Page 288 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

We had no shelter.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Xerxes and I startled as the loudest rumble yet burned my eardrums.

We stared at each other.

A shiver racked my frame, and I doubled forward with my arms wrapped around my body.

This was so much worse than the other three competitions.

Across the field, the angel competitor pulled two feathers off her wings and sprinted toward the devil competitor. The devil turned and brandished a flame sword, but he was too late.

She slit his throat with the feathers.

He stumbled.

Fell over.

The angel stabbed both daggers through his neck and pinned the devil to the lawn. Then she sat down beside the body.

I blinked with surprise.

She warmed her hands over his sword. Then pulled the dead body up and over her for protection.

I stepped closer to Xerxes. What a savage woman.

I wished I’d thought of it.

The assassin and leviathan competitors whipped their heads back and forth frantically as they realized how dire the situation was.

My fingers throbbed from cold wounds.

“Think, use your brain!” Jinx’s voice screamed in my mind.

“D-D-Do you think-k-k she’ll sh-sh-share the sword-d-d?” I turned to Xerxes.

“No,” he said. “We need to keep our faces pointed downward so we don’t get glass in our eyes.” He wiped blood off his face ferociously. “And we need a plan.”

I nodded like I was thinking as I stared at the ground.

I had zero thoughts.

We were fucked.

Xerxes nudged me, and I realized he was expecting a plan. When did I become the mastermind of this operation?

I pressed bloody fingers against my temple.

Think, Aran.

We had no resources. The angel had just murdered the devil competitor. The three other competitors were going to get desperate, and desperate people were unpredictable.

We needed protection.

Think.

Wait, there was one resource we could use. I pointed to one of the towering posts on the edge of the arena.

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