Chapter 5
Five
Silas
The ship creaked as we carved our way through calm, emerald seas. Sea birds squawked overhead, then dove from blue skies to scoop up small fish from the ocean for their breakfast.
Despite what Felditch said when we arrived yesterday, he hadn’t shared what today’s event would be.
After we’d eaten, he’d led us along a path, through an orchard behind the manor, and down to the beach, where several dinghies waited at the end of a short pier to take us out to this ship. He hadn’t joined us.
We’d been sailing for a couple of hours.
I curled my fingers around the railing, watching the land move farther and farther away.
Now all I could really see were the distant mountains.
I had no sense of what was to come. No internal alarm or warning signal.
I was going into every event blind, and I fucking hated it.
I didn’t care about myself, what I hated most was not knowing if Ursula was in the firing line.
She stood several yards away, her gaze seemingly trained on the horizon as well.
Her stance appeared relaxed, but there was a stiffness to her shoulders as she subtly assessed our opponents.
I still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to our truce, yet I was relieved beyond measure that she had.
This tournament was going to be hard enough as it was.
Being able to strategize for upcoming events without constantly having my guard up would be nice.
Who was I fooling? Just being able to talk to her, look at her, be near her was pure fucking bliss.
The breeze had the shimmering red strands of her hair dancing, and the sun had given her cheeks a touch of pink.
She absently licked her lips, dragging her teeth over the lower one as she searched for weaknesses among the other teams. I sucked in a breath, and even though turning away from her was a herculean feat, I couldn’t let her catch me staring.
Light burst down from the sky just as I was turning away, startling the hell out of everyone, and Felditch landed on the deck.
He rose to his full height, a smile spread across his face and his arms spread wide. “Today is the first official day of the tournament! I hope you’re all as excited as I am for you to get started.”
Water slapped against the hull, causing the ship to sway, and I gripped for the railing.
“Your first trial is a simple one, something easy to get you started,” he said, that broad smile still on his face.
Shadows creeped over the deck. Clouds were gathering above us. It had been clear a moment ago.
“This one is so much fun!” he said and clapped his hands, the sound abnormally loud.
Lightning forked down from the sky rapidly darkening with heavy, turbulent clouds.
Felditch clapped again, and a boom of thunder echoed around us. “The point of every task is to test your limits, and for some of you”—he winked, exaggeratedly—“beyond!”
Beyond our limits? In other words, death.
His smile didn’t waver. His lips were a deeper red, and with the darkening sky causing shadows on his face, the male looked maniacal.
The sun was nowhere to be found now, and his skin seemed paler, a dirty, chalky white, while his vibrant orange hair and eyes still managed to glow.
He looked like a fucked-up, serial-killing circus clown.
“Are you ready?” he yelled, his voice morphing into a demonic growl, like some twisted ringmaster hyping up a nonexistent audience, never mind that he’d just exuberantly informed us that not everyone gathered here would survive whatever he had planned for us.
The wolves bumped fists, while the witches cast wary glances at each other, their lips moving in unison, spelling quietly, preparing as best they could for whatever was to come.
The cats attempted to pump themselves up, while terror filled their eyes, and the vampires became hyperalert.
The angels, however, stood there showing no fear, no reaction whatsoever.
Ursula closed the space between us, and my instincts bellowed for me to grab her hand. I didn’t, even as my self-control crumbled a little more.
“Like I said, this task is easy!” Felditch announced, voice raised over the roar of the ocean.
“All you have to do is make it back to shore. It’s that simple.
” He clapped his hands again, and rain burst from the sky, lightning and thunder cracking and booming in unison.
“On the beach, you will find a golden disk with your emblem on it, these you will find at every event and they must be collected and added to your team’s tally.
Once you find yours for today’s event, make your way back to the main room of the manor and add it to the leaderboard.
” He clapped again and something huge and black with razor-sharp teeth burst from the water.
“Oh, and you must avoid the creatures who reside in the depths of the Tartarean Sea, both those who call it home permanently and those only visiting.” He winked again, that fucked-up smile still on his face.
Us. We were the visitors. Simply put, we were free to murder each other.
Ursula’s gaze met mine, looking as unhappy about this development as I was.
“Like all of you, the beasts are quite persistent. I’m not completely without heart though. Some of you might be lucky enough to discover hidden places to rest and recover along the way.”
The mood on deck shifted and fear rolled from everyone around us, well, almost everyone.
I glanced at Nathanial. The bastard was laser focused on me and Urs.
I got the feeling he already knew this was coming.
The angels had won every tournament, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think it was because they were the most skilled taking part.
Ursula growled under her breath, and when Nathaniel smirked at her, she folded the fingers of one hand into devil horns and flicked out her tongue. The male’s eyes widened in outrage, and despite the task ahead of us, a low laugh escaped me.
“You have twenty-four hours to place your disk on the leaderboard. Have fun, and may the best team be triumphant,” Felditch yelled, then clapped his hands and vanished.
“Ready?” I said to Ursula.
“As I’ll ever—”
The ship disappeared out from under us, and we plummeted into the dark, churning ocean.
My heavy boots dragged me down, and I kicked them off and yanked my jacket off as well, before bursting up through the surface.
Spinning, I wildly searched for Ursula. She popped up gasping, then went back under.
I dove for her, hooking my arm around her waist, then holding her to me, I dragged her to the surface.
“You need to take this off.” I shoved her leather jacket down her arms and used my feet to tug off her boots. “Can you swim?” I yelled through the deafening roar of the sea.
Her green eyes were bright in the gloom. “Yes,” she called back.
I searched the ocean through the driving wind and rain and darkness. Lightning flashed and I saw several groups in the distance but couldn’t make out who they were. We couldn’t let any of them get too close.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Swim as hard as you can.”
Ursula nodded, and we started toward land.
I tried to search the ocean as I went, but the water looked black and whatever daylight we’d had was long gone.
I couldn’t even make out the mountains anymore.
At this point I couldn’t even see if we were heading in the right fucking direction.
If I still had all my powers, I’d feel it, the pull of the earth, no matter the realm. The angels already had that advantage.
Someone screamed. I stopped and Ursula did as well. We treaded water, searching the ocean around us. Something burst from the sky, enormous wings flashing in the distance.
“Those fuckers are flying,” I growled out.
“That can’t be allowed?” Ursula said.
“Felditch didn’t say we had to swim.” If I’d had my wings, if they hadn’t been stolen from me, I would have picked up Urs and flown like hell for shore.
Lightning flashed again, and in the brief flash of light I saw Nathaniel, a knife in one hand and one of the wolves’ heads in the other, while he scanned the ocean below. Nathaniel’s teammate hovered beside him, searching for the wolf’s teammate no doubt.
Fuck.
Michael wanted me to ensure their win, but Nathaniel didn’t know that. He’d kill us both if he had the chance. “Dive,” I said to Ursula. “And don’t resurface until I do.”
She nodded, a grim expression on her face.
We were immortal, lack of oxygen couldn’t kill us, but it was extremely uncomfortable, at least to start with.
She disappeared beneath the surface, and I followed her into the dark depths, swimming deeper and deeper, where Nathaniel wouldn’t be able to see us.
I grabbed Ursula’s hand. She turned to me and her red hair swayed around her lovely face. She watched as I undid my belt, then slid it through a loop in her jeans so the buckle anchored her to it, to me, and wrapped some of the long strip of leather around my fist.
It would be too easy to lose each other down here, but that wasn’t the only reason for tethering her to me.
Air burst from her nose, and she squeezed her eyes closed.
Her chest was burning now, like mine, and she was fighting the urge to swim like hell for the surface to drag in a desperate lungful of air.
Her eyes snapped open, and she started to struggle, panicking.
It didn’t matter that she couldn’t die like this, the instinct to breathe was automatic, even for immortals.
I gripped the leather tying her to me and dragged her closer.
Panic filled her eyes, and she thrashed.
Shadows moved above, Nathaniel and Eloa were still circling, searching for us.
He saw us as his biggest competitors, and he’d planned to take us out the first day of the tournament.
Not fucking happening. Even if their win was a sure thing, I wouldn’t make it easy for him.
I wouldn’t give in. Not until the very last moment would I yield.
I dragged Urs down deeper, while my own lungs burned so bad they felt as if they’d explode. I’d done this before though. The pain and panic would stop soon, she just had to ride it out.
Her fist swung wildly, connecting with my side.
I quickly wrapped my arms around her, holding her immobile and waited her out.
She jerked, throwing her head back, then forward, smashing her forehead into mine.
Cupping the back of her head, I pressed her face into my shoulder so she didn’t knock herself out.
It took several more minutes, but finally she began running out of steam. She’d just fought for her life, expending everything she had. Her survival instincts hadn’t yet worked out that it had never been on the line, even if logically she knew different.
Then, she stilled completely.
I waited, then slowly let my hand slide down her back when she lifted her head. Her eyes opened, bright green and filled with fury, staring back at me. It wouldn’t surprise me if she head butted me again—
A shadow moved above us, and she tilted her head back, this time seeing it as well.
Nathaniel wasn’t giving up.
She looked at me again, and the anger slipped away. She nodded. She was good, the burning had stopped, along with the desperate need for oxygen. She knew why I’d done what I had—still, I didn’t want to let her go.
Her hands covered mine at the small of her back, and she pulled them from around her waist, then staying deep, she swam off in what I assumed was the right direction. I let the belt slip from my fingers and followed close behind her.
I stayed vigilant as we swam through the black seas. We were far from out of danger. Who knew what other creatures lived down here. It would take hours to make it back to shore, and we were being hunted all the way, whether that was from above or below.
Something glowed purple and gold to the right of us.
Magic. The witches…and they moved fast. They’d cast some kind of spell and were surrounded by a glowing force field.
I couldn’t see any other teams, not from down here.
Either they’d gotten away or the angels had cut through a good many of them already.
I couldn’t risk giving our location away by going to the surface to check. Nathaniel could still be close by.
We swam for probably an hour or more without incident, then Ursula stopped suddenly and jerked back. Treading water, she pulled her knife from the sheath at her hip. I swam up beside her. Something dark and huge loomed in the water ahead, its movements sleek and predatory.
Taking her hand to get her attention, I motioned down, and we both dove deeper to reach a crop of jagged rocks surrounded by schools of tiny glittering fish.
I called my sword forth, and it appeared in my hand.
Whatever that thing was, it was hunting.
We were in its territory, and it wasn’t going anywhere, which meant the only way to get past it was to fight our way through.
Ursula turned to me, pressed a finger to her chest, then pointed up to where we’d just been, then back down here. She wanted to use herself as bait to draw the beast here, where I’d be waiting with my sword.
It was a sound idea, but I fucking loathed it.
She swam upwards, and my hands shot out before I knew I was going to do it, grabbing her ankle before she could reach the top of the rocks. Urs frowned down at me.
My fingers flexed against her skin, and I knew I had to let her go. This was a good plan, but the idea of letting her use herself for bait made me sick to my stomach.
She shook her leg and lifted a hand, palm up, saying without words What the hell? Let me the fuck go. She scowled harder and tried to pull away again, and from the look on her face was probably also saying something like, are you fucking glitching, angel?
Fuck.
Reluctantly, with no other choice but to let her swim toward danger, I let her go.