CHAPTER SEVEN
Maverick’s voice bounced off every corner of my mind, crisp and clear, as though he stood in the room with us.
“You have ten minutes.”
The next instruction was much quieter. Like he’d spoken from across the room instead of directly into my ear.
The ringing stopped immediately, and the pressure subsided moments after.
But there was little I could do about the lingering, phantom pain. It felt like my mind was covered in bruises. “Count on Maverick to make a spectacle out of one simple task.”
“Bastard,” Kodhan grunted, locks of hair swaying as he attempted to shake away his own pain.
We’d all heard the same thing, then.
“You call him by name, not by his title,” Theia directed at me. Though it was without accusation. Again, with that curiosity. “You really are close with him.”
“We can talk about that later. We must get to the Dome, quickly,” Brannon said as he marched past me. “You heard the king. The last two competitors to get there are killed on sight. I would prefer if we all kept our heads on our shoulders today.”
He was right. Even from where we stood, a commotion could already be heard from the stairway in the tower.
The last thing I wanted to do was throw myself into a cramped stairwell with sixteen other angry, panicked competitors, but we had little choice. The chances that the entrance to the Dome were in this wing were slim.
We tried every door lining the walls on our way there, hoping for an alternative—anything that would prevent us from facing the chaos that grew louder by the second. But all of them were still locked.
Then we found the remaining sixteen scrambling up and down the steps, pushing and shoving and shouting.
A strong arm wove itself around my waist, pulling me back just in time to avoid two other competitors barreling through the entrance to our wing, only to race down the corridor without so much as a glance behind them.
None of us had the heart to tell them that they would not find what they were searching for.
“There’s no point in throwing ourselves in there until it looks like someone’s found something,” Kodhan muttered, eyes trained ahead. His arm loosened its hold, though his hand lingered, fingers splayed across my stomach.
I frowned, trying and failing to ignore the way every nerve in my body zeroed in on his touch. “We can’t afford to stand here, either. Maverick said we only have ten minutes.”
“No, he didn’t. He only gave one command.” Theia’s brows furrowed. “Unless you were the only one who he gave the warning to.”
Unease twisted knots into my spine. “Why would he only warn me?”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Theia challenged. “The king does what he wants. And if he’s going to warn someone, it only makes sense that it would be you.”
“Whatever his reasoning is, we have ten minutes to haul our asses out of here with no real way out.” Brannon gestured to the other competitors, at the chaos that was increasing with each moment that ticked on.
Ten minutes. Less than that, now. Searching every wing in such a short span of time was physically impossible, even if we split up to cover more ground. It would take time to find each other again regardless.
Maverick never spoke without reason. Of that, I was certain. He was fond of theatrics, but he wouldn’t warn me just to incite panic.
Think.
“Best make good use of that dagger,” Kodhan jibed as he pushed up his sleeves. Stars, even his forearms were corded with muscle.
The weight of said dagger suddenly grew tenfold. Blood wasn’t supposed to be spilled this early. The trials hadn’t even properly begun yet.
“By the stars,” I gasped. The Starlight Trials hadn’t even properly begun yet. Stepping just over the threshold, I craned my neck to look at the clock on the wall. It still read twelve past three.
Maverick could’ve warned me about anything, but he chose to warn me about the time.
No. Not a warning. A clue.
“Follow me.” I bounded down the steps, ignoring the sound of my name being called. They would have to trust me. There was no time to explain, and I couldn’t risk anyone else overhearing.
Going against the flow of bodies that took up most of the space on the steps left me nearly squashed against the walls.
Since we’d been in one of the higher wings, most of the other competitors were trying claw their way upwards instead, granting partial immunity from swinging fists and jabbing elbows but absolutely nothing from shoulder-first collisions.
If I was wrong, it would cost us our lives.
But I wasn’t. Maverick could’ve told everyone that we had ten minutes to make it to the Dome. Whether I liked it or not, he chose to tell me.
Hope began to shine in vast rays as I checked each clock on my way down, time still suspended in all of them. Only when I was standing in front of Kodhan and I’s initial door did I allow myself a proper breath.
There it is.
Kodhan stopped behind me. “Do you ever consider sharing your plans before carelessly acting on them?”
“Do you ever tire of listening to yourself speak?” I pointed at the clock. “Look.”
Theia and Brannon halted on either side of me, leaving Kodhan to stand at our backs. Their eyes followed the direction of my finger despite the heavy doubt written across their faces.
The clock read twenty-two past three. A ten-minute difference from all the other clocks.
“Stars bless us,” Theia gasped.
Brannon laughed. “You’re a genius.”
“That could mean anything,” Kodhan grumbled. But triumph lined my growing smile just the same. Indeed, it could mean anything. But it was a start.
More than a start, I realized, as we made to continue into our wing, only to find that it had been replaced by a long, narrow hallway leading into a pit of darkness.
No sconces lined these walls. Only rock, dirt, and silence greeted us.
Stale, musty notes of mildew wafted through the air, its tang so potent I brought my sleeve up to cover my nose, though it did little to hide the smell.
Hesitation would get us killed just as easily as cluelessness. Charging forward, I kept my pace quick. The door clanged shut moments later, plunging us into an empty, endless abyss.
I wasn’t afraid of the dark. Not when it always welcomed me like an old friend.
And this time was no different. A certain comfort could be found in knowing the others couldn’t see the rapid rise and fall of my chest as panic began to creep along my spine, or the way my brows pinched tightly with worry.
Every step I took from here would be crucial to my survival.
Coating my heart and with an extra layer of steel, I straightened my shoulders, and willed my breaths to even out.
I would win. No matter the cost.
Theia whispered from a few paces behind me. “There’s light ahead.”
A very faint glow emanated from several hundred feet away. Nothing more than a tiny speck in the distance.
“We’d better hurry. I think some of the other competitors are starting to connect the dots.” Brannon’s voice sounded further behind than Theia’s. Nevertheless, how he could still hear what was going on in the tower was beyond me. I couldn’t hear a damned thing. The silence was near oppressive.
That left the lingering at my back belonging to Kodhan. Even when I quickened my pace, that heat remained constant, his longer legs needing no effort to keep up.
An ear-splitting creak echoed behind us mere moments later, followed by numerous hushed whispers.
“Looks like they already have.” Theia’s dread mirrored my own.
We broke into a sprint.
The glow at the end of the corridor expanded until it formed an archway. And past that archway… I halted just outside of it, careful to avoid the others careening through.
Wedged between intricately carved railings of diamond-embedded black stone, thousands upon thousands of people cheered, seated in circling rows high enough that they had an exquisite view of the terrain spread before us.
The terrain itself had to be at least a thousand square feet, enough that it would take great effort to run across it if need be. Nothing but smooth, unturned dirt lay beneath our feet. Though that could change at any moment.
It felt strange, seeing things in reverse. I’d sat in those rows countless times, watching competitors viciously tear at each other. Now, I stood where their blood had dried. And would likely add my own.
Never would I have imagined being among those I’d once judged so deeply. For using magic to destroy, to maim, instead of creating something beautiful. I’d hated them.
I’d envied them.
And I was now one of them. But I wasn’t, not truly. I didn’t think I ever would be.
Even if I managed to break the curse.
The Dome had no ceiling, exposing all those inside to the shifting colors and stars above.
Maverick cast a similar magic to the Veil overtop of it to protect us from the elements, but the gods themselves could peer down on us if they wished.
The stars winked at me like they knew what awaited.
Like they could see death staring me right in the face.
“Come on.” Kodhan’s arm brushed against mine, drawing me out of the stars’ grip. Even from this close, I could hardly hear him over the roar of the audience. “We need to move out of the way.”
Mutely, I obliged. But no one noticed us, too enthralled by the excitement that radiated from above. I counted every face as they arrived, each paler than the last. Well aware of what would happen if they were the last to arrive.
When the final two popped out of the archway, ice pooled at the bottom of my stomach.
One of them began to sob hysterically, her hair fiery red, brighter than Theia’s.
The other, a boy with eyes almost as dark as Maverick’s, stood deathly still, fists clenched as if he believed he could fight his way out of the fate that awaited him.