Chapter 6
Sienna
Magic suddenly snaps around me, plucking me from the frozen mountaintop and spitting me back out somewhere new.
I’ve never been good at teleportation—rarely ever use it—and I stumble when I land in the darkness.
The familiar taste of rot hits my tongue before my other senses catch on, and my heartbeat quickens instantly.
Even in our riskiest travels, Revyn and I avoided places like this—areas where decay is so rampant that there’s little life left.
What remains is a poison eager to slip down our throats and still our hearts, turning our bodies into nothing more than fuel for the rot to spread across the realm.
The dangers lurking in the deepest shadows make someone as strong-willed as Alpha Dire appear meek by comparison.
I reach for Revyn before I realize that he’s missing, portaled away without my knowledge.
Hopefully, very far away. Although he’s more experienced with living in the wilds than I am, he gets tense whenever we would get too close to patches of rot.
Being surrounded by this much of it, even if it is an illusion, would crack through his calm exterior and invite panic to come out and play.
We’ve always slept with a crackling fire at our sides; this much darkness and decay would eat at him.
Despite the sudden distance, I’m grateful that he’s gone.
I can finally breathe.
The strange thread of longing for Alistair Dire is also missing, courtesy of his sudden departure from the arena. Thank the gods. Having Revyn nearby was bad enough, but Revyn coupled with Alistair was an unexpected chokehold I never want to experience again.
A woman can only handle so much testosterone fucking with her hormones.
That’s all the blip of attraction to Alistair was—my hormones throwing a tantrum from having two alpha males in such close quarters.
The hair on the back of my neck rises as something approaches, and I pour all of my focus into heightening my natural senses.
They’re not as strong as they would be if I shifted, but I’m still not willing to risk my placement at Heartsflame for momentary safety.
I close my eyes, fill my lungs, and let the world reveal itself.
A scratch of rock sliding down a slope.
Cracks of magic splitting the air.
Sulfuric fumes rising from the earth.
And the unmistakable stutter of a nervous heartbeat before an attack.
I turn on my heel and lash out, tearing my claws through someone’s chest the moment they step too close. They balk, stunned as their blood sprays across my body, and blindly grasp the torn shreds of their shirt.
“No, please,” they rasp, eyes wide. “I don’t want to die.”
Grabbing his shoulder to steady him, I align my claws with his heart. This close, it’s impossible not to see him for who he is: a scared, hopeful romantic who thought mating would be easy. That the academy’s trials would be fair. That our world isn’t as fucked-up as the rumors warn.
He swallows, and delicate cerulean scales on his neck reflect what little light remains.
His damp skin is covered in superficial scratches, like he ran through a field of thorns when he should have been gliding beneath the ocean’s surf.
None of us should be put in this position—forced from our homelands on flimsy promises of something better—and yet . . .
I plunge my fist into his chest before his survival instincts kick in and he struggles. “Thank you for your sacrifice,” I murmur, meeting his eyes. They ripple like tidepools caught in the rain as he chokes on blood. “It won’t be in vain.”
As the life drains from his eyes, I set him down gently and wait for the telltale snap of teleportation magic to whisk me away to the winner’s circle.
Seconds tick by. Someone shouts, and another person’s sobs are abruptly cut short.
Growls echo from one end of the clearing to the other, and I quickly jump onto a boulder to scan the area.
One, two, three, four…
There are too many candidates left.
I lock eyes with an eagle flying overhead only to watch him be struck down by crimson lightning.
His body transforms back into human form as he falls from the sky, unconscious as he hits the earth with a sickening crack of bone.
The lightning-wielder screeches as she turns her next bolt onto a shadowed creature ambushing her from behind.
It lunges, but before they collide, she disappears with a snap of magic.
I search for her in vain and curse my fucking stars.
She gets accepted into the academy for a lucky hit whereas I show advanced anatomical knowledge and get nothing but the cold shoulder.
Fuck that.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I go on the offensive, tracking down the creature the witch abandoned.
It’s double my height and snarling by the time I approach, baring more teeth at me than I care to count.
Thick, dark fur covers its body, helping it blend in with the shadows.
When it moves, translucent magic curls off its skin and distorts the space surrounding it, the only indication that it’s not a natural beast of the wilds.
It’s an illusion for the sake of the trials.
With a roar, I charge ahead and barrel into its chest, striking with my claws. They rake through its fur and slice its skin, but that doesn’t deter it in the slightest.
It aims his wide muzzle for my head.
Razor-sharp teeth scrape my scalp, and I whip my head back in just enough time to miss becoming a snack.
Pain erupts on my forehead as his fangs slice my skin on the retreat.
Blood pours from the wound and drips down the side of my face.
I grit my teeth and brace myself as my body threatens to shift, the primal urge to lessen the power gap between us and tear him to shreds blurring my vision.
Maybe that’s why the trial judges haven’t admitted me.
They’re waiting for me to reveal my shifter form.
I stare at the empty space over the creature’s shoulder.
Someone’s watching me. A council member, other trial participants, Alistair Dire .
. . He never had to shift to be accepted into the academy; he was plucked from the simulation before Revyn and I had the chance to take him down.
Revyn, too, was accepted before the latest round of fighting even began.
I bet they even took whiny, friendless Veronica.
Throwing my arms out, I grin at whoever is watching.
Challenge fucking accepted.
After trading a few more blows, I slice through the creature’s neck and move on to the next.
They approach in pairs once the first one drops, building into a predictable rhythm.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins and blocks all pain from registering.
The cut across my ribs. The gash on my waist. The bone-jarring reverberation from heavy punches and harder landings.
I lose track of my kill count and take a step back to catch my breath.
Someone grabs me from behind.
They clamp an ice cold hand over my mouth and drag me away, their scent washing over me instantly.
The vampire. The same one who attacked me earlier.
My senses are on overdrive, and I drown in his unique aroma.
Shadow and smoke with a hint of something alluring hidden beneath.
Without thinking, I drink in more of him to try and distinguish that elusive note, my lungs burning as I inhale the toxic fumes surrounding us.
It’s just an illusion, but fuck, do my eyes water.
An amused laugh falls past his lips. “You’re a wild little thing, aren’t you?
” Spinning me around, he pins me to a jagged rock and locks my wrists beneath his slender fingers.
Despite the battle raging, there’s not a scratch on him.
I drag my gaze over his perfect bone structure until I latch onto a dark vein along the side of his neck, the only visible blemish on his otherwise ivory skin.
It disappears beneath his open collar, dipping so low that he tips my chin up when my gaze travels toward his navel—but not before I spot the dagger he stole from me strapped to his waist.
“Bold, too,” he muses, a sensual smirk on his lips.
“Scenting me and undressing me with your eyes.” He clicks his tongue to scold me, but there’s no heat behind it.
“How intimate.” Crimson eyes glitter like blood diamonds as the vampire’s gaze lingers.
“What would your wolf say if he saw you like this? Would he be concerned for your well-being or . . .” He drags blissfully cold knuckles across inflamed skin on my stomach, making my muscles clench. “As intrigued in your body as I am?”
“Fuck off,” I hiss, lifting my knee to his crotch.
He catches my leg easily and sweeps his palm up the back of my thigh, then holds it steady. “You’re very responsive.”
“Haven’t known many shifters, have you?” I flash my fangs at him. “We’re temperamental.”
“Body over mind, yes,” the vampire mutters, nodding subtly. “You use your bodies as weapons more than your wits.” He presses his thumb to the pulse point at my wrist, his eyes flaring as he feels my heartbeat flutter. “And how is that going for you, little wolf?”
Where does he get off on all this monologue?
I struggle against his hold before my adrenaline fades. “Fucking perfect. Let go of me, and I’ll show you.”
Ignoring my comment, he presses his lips to my ear.
“Perfect, hm?” He presses the tips of his sharp fingernails into my skin.
“So perfect that you don’t feel this?” His hand suddenly slips from my leg swipes through the gash at my waist, coating his fingers in my blood and reigniting the pain I’ve fought to keep at bay.
I grit my teeth against the burning pain as my gut churns.