wolfkin.
I rushed forward, popping up on my tiptoes to whisper in Kaelric’s ear: “I’m in love with you, too,” I said, and when I pulled back, he was grinning from ear to ear.
I hadn’t said it back yet. I wanted to savor him saying it first, but I didn’t want to die without telling the food-obsessed furball that I loved him.
‘We can still communicate mentally. It will be okay. You don’t need me to win this,’Kaelric told me as the Watcher clamped yellow binding rings around his wrists.
I nodded, trying to believe him.
Once he was taken away, it was just Kirk and me. The House of Vexalor initiate glared at me as the arena quieted in that breathless way right before a storm. Even the sponsors seemed to sense it, their chatter dying as the stone floor of the space shuddered.
What was happening?
