Chapter 10
I can’t stomach anything on the day of the first trial. The whole table feels grim, just like the weather outside.
Two days ago, we were laughing, gossiping about who hooked up with who under the full moon. Today, reality strikes as if it’s been drawing the bow for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to loose the arrow.
Living a glamorous life in a Fae Court makes you forget your old life. Here, there’s no poverty, barely any hardship. We’re dressed in silk, fed like royalty, lulled into thinking we belong.
It’s addictive.
But by nightfall … at least one of us will be gone.
“Uh, sexy,” Aurora purrs, biting her lips as she steps into her role as trial host. “I love that you’re all wearing matching leathers.”
Of course we are—we were told to do so.
Life is a game to her.
But then again, what did I expect?
We gather in the Court’s immaculately manicured garden, but it’s the woods ahead that draw every eye. Dense. Shadowed. Massive.
Behind us, the Fae lounge in gilded viewing stand—placing bets, chanting, cheering like their favourite sports team is about to win.
“Welcome,” Aurora calls out, capturing everyone’s attention with a single word. The noises die instantly, like her voice is laced with magic. “The moment we’ve been waiting for is here. I hope you’re well rested, contestants.”
Sure. The dark rings under my eyes confirm it.
“In a moment, our attendants will take each of you to different parts of the woods,” she continues. “All you have to do is find your way out—easy, right?”
“Yes, but what the hell do they have hiding in those woods, is the question,” Lucas mutters, his jaw tightening.
“Agreed. It can’t be that easy,” I murmur, eyes drifting to the stand.
It doesn’t take long to find a familiar silhouette framed by constellation wings.
Kieran sits among his people, arm crossed, deep in conversation with Atticus and Octavia. The Council members are all present: Gideon, Daphne, Virgil, Felix and Skylar—a reminder of just how important these trials are.
The wind shifts, stirring the air with dry leaves. I tighten the braids that took me almost twenty minutes to do.
And when I look up, Kieran’s eyes are already on mine.
He didn’t say a word about the trials to me. No warning. No good luck. Nothing.
Kieran only has two settings: the ruthless ruler, and the let’s-fuck-on-my-desk horny male.
And yet, for the past two weeks, I’ve somehow let myself believe that he might care, even a little. That the banter, the laughter, the teasing—maybe they meant something.
Maybe they resembled friendship.
Turns out I was right to begin with: there’s no point getting involved with anyone.
Now, I’m about to walk into a death trap, and he’s busy chatting with his friends.
I can’t blame him, really.
“If I don’t make it, and somehow one of you guys wins this thing,” Tessa says, her voice trembling, “will you go tell my mum that I love her and I’m sorry?”
My heart drops.
Not a goodbye.
Fuck.
It’s only been two weeks. She’s just a stranger. Why do I even care?
I now realise the past two weeks have been crueller than the actual trials.
I didn’t need this.
I didn’t need to break my already shattered heart.
“Are you kidding?” I scoff, blinking fast. “Go tell her yourself.”
Tessa chuckles, even though her eyes are glassy. “Can I at least get a hug?”
“No, bitch,” I yap, and now Tessa looks like a lost puppy. “Let’s hug when we’re out.”
And that does the trick. She’s all sunshine and smiling again.
Good.
Don’t you fucking dare die.
At least not before me. That would be incredibly rude.
Lucas, on the other hand, just pulls me into a hug without warning, tight enough to crack my ribs.
“I’m going to stab you with my dagger,” I groan, but his back rumbles with laughter.
“So you keep saying,” he hums, loosening the hug just enough for me to fill my lungs with air. “I’ll find you in the woods. We’ll both get out, okay?”
“I doubt it’d be that easy.”
“I’ll find you,” he repeats, steady, not an ounce of fear in his eyes. I stare at him when he pulls away, then he turns to Tessa. “I’ll find you, too.”
Tessa nods, returning to lost-puppy mode, eyes glassy again.
“Ugh.” Someone scoffs.
Of course, it’s Daisy.
“You people make me sick.” She sneers. “What the hell are you going to do if it’s just the three of you left and you have to start backstabbing each other?” She rolls her eyes. “Are you going to draw straws to see who dies first?”
“You’d better hope we don’t stab you in the woods, Daisy,” I say, smiling like it’s summer and we’re going to a tea party
“Or maybe it’ll be you first, Cassie.” Jordan snorts. “You have made an enemy of half the group. Do you really think no one’s going to take a shot when your precious little King isn’t watching?”
I tilt my head, eyes narrowing. “Was that a threat, Jordan?”
He lifts a brow. “Just a friendly reminder.”
“Then I would also like to remind you that you’ve only got one eye,” I say cooly, glancing at Kieran. “If I do make it out, maybe I’ll ask Kieran nicely to take the other.”
I don’t think Kieran will just do whatever I ask.
But they don’t know that.
They don’t know the sex they think we’ve been having only exists in my head—and Kieran’s, I guess.
“You’d better fucking hope I don’t catch up to you before Lucas does,” Jordan growls, voice low and venom laced.
Lucas steps in front of me, pulling me back by the arm. His eyes lock on Jordan like he’s seconds from drawing blood. “Touch her, and you die.”
Jordan clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “Didn’t realise you sleep with both Kieran and him.” His eyes flick between us. “But I guess the odds of surviving are better when you’ve got them both wrapped around your little finger.”
Fucking hell.
He had to go there.
“What did you just—” I’m halfway through the sentence when Aurora’s voice cuts through the moment.
“It’s time, lovely contestants,” she announces. A dozen attendants step out from the tree line like wraiths, all black leather and masked faces.
Oliver gasps. Leon freezes.
“May the best one win,” Jordan whispers as he passes me, leaning in just enough to make it personal. Then, with a sharp smile, he drags a finger across his throat in a silent gesture—making sure I know what happen will happen to me if he finds me first.
The woods stretch endlessly—damp from rain, cold as punishment.
Each breath clouds the air in pale mist, and I have no idea where to begin. A Fae vanished me here, then left without so much as glancing at my face.
I don’t know if it’s the cold sinking into my bones, or the dread.
Think, Cassandra. Think.
I close my eyes for a moment, listening to the noises around me—trees rattling in the wind, birds chirping in the distance, and the frantic pounding of my own heartbeat.
The sun was in front of me before we entered the woods.
If it is at my back now, I’ll be moving towards the Fae stands.
Yes, let’s do that.
Now I just have to hope that I don’t spend hours getting lost in these woods that the damn sun shifts enough to confuse me.
I unsheathe my moonstone dagger and start moving towards what I hope is the entrance of the woods. Each few steps, I mark a tree with a shallow slash, just in case I end up getting lost and circling back.
Apart from a few scurrying animals, there is no one here but me and the faint fog, creeping along like a quiet, eerie companion. The first twenty minutes are easy. Nothing leaps out. Every step I make is careful and calculated—no snakes, no poisonous insects, no traps.
Then—
“Cass! Cassie!”
A voice shouts from behind me. A man’s voice. Followed by rattling underbrush and pounding heavy footsteps.
I spin, grip tightening around the dagger.
The man emerges, and my face goes pale.
It’s not Lucas, nor Jordan.
It’s worse.
It’s Noah—my brother.
“How—” I choke. “How the hell did you get here?”
How is this even possible?
Noah’s panting like he ran the whole way here. “How the fuck would I know?! I went to sleep normally—you know, not that I get much sleep since you disappeared. And the next thing I knew, I woke up in this bloody Court and got dumped in these woods!”
No.
No, no, no.
He can’t be here.
He can’t be here.
Is this some kind of sick joke?
“No … Noah, you need to go back. You can’t …” I stutter. Words fail me.
Mum and Dad can’t lose us both.
“Did you think I want to be here?” Noah snaps. His voice cracks. “I prayed they’d take me in your place, but you’re still here. Gods … it’s not supposed to be like this.”
Gods.
Oh, my Gods.
The Fae are twisted, so twisted.
They did this to us?
I was supposed to face some creatures, maybe one of Virgil’s monsters. But they decided to mentally fuck us up instead?
Fuck.
Deep breaths, Cassie. Deep breaths.
“We need to get out of here,” I manage at last, forcing my voice to steady. “That’s the rule. Maybe once we’re out, they’ll send you back home.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” Noah says, his voice low. “You vanished right before my eyes, and now that I’m here, I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
“You have to,” I snap. “They won’t let me leave, so you have to. If you don’t … you might not get that chance again.”
“And what am I supposed to tell Mum and Dad? That I found you but let you go?”
“Don’t tell them anything. You said it yourself—you went to sleep and woke up here. Time works differently around here. They probably don’t even know you’re missing.”
“For gods’ sake, Cass. Do you hear yourself!? That’s fucked up!”
“I’ve got no time for this.” I shake my head, starting to walk again. I can’t have this fight with Noah. It’s pointless.
One of us needs to survive and get out of here. I chose to be here, to do this, but Noah didn’t. He has to go.
“Oh, great! Suddenly you have no time? What am I meant to do with that?”