Page 104 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m trying.”

Clearly, she wasn’t trying hard enough. I’d give her something to blush over.

Lothaire’s voice boomed loudly and startled me out of my ridiculous thoughts. I couldn’t see him, so he must have been standing on the lawn, speaking through enchantment. “All competitors have made it to the tops of their posts. We don’t have any losers.”

Cheers sounded, and competitors smiled as we looked around.

From the looks of it, the two other devils had used their claws to climb up the posts, and I hadn’t seen the two leviathans and assassins climbing, but they were all perched on their posts.

I let out a breath of relief. We’d gotten lucky this first round.

Lothaire’s voice echoed. “The representatives will now discuss the next steps everyone will take. Since we have no losers or winners, everyone will complete the punishment together.”

My stomach dropped, and I looked over at Orion. In my periphery, Arabella’s shoulders slumped, and the clenching sensation intensified.

I didn’t like this.

The silence was heavy with tension as we all waited for our fate.

Out of nowhere a floating platform rose above the clouds. Lyla and Dick stared at us with blank expressions.

Lothaire’s voice boomed, “The gods have discussed and decided on a simple punishment. Every competitor must jump back to land. Now.”

My heart pounded loudly in my chest.

The angels unfurled their wings and smirked at everyone as they stood up. With a salute, they stepped off and plummeted below the cloud cover.

No one else moved.

“Not fair!” a short leviathan man shouted, and his loud voice broke the heavy silence. “If no one lost, then why are we being punished? Also, the angels can just fly. How does that even make sense? This is stupid.”

Lothaire’s voice echoed loudly. “All competitors must jump now. That is not a request. It is an order. Failure to comply will result in elimination from the games.”

The leviathan shook his head and sat down on the top of his post in defiance. “Screw the sun god. I’m out.”

I looked back and forth between Orion and Arabella.

My heart beat so fast it slammed against my throat. It would take more than a fall to kill a devil, but Arabella looked weak as shit.

I struggled to breathe slowly.

All our lives are bound. We can’t die.

Rationally I knew we’d all be fine.

I didn’t feel fine.

“You got this. Trust me, I’m an old hat at this,” Sadie shouted to Arabella. “The key is to suck in when you land. See you at the bottom.” She winked and jumped, yelling, “Cats always land on their feet,” as she fell.

In midair, she shifted into her impressive cat form.

Jax roared and shifted into a bear as he jumped after her.

“We’ll all be fine,” Orion mouthed at me, then turned to Arabella. “You’ll be okay. Just concentrate on falling feetfirst to protect your head when you land.”

Arabella nodded with an empty look in her eyes.

She pulled her pipe out of her pocket, stuck it between her lips, and exhaled a smoking crow.

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