Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Only one obstacle stood between me and the end.
As I approached the large man-made structure the Knights had erected, apprehension swirled in my belly. My footsteps stuttered as I got closer, distracted by the small crowd. All the parents had gathered around the obstacle to watch as we finished the course.
Landon manned the entrance, and he must’ve moved to cover the second obstacle once all the girls made it through his first. He nodded as I stepped up, his face stoic and more tense than when I’d last seen him.
“Maiden.” He cleared his throat, his eyes darting to the left where most of the parents stood.
I didn’t follow his gaze.
“You’ll enter here, and climb to the top. Your final cypher waits there. Then you’ll need to make it back down safely before you can ring the bell.”
My brow creased, and he glanced over his right shoulder to show me what he meant.
Drake D’Arthur stood about twenty feet from the terrace with the lemon tree, off to the right of it and beside a wooden pole that had been planted in the ground.
Sunlight glinted off a small metal bell near the top.
As I watched him, a man I’d never seen but who looked familiar approached him and stepped up to his left side.
With dark hair, the same angular bone structure, and the position he took beside Drake, I only needed one guess as to who he was. “Your father.”
Landon nodded. “Once the last girl begins the course, I need to go speak with him. But I’ll find you after, alright?”
Scrutinizing his tense brow and tight expression, I softened mine. “Will you be okay?”
“Of course, Maiden. Now, go on. It’s time to begin.”
Unease built in my gut, but I couldn’t push for answers with the rest of the parents watching us.
I stared up from below, awed by the height, and grew more nervous when Izzy’s panicked face appeared a few levels up. The structure was tall and had to be sturdy enough to hold our weight, but it was rickety at best. Beams of wood swayed within the support structure built around them.
As Izzy worked her way to the top, the bell sounded in the distance.
Morgan had finished the course.
I smiled as she walked over to the crowd and her parents. Her mom’s matching red hair stood out from a distance as she wrapped her in a hug.
Refocusing, I entered the space beside Landon and climbed a set of creaking wooden steps to the first level. Wood wrapped around a center beam to create a path, narrow but easy for me to work my way around. With one hand on the center beam, I took careful steps as I made the first loop.
The slight incline eventually led to a second landing, and the only way to the next loop up was a series of ropes and wood slats set at the level of my feet.
Grabbing the first rope, I pulled it toward me and stepped on the wood slat. I kept my grip tight on the rope as I took a breath and left the safety of the landing.
The rope swayed, and I got close enough to the second rope but needed to adjust my grip to grab it. Using my weight to swing my body forward, I moved through the six ropes and slats until I made it to the other side.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I was safely on the landing.
When I glanced down at Landon, Vivian and Angela entered the course.
Landon waited until they made their way to the first landing before finding me. He forced a smile, and I tried not to worry as he walked over to meet his father.
Refocusing on the path in front of me, I began the second winding loop up to the third landing.
The higher I climbed, the more the wind rocked the structure. I held onto the beam the path wrapped around whenever it swayed before continuing on, and I panicked when I came face-to-face with Izzy in the middle.
“Oh, shoot. Hi, Quinn.” She panted for breath as she hugged the center beam with me. “I should’ve waited until you reached the landing. I didn’t see you.”
The plank beneath our feet wasn’t wide enough to walk around each other without risking a fall. Not at the same time. Quickly assessing the options, she either had to walk back to the landing, or one of us could hug the beam and the other could go around.
When I said as much to Izzy, she paled. The beam swayed, and she closed her eyes as sweat dripped down her temple. “I don’t know if I can go back.”
“Just hold onto the beam as close as you can, alright?”
She nodded tightly and squeezed her eyes shut as she gripped the beam.
I refused to look down. Plastering my front to her back, I inched my way around her as slowly and carefully as I could, hugging her and holding on when the beam swayed.
“Oh god, we’re going to die,” she moaned.
Once I was safely around her, I laughed. “You’re good to go, Izzy. Be careful.”
She peeked one emerald green eye open, saw me on her other side, and exhaled. “You too. Watch your step at the top.”
With a wink, she took a deep breath and continued back down. I headed for the third landing, where a rope bridge led to the next. I caught my breath as I walked across.
Slowly but surely, I made my way to the top.
And because I was a monumental idiot, I looked down.
My eyes widened, and I latched onto the closet beam as terror, and bile, rose in my throat. Nausea pitched my stomach into roils that forced a dry heave.
I hadn’t been scared of heights before, but I’d also never climbed a free-standing structure without a harness or safety rope, so here I was.
Suddenly terrified at the prospect of falling to my death, I closed my eyes and breathed until the fear waned.
When I opened them, my vision cleared, and I refocused on something in the distance. Two men arguing beneath the lemon tree, one I knew intimately and one I recognized only because of his likeness to his son.
Landon’s father grabbed his arm, hauling him forward so he was right in his face.
I stepped without thinking, then locked my arms around the beam to hold myself steady.
I needed to get my cypher and get down there.
I searched around for any sign of Kingston, or even Max, but I didn’t see them anywhere.
On unsteady legs, I reached the altar on the final landing and found boxes inscribed with our names.
I pulled the scrap of paper out of the one marked with mine, added it to my collection in my crossbody, and used my inhaler again for good measure.
That probably wasn’t recommended, but since I’d used my daily one like a rescue inhaler for a year, I figured it couldn’t be worse than that. Plus, I was panicking.
And I didn’t know why.
Landon’s father, like Kingston’s, had been a question mark. An unseen threat who made Landon uneasy. Whatever his intentions with his son were, I didn’t trust them.
I wanted to be closer to him, even if I had no idea how I’d help him if he needed it.
When I turned around to start my climb back down, Landon’s father had Landon’s bicep gripped tightly, and he was pulling him away from the tree.
I watched helplessly as Landon wrenched his arm free, making it to the third landing without an issue before crossing paths with Angela and Vivian.
They both noticed my distraction, but Angela touched my arm. “Are you okay?”
Unable to do anything but croak out a weak yes, I moved around them and kept descending the structure. On the second landing, I checked again for a sign of Kingston or Max. Heck, I’d even take Morty if the universe offered him up to help Landon.
Relief rushed through me when Kingston and Max appeared at the tree line.
“Kingston!” I cried out, but it was too far, and I wasn’t sure he could hear me. “Landon!”
Murmurs from the crowd below assured me I drew attention to myself and him, but I didn’t care. I wanted them to pay attention. I wanted them to intervene.
One parent moved, but a harsh voice called out, and they froze in place. I scanned the crowd and spotted her.
Vivian’s mother.
She had one hand up, halting the would-be Good Samaritan in place. Her ice-blue eyes glinted in the sunlight, and she stared at the structure, searching until she found me.
I met her piercing stare with hatred burning in my chest.
That bitch had already come between me and Max.
Now, she was going to let Landon get dragged away by his father while I watched.
When her red lips curved into a cruel smirk, realization dawned on me. She wanted to get in my head, even if I had no idea why it mattered, I refused to give her the satisfaction.
Wind whipped my hair into my face, and I shoved it away.
I turned back to Landon.
He stood his ground in front of his father, and I forced myself to calm down. I wasn’t that far from the ground, and if I finished the course, I could get to him.
Plus, I’d been panicking for no reason.
Landon was fine.
“Breathe, Maiden.” I imagined his voice reminding me of that when I needed him, and I took a few breaths until my heart rate slowed. “He’s alright.”
Shaking my head, I let go of the beam a moment too soon.
Landon’s father reared his arm back and struck my Knight across his face. Landon’s head whipped to the side. The force of his father’s blow threw him off balance, and he stumbled before landing on his knees.
“Landon!” I screamed again.
His father didn’t stop. He stepped closer, leaning over his body and shouting words I couldn’t make out from the distance. Landon shouted up at him, fighting to get his bearings and get to his feet.
I stepped without thinking.
The world pitched, tumbling around me as I slipped on the ledge and fell. I shrieked, bringing my arms up to shield my face and bracing for impact.
I hit the ground with a sickening thud.
The wind knocked out of me. Pain ricocheted through my body, and my skin burned everywhere it touched the ground, skin tearing over gravel as I cried out.
“Quinn!”
Gia’s voice called from the crowd, and I lifted my head to find her stepping toward me.
I flicked my gaze to Victoria, who watched Gia with a wicked gleam in her eyes and that fucking smirk on her face.
“Gia, don’t!” I croaked out a hoarse cry, sure that if Gia tried to help, Victoria would cry foul play.
Gia froze, and when I looked between her and Victoria, she followed my gaze before narrowing her eyes on the bitch. I turned my head to find Kingston and Max, standing tense beside the obstacle.
I met Max’s gaze, then Kingston’s. “Landon.”
His eyes widened, and he searched the area before spotting them. He took off, as Max stood there silently, unable to help either. Not just because of the rules, but because of the eyes I had no doubt were trained on him from behind me.
Forcing a smile, I rested my head on my arm and waited for the pain to pass.
Then, I got up to finish the goddamn course.
I pushed up from the ground, brushing off my knees and wincing at the sting from the gravel embedded in my torn flesh. Each step forward hurt. But whether I hobbled, crawled, or strutted my stuff over to it, I was ringing that goddamn bell.
The chatter from the crowd died down as I approached. I glanced at Gia, face drawn tight with worry, she scanned my injuries. Smiling at her, or grimacing most likely, I tried to reassure her despite my current state.
Knees and elbows bloodied. Palms shredded and bright red. With strands of hair flying wildly around my face, I was the picture of a perfect fucking Lady.
As I approached Drake D’Arthur, he stood in his pristine, pressed three-piece suit, almost identical to Kingston’s but in a darker navy blue.
Narrowing his eyes, he pressed his lips together as he tracked my progress toward him.
He lifted his chin as I grew closer, the corner of his mouth drawing in as he waited to see what I’d do next. Like I was the small brown bear coming to tear into his flesh.
I stalked toward him. With a secret smile on my face, I thought of all the ways I’d love to destroy him.
Sitting on his fake throne, with stolen power and a bloodied, iron fist, he wielded absolute power like he’d been born to have it.
But Morty’s words from that night in the parlor ran through my head. He wasn’t supposed to be there.
He didn’t belong.
And yet, there he was.
Just like me.
When I reached him, I gripped the wooden beam and straightened my spine. I stood slowly, as if stacking one vertebra on top of the other until I reached my full height.
He stared down his nose at me, sneering. “This won’t mean you belong here.”
“Same goes for you, but somehow, you sleep through the night.” As his eyes narrowed, I reached for the cord on the bell. “I think I’ll be just fine, thanks.”
Then I shifted my gaze to the only person I wanted to destroy just as much as him. Ice-blue eyes. Jet black hair. And blood-red lips.
Victoria Valencourt.
Staring straight at her, I rang the goddamn bell.