Chapter 14 #2
“I’ll be sure to let Rosalind know how you’re doing.” He winked at Ursula. “Did he tell you he had a female in Heaven? One so sweet and stunningly beautiful, and so obviously superior to you in every way—”
“Tell her whatever you want, Nate,” Ursula said, sounding bored. “But you do realize, she’s still not gonna fuck you, right?”
A surprised laugh burst from Eloa, and Nathaniel spun to her, his face red with rage.
“You’ll just have to use whatever fucked-up shit you have stored in that wank bank of yours and make do with your right hand.”
Nathaniel spun back, about to charge. I braced, ready to intercept him—
The door opened and Felditch strode in. Nathaniel quickly straightened.
“Lunch is served!” Felditch said, and flourished his gold-and-blue-striped cape. He opened his arms, his fiery orange hair flowing behind him, and food appeared on the table. “Let us feast, for tomorrow we go to war!”
“Fucking hell,” Ursula muttered. “I feel like I’m part of some terrible human high school drama club.”
Somehow, she’d managed to make me smile, even after what just happened, even when I was worried about what was in store for us tomorrow.
Felditch dragged his cape to the side and took his seat. “Please, everyone, sit.”
We all took our places.
The male dressed head to toe in gold and blue glitter rested his elbows on the table, his diabolical smile in full force. “I know…how about we make things more interesting?”
That didn’t sound good, not at fucking all.
“I thought tonight we’d play a game. What do you think?”
“Is it compulsory?” Ursula asked.
His orange gaze sliced to her. “It is, but I know you’ll enjoy it.” He grinned wider at us, which seemed impossible, but somehow, he always managed it. “Who’s ready for a game of truth?”
“What kind of game is that?” Nathaniel asked.
“One where you must give a truthful answer to my question.”
“And if we don’t?” I asked.
“Then the other team is given an advantage for tomorrow’s event.”
Ursula cursed.
“Let’s begin!”
Ursula
I could barely choke down the first course as I waited for Felditch to start his game and drop the hammer on one of us. The angels were just as tense, and Silas was like a solid block of stone beside me.
Finally, as we were finishing our salads, Felditch lowered his knife and fork and aimed his creepy smile at Eloa. “Tell me, my dear, what is Nathaniel’s biggest fear?”
“You can’t ask that,” Nathaniel burst out, jumping out of his chair.
Felditch lifted his hand, then slapped it down on the table. Nathaniel was slammed back into his seat like a Ken doll.
“If we all refuse to answer, we’ll start tomorrow’s event on even footing,” Silas said.
Smart.
“If you refuse to answer, you will face punishment, and I assure you, it will be a whole lot worse than what you went through in that dungeon, Silas.”
“Snakes,” Eloa rushed out. “And being seen as weak.”
Nathaniel brought his fist down on the table. “Shut your damned mouth.”
Eloa threw up her hands. “You can go back to that place, but I’m not going through anything like that again.”
“Well done, Eloa. You are safe.” Felditch called for the next course, a cheese plate with an assortment of fruits and breads.
How the hell was I supposed to eat when Silas would be forced to reveal my weaknesses in front of my enemy.
“Ursula,” Felditch said, his orange eyes sliding to me, then drilling into my fucking skull. “Tell me, what was Silas’s biggest fear in that dungeon?”
I stilled. I had no fucking idea. I’d been unconscious or delirious the entire time. I didn’t witness Silas going through his part of the task. “I don’t know,” I said. “Whatever it was happened while I was living through my own fears… I don’t know,” I said again.
“Oh, dear me, I’m not sure I believe you,” Felditch said.
The angels grinned.
“It’s the truth,” I said. “You created yesterday’s event, surely you must have a way of finding out.”
“I’m sorry, but no.” The leaderboard appeared on the wall behind him, and one of the disks beside our name disintegrated in front of us. Nathaniel gave us a smug wink.
Sneaky fucking asshole. “That’s how they always win, isn’t it?” I said to Felditch. “You give them an advantage, you—”
“Best you stop right there,” Felditch said.
“No, this is bullshi—”
Silas’s hand landed on my thigh and squeezed.
“One more word, and your penalty will be doubled,” Felditch said, fury vibrating through his voice.
Backing down was not in my nature, but I had no idea what this male, this demigod, was capable of. He was powerful and sadistic, which meant I had no choice but to keep my damned mouth shut.
“Since Ursula has failed, we’ll move to you, Silas. Tell us all here at the table.” Felditch’s glee-filled gaze slid to me. “What does Ursula fear the most?”
Silas’s jaw clenched. He was willing to keep it to himself, to risk another penalty for tomorrow, and as much as I wanted him to keep my fears a secret, we had to win, and now we were already heading into tomorrow’s event on the back foot. I slid my hand over his. He looked at me. I nodded.
He licked his lips, an apology in his eyes, before he turned back to our host. “Abandonment. Ursula’s biggest fear is losing those she loves and being left alone.”
Nausea swirled in my stomach. In the wrong hands, that information could be used against me, and going by the look in Nathaniel’s eyes, he was hoping to get the chance to use it in the near future.
Another course was served, and Nathaniel’s turn finally came. He revealed that Eloa was afraid of not being good enough and also never being allocated a breeding partner, because she desperately wanted a child. She wept silently beside him as he bluntly told her secrets. Then dessert was served.
Everyone was much more subdued after that, and I couldn’t wait to get back to our room.
When Felditch finally dismissed us, we were behind on the leaderboard by one.
We’d received the penalty, and I was pissed.
I stormed out of the dining room and back to our quarters.
“He’s working for them,” I said as I strode inside and shut the door.
“He made sure we’d start tomorrow at a disadvantage.
This whole thing, the entire tournament is a crock of shit. ”
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Silas said. “Angels are ruthless in the pursuit of the things they want.”
I tried not to let that feel like a stab to the heart. I obviously hadn’t been something worth pursuing three years ago, I guess. Now isn’t the time for self-indulgent emotions. “So what was it?” I asked, refusing to let him off the hook. If I’d been laid bare, it was only fair that he was as well.
“What?”
“Your deepest fear. I showed you mine, time to show me yours,” I said and kicked off the hideous stilettos I’d been forced to wear during dinner. Silas was silent. “I’m your teammate, I should know.”
“It’s nothing as exciting as being afraid of snakes,” he said and grinned.
He was stalling. “I’ll be the judge of that. You got off lightly, the way I see it.”
“You think so?”
“You spent most of our time in that dungeon force-feeding me poison. From where I’m sitting, seems like I got the short straw.” I’d definitely spent more time on my ass and out of it than he had. Something I’m certain Felditch had done on purpose.
The muscles in his jaw flexed. “I assure you, mine was horrific enough, even for you.”
“Let’s hear it, then.”
His thick fingers curled around the back of the chair in front of him. “My biggest fear is losing the person…people I love the most.”
I searched that stormy gaze. Angels channeled God’s love, I’d seen no evidence that they were capable of feeling it themselves.
Nathaniel’s and Eloa’s fears had been centered around themselves because angels were selfish.
I found it difficult to believe Silas’s fears had been any different.
“I get that,” I said instead of calling him out.
What was the point? “I guess mine is essentially the same thing. Being alone is the result of losing the people I love.” I shrugged.
“Seems to me, anyone with a heart would have the same fear.” And he didn’t have one, right?
He nodded slowly, eyeing me in a way that made me feel uneasy.
“While you were under the influence of the poisons, you went somewhere…somewhere else, Urs.” He shoved his fingers through his black-and-gold hair.
“You were in pain…” The muscles in his jaw tightened.
“It sounded like you were being tortured.”
“Because I was.”
“What?”
“It was a long time ago,” I said because there was no denying the truth.
I’d no doubt freaked the hell out while I was deep in my hallucination, and as much as I hated talking about what happened or how helpless I’d been then, he’d already heard the fear, seen it while I was reliving that nightmare.
“Who?” he said.
My head shot up, surprised by the sudden fury in his voice. “It was a long time ago.”
“Who hurt you, Ursula?” he demanded.
I leaned against the table and crossed my arms. I didn’t need to tell him shit, but he wasn’t going to let up until I told him.
I knew for a fact he didn’t actually care about me specifically.
Maybe it was some angelic sense of justice that was driving him now.
It definitely wasn’t emotion. “The fae.”
His nostrils flared. “Names.”
“Like I said, it was a long time ago, before I knew how to fight. I was a baby really, newly made by Lucifer and trying to learn my place in the world around me. I was susceptible to manipulation and thought I was in love with a fae soldier. Turned out he was sent by their warlock after he heard about Lucifer’s new creations.
He wanted to see how much of a threat the handmaids were.
Back then the realms were still fighting it out, still trying to make sure their territories were safe, and I was a casualty of that. ”
“So they tortured you?”