FORTY-SIX
Layla emerged from the stairwell to intermission music and inaudible chatter, but when people on the opposite side of the stadium noticed her lights, they began cheering, and by the time she reached the middle of the platform, the coliseum echoed with deafening roars, swift drum beats, and stomping feet.
She fought the urge to flee or hide her face in Quin’s chest, forcing her shoulders back and her chin up. Then she slowly rotated, scanning the spectators as flowers rained from their hands.
“Wow,” Brietta mumbled.
“They love her,” Drexel exclaimed. Then he moved into Layla’s line of sight and stole her attention. “All you have to do is survive this run, and the city is yours.”
She ignored him and found Quin, who was looking back, ready with a reassuring smile, which he offered while sweeping his fingertips across her hot cheek.
The announcer approached and asked if she was ready, getting a stiff nod in response. Then he crossed the moat and made his way to the center of the arena. The drumming ceased, but the cheering continued for several seconds before fading away.
“Now for the event we’ve all been waiting for,” the announcer started, his magnified voice bouncing off the walls and reverberating through the caverns.
It reverberated in Layla’s head, as well, increasing her disorientation and deepening her trance, but then Quin took her by the arms and blocked everything else out. “Look at me.”
She obeyed, finding his dark eyes.
“Don’t let the crowds overwhelm you,” he encouraged. “When you get out there, don’t even think about the people watching. Pretend they’re not there. You have to keep it together, love. I need you to stay focused out there.”
He paused, looking away as the announcer introduced the five challengers, all of whom were billed as bonded children. That spiked the spectators’ excitement, but it pissed off Quin, who shouted at Drexel over the renewed cheers. “We didn’t sign up for that. You said you vetted the challengers.”
Drexel shrugged. “All I had to go on was the information they agreed to give me. It said nothing about bonded children. Do you want to request replacements?”
“Shit.”
Quin scanned the enthused masses, probably wondering how loud they would boo if Layla rejected the challengers, so she halted his struggle by laying a hand on his jaw. “It’s okay. The increase in combined power won’t make or break me.”
“They purposely deceived us. We can make them fix it.”
“I’d rather make them regret it.” And they’d just given her the motivation she needed to see it done. “I’m ready.”
Quin’s jaw flexed, but he understood she was no longer drowning in anxiety, so he lightly touched a thumb to her lower lip then let her go. “Three hundred seconds.”
She filled her lungs while making sure her legs would carry her. Then she broke eye contact with him, turning forward as her name echoed through the cavern. The crowd responded, and her family clapped with them, shouting encouragement as she left the stone platform and found moist moss with her bare soles.
She glanced back when she crossed the moat, finding Quin applauding with the others, but he rapidly blinked shiny eyes. “You got this,” he called, giving her the strength to keep going, and she didn’t stop until she reached the center of the field.
The announcer used his natural voice to introduce her to the five challengers. Then the six of them wished her luck and flew in different directions.
She resisted the temptation to track their placement, and she didn’t want to look at the spectators, so she took a few measured breaths while turning toward Quin. He continued to clap, but he’d already started pacing in front of the platform, and he probably wouldn’t stop until her run ended.
Silver fog rolled from the ground outside the moat, and Layla stole one more glimpse of Quin’s face before losing the view. Soon, she was alone in a vast cylinder capped by the dome, her solitude and vulnerability highlighted by the sunlight pouring through misty spores.
She closed her eyes, trying to tame her racing pulse and heaving lungs. “Focus.” She counted her breaths while picturing Quin, and her vitals slowed as her organs began working together instead of fighting each other. At ease in her body once more, she blocked her mind while whispering her children’s names. Then her eyes popped open as the gong rang.
Five spells soared through the barrier at once, all elemental, but only the fireball shot straight toward her. The rest stair-stepped in height, coordinated attacks meant to catch her on the run, so she stayed put and tossed out a shield to absorb the flames. The rest of the spells fizzled out shortly after flying over her, but five more had already appeared, coordinated like the last. This time she had to block a different element, and she did it while preparing herself for an increase in assaults. No way would they let her off this easy.
The next round of spells came in low, attempting to force her off the ground, but she cast a shield that deflected them all. They came from different directions. Then they doubled – ten at a time – but they remained elemental, which she caught or blocked with ease.
Nearly a minute in, she had yet to move from the center of the field, but she kept reminding herself it would get harder. Then it did.
The ground trembled as the topsoil cracked, throwing her off balance, and she nearly toppled backward as a massive fir tree charged from the earth at her feet. Branches scratched her legs and whipped her face, pushing her further back. Then her equilibrium shifted as another fir surfaced behind her. She grasped a low-hanging limb of the first, letting it pull her out of the way of the second, but she let go before rising too far from the ground. Her feet sank a few inches as she landed, so she was slow to respond when the trees caught fire, forcing her to dive from between them and slide across the dirt.
She spit while pushing to her knees, and as she glanced back, the ground quaked yet again. She lunged forward, barely clearing the sprouting treetop, and she had to fight branches to get to her feet.
Chills broke out across her flesh as her hair stood on end, a split-second warning for the flash that lit up the sky, and she recklessly threw out a palm, ricocheting a deadly bolt of lightning with a last-minute shield.
Shaking off the residual friction, she sprinted forward just in time to dodge another fir. Then she slid to a halt as one erupted in front of her. They were popping up everywhere, uprooting the old to make room for the new, so she had to leap and slide around falling timber.
The moat and perimeter came into view, blocking her way forward, and the way back was engulfed in flames. She took flight and swerved to the right, speeding around the trees faster than the challengers could catch them on fire. Then she spotted a clear section of land and descended.
They’d summoned a forest, and the flames were swiftly trapping her, raining burning bark and needles on all sides, so she planted her feet in the loose soil and fought fire with fire. Filling her body with more heat than ever before, she squeezed her eyes shut and extended her hands. Then she protected herself from the consequences as a wave of white-hot fire erupted from her palms. She pushed it in every direction, and even with her precautions in place, warmth caressed her skin.
She opened her eyes, hoping she hadn’t made things worse, and relief swept the air from her lungs as smoke billowed toward the dome and a forest of ash floated to the ground.
She was tempted to smile at her trick, but it sparked a barrage of rapid-fire attacks, so she cast shields to the front and back while catching those coming in from the sides. Just as she thought she’d blocked them all, an unfamiliar energy prickled the nape of her neck, and she spun around as a black cloud slammed into her rear shield. The barrier busted with a burst of pressure, and she lost her breath and footing, soaring back through a blurry vortex to the ashy earth.
Sliding to a halt, she gasped and flattened her palms, bracing to bounce back up, but the loose soil and soot made her sink deeper. As soon as she got her shoulders out of the mess, the atmosphere warmed with an incoming fireball, forcing her back down. Then thick vines whipped across her ankles, waist and inner elbows, anchoring her to the ground.
Shit.
She flailed and fought their hold, panicking as they pulled, slowly burying her alive, and as if she wasn’t already sinking, a violent gust of wind came from above, scattering her senses while pushing her deeper into the grave.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. But she could feel her heart breaking, and she could picture Quin – the fear in his eyes and the desperation in his whispered pleas. The latter echoed in her head, even as the wind threatened to burst her eardrums. And in his panic, she found her calm.
Her struggle ceased, her body going limp. Then her fingers flexed as she cast an air shield over the trench. She choked, finally able to open her mouth and exhale, but the vine digging into her stomach wouldn’t let her refill her lungs, so she narrowed her eyes and snapped the earthen restraint with magic.
She’d sunk so deep dirt toppled over her arms and legs, covering the other vines, and water seeped in from all sides, filling the pit with mud. She flicked her left hand, sweeping away the debris by her feet, and as soon as she spotted the vines, she severed them, hoping she hadn’t cut herself in the process. She didn’t have time to look. Using the same method, she freed her right arm. Then she rolled to her left and frantically uprooted the final vine.
Wind no longer beat against her shield, so she vanished it as more spells headed her way. She clawed at a chunk of scorched moss, trying to get out of the dreaded ditch and dodge the assault, but the ash and unexplained water had made a mess of the entire field.
Damn. She had to move or they would trap her again. Bending at the knees, she dug her heels and hands into the mud. Then she combined a physical shove with magical effort and shot into the air.
A mud trail still followed her when the spells slammed into one another and exploded, flinging dirt and licking her feet with heat, but she didn’t look back. She was too busy pinpointing the fresh assaults.
She caught three at once, deflecting them toward three more, and the impacts rocked her bones as the air flashed. She ignored the jolt, blocking two more spells while dodging another, then another, climbing higher as smoke curled beneath her. The haze lit up with tracers as electricity skipped and sparked through the vapors, blocking her descent, and the crystal dome blocked her way up.
Once again, she was trapped. Or so they thought.
As spells charged from all sides, she calmly coated herself in an elemental shield. Then she dove headfirst into the deadly blanket of smoke, reaching the other side as explosions shook the roof.
Her opponents would have to dip below the haze to see her, giving her a few seconds to catch her breath, so she dropped her shields and landed, ignoring the water rushing around her calves as she cleaned the gemstone on her cuff. Next, she wiped her forehead, her gaze on the perimeter of the field, but she quickly realized the threat was beneath her. The water was rising, moving from her calves to her knees in a matter of seconds. Then the current intensified as the edges of the electrified smoke curled down.
She soared from the water and hovered, her mind spinning with solutions, but before she could land on one, an invisible gust of wind sideswiped her, and she crashed back into the swelling lake.
Her braid and skirt yanked up as churning water rushed toward her nose, so she snapped her mouth shut and exhaled, keeping her lungs clear while she rolled over and stabilized her balance. If she hadn’t spent weeks strength-training, the tide would have swept her back under, and no amount of muscles could save her from the deterioration of the soggy ground. She made another attempt to leave the water, but she immediately hit a violent jet stream and was tossed back under.
Son of a bitch. Now they were pissing her off.
She kept her cool while swimming with the flow, but she wasn’t prepared for them to hit the lake with electricity, so she needed to think fast.
Aligning her priorities, she surfaced while stretching her hands above her head. As soon as they hit the air, she swept them down beside her, and a water shield followed, enclosing her in a pocket of sloshing liquid.
Now that the waves weren’t throwing her around, she took the time to protect against electricity and raised her gaze to the voltage-laced smoke, finding it alarmingly close. Following a quick scan of her surroundings, she drew a deep breath. Then she vanished her shields and thrust her palms out to the sides.
The lake rushed toward the barrier, exposing a circle of earth, which contracted, cracked and paled, suddenly sapped of moisture. Waves lurched up the walls, blocking the wind, and Layla used the opportunity to toss out a spell that would filter the smoke and absorb the electricity. By the time the water peaked and crashed inward, she’d reset her elemental shield, and this time it was dry inside. The waves hit with a thunderous whoosh, but her barrier held long enough for her to shoot into the clear air.
For the first time since the trial started, she registered the roar of the crowd, but it didn’t distract or concern her. If anything, it bolstered her confidence and energy.
“What else have you got?” she whispered, spinning in a circle as the waves settled. The water level continued to rise, but it no longer swirled, something that could change in an instant, and she still couldn’t spot the wind spells.
Sweeping out a hand, she rotated once more, attempting to coat the entire barrier with an air shield, but she barely got halfway before the challengers unleashed another torrent of attacks, then another.
Wind and electricity were no longer in abundance. Now it was fire. She relied on sound as much as she relied on sight, as she could hear the popping and crackling of fireballs before they sailed into view. She blocked and dodged, dissipating as many as she could while clearing the smoke and keeping track of the rising water.
She’d managed to remain mid-height through multiple assaults, but the tide eventually forced her higher as the flames took on more challenging forms, stretching her limits and spiking the temperature. First, the fireballs got bigger. Then her opponents worked together, twisting their spells into a massive fire devil, its tail whipping up steam on the surface of the water as it created a whirlpool of wind within the tunnel.
Sweat beaded on Layla’s skin as she fled from the burning twister. In the heat of the moment, that’s all she could think to do, and she ended up on the edge of the field as the devil wreaked havoc in the center, growing bigger and bigger. Soon, it would fill the entire cylinder.
Keeping an eye on the barrier behind her, she tossed out the largest shield she could muster under pressure, trying to absorb the flames, but one sweep of the funnel was all her spell endured before busting. Next, she tried to snuff out the inferno with the water below, but someone else was controlling the tide, and she didn’t have time to battle them.
The fire devil flicked its deadly tail, forcing her to soar around the perimeter. Then it shifted its course and charged. She couldn’t get past it, and the tail was behind her, so she dove toward the water.
A thick cloud of steam wavered across the surface, stinging her eyes and leaving her unsure where the mist ended and the lake began. She threw out a hand, clearing a path. Then she jerked to a halt mere inches from a boiling sea.
Gravity tugged at her feet, nearly plunging her into certain death, and heat sweltered her side as the fire devil swirled closer. Nerve endings shot warnings to her brain, urging her to move, and instinct flipped her upright before pushing her back to the wall.
She pressed her right palm to the fog behind her while extending the other toward the blaze. Then she focused all her energy on casting a fire shield. She had no idea if it would withstand the power behind the twister, and she remained vulnerable from the back, but she was out of options.
She and her shield lurched when the funnel hit, slamming her back into the barrier before dragging her across it, but she ignored the pain and flexed, holding her position while continuously pouring energy into her protection. Time crept, seconds felt like an eternity, testing her endurance. Then the fierce momentum of the rotation rolled the twister off her and sent it spinning around the outer edge of the field.
She gasped and dropped her shield, in desperate need of a break, but there was no break to be had.
A roaring whoosh resounded behind her – a spell cast. And its caster hovered less than a stone’s throw away. By the time she registered the sound of the threat, it was upon her, so she squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact.
An ethereal ring captured the air. Then a blast punched her eardrums as a gentle force shoved her forward. Head buzzing, she spun around, stunned to be alive, let alone unharmed, and her mouth fell open as her eyes widened on a smoldering, black circle seared into the barrier. She glanced at the hand that had been pressed against it, finding the once beautiful gem on her wrist cuff shattered and empty, and her nostrils flared as her heart kicked her ribs.
Those assholes.
The burning tornado took the curve toward her, and it looked as though it was unrolling, building a wall of flames, all while the boiling lake crept closer, trapping her in the top third of the steaming cylinder.
“Enough!”
She threw out her hands as she shrieked, fed up with the trial and everything it entailed – the lies, manipulation and deceit; the corruption and immorality; the weeks training, days stressing, and injuries endured; and the fact that she didn’t have time for this shit. She was an angel, damn it. And she was about to fucking prove it.
Her anger and frustration fueled a wave of energy that burst from her palms and soared toward the fire devil, reversing its course. Then she swept her hands down and flew toward the center of the scalding lake, emitting enough force to push it against the barrier. Her arms shook as the challengers tried to keep the water in place, but she set her jaw and dove into the cone, tunneling deeper.
The steam thickened as the waves overtook the burning wall and washed out a large portion of the fire devil, so Layla had no idea how close the water was to the dome, and she couldn’t risk it crashing down on her. She filled her lungs, bracing for the worst. Then she ceased the magic forcing back the water. A ridge rose up in the center of the cone as soon as the pressure on her palms fell away, tempting her muscles to relax, but she tightened them while summoning a subzero blast of air.
The surface of the boiling water froze so quickly it bore evidence of bubbles with sharp ridges and divots, and the whoosh of arctic wind dished up the sides, solidifying the waves. Booming cracks echoed down the cylinder as the crest of the swell broke free, and Layla landed in the center of the frozen cone, crouching as she shielded against raining chunks of ice.
Once they stopped tumbling down the slopes, she peered through her protective dome, searching for more threats, but instead, she found a wondrous sight. The sudden temperature shift had turned the steam into ice crystals, which drifted toward the earth like delicate snowflakes, catching beams of sunlight and throwing rainbows at the frozen walls. Amidst it all, a weakening fire devil flickered and spit, out of its casters’ control as it gracefully danced through the air and whipped up thin trails of silver steam.
Layla admired the view while vanishing her shield. Then she reached up with one hand and curled her fingers into a fist, robbing the oxygen from the atmosphere above her. The flames shrank then fizzled out, and she exhaled while falling to her knees.
The stands were eerily quiet, no music or cheers, just blast after blast as the challengers tried to bust through the icy wall. They would succeed soon, and she wasn’t sure if she had the energy to fight them off again. She had to. She was an angel, damn it. She would figure out a way.
She lowered her hands to the ice, shivering as she pushed her tired body to her frozen feet. Then she jerked her head up, her heart rejoicing the muffled ding of the official gong.
She’d made it. She’d survived the gauntlet.