Page 39 of Hallowed Games

“Question.” Sazia jogged next to us, sweat streaking down her temples. “Can you tell me what exactly we are rushing toward if we have no idea where we’re going?”

“I don’t know, but Percival is right,” I said. “We have only one strategy, and we’ll lose that if we’re too slow. If there are traps, we need to see what triggers them. So let’s stay close to the people ahead of us.”

“Ah,” said Hugo. “So those up ahead are our fodder for the traps.”

“I wouldn’t phrase it that way, exactly,” said Percival. “But yes. We need them to die so we can avoid it. Everything that happens here is because of the Order, so remember that at the end of today. We’re not the ones with blood on our hands.”

In the stone corridor, we hurried after the trio ahead. With every footfall, I scanned the ground for signs of anything amiss: a tripwire, a flagstone that seemed out of place. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for; I only knew that at any moment, an arrow might shoot out of the walls.

We rounded a corner, and the three men came into view as we raced after them. My footfalls felt uneasy on the rounded cobblestones. The hair rose on the back of my neck as I felt the sense of danger thickening the air.

Not twenty feet from us, a crack rang out, sending a jolt of fear through my body. My arms shot out to stop my allies, and my heart pounded as metal flashed through the air ahead. I stared in horror as a blade carved through the bodies of two of the Penitents, severing them at the waist.

I felt the blood drain from my head.

Now the real carnage had begun.

CHAPTER 19

Blood spilled over the cobbles, sending a primal rush of fear through my veins. One of the Penitents had survived, clipped only along the front of his arm, but the shock of it had robbed him of his senses. He clung to his injured limb, staring down at the wound. His eyes held a wild, animal terror.

Only now did I notice the bleached white bones that lay around the dead bodies.

From its hidden spot in the wall, the blade slid back into place. My breath came hard and fast as I tried to remember its exact location.

But the real question was, which stone had been the trigger?

As my thoughts cleared a little, I realized Sazia was screaming.

I held up a finger to my lips. “Everyone stay still for a moment.”

The surviving man turned back to me, pale as a ghost. “They’re trying to kill us here,” he sobbed, as though it were the first time this idea had occurred to him.

“Yes,” said Percival dryly. “That is what they meant when they said only one would survive.”

The stranger’s pale skin had turned blotchy, and tears streaked down his cheeks to his thick brown beard.

I glanced behind us at another towering wall that had slid into place, trapping us in here.

Hugo turned away from us, doubling over. With a loud, retching gurgle, he vomited his morning’s tea onto the stones.

Oh, Archon. Right now, we were trapped between a towering stone wall and a guillotine. We’d only just started the day, and Hugo was already falling apart.

“Can you look around you for a trigger?” I asked. “A wire, or a stone that seems different than the others?”

“There’s too much blood.” His voice cracked. “I can’t see…I’m just a baker.”

Hugo turned to us, pale as milk. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

“What’s your name?” I asked the stranger. Tension had my muscles coiled tightly.

“Reginald.” He wiped a hand across his tear-streaked face, leaving a smear of blood across his cheek and beard. “My wife is praying for me. So maybe that’s why I’m still standing. Maybe her prayers are working.”

“Reginald.” Percival pointed at the ground. “Leap back toward us a little. Get out of the way of where the blade came out. See if there’s something on the ground. You’re next to it right now, and you want to move closer to us. Can you see any slits in the wall where blades might come out?”

Reginald yelped.

“Does it really make sense to help people?” asked Godric. “I thought we wanted their numbers lowered.”

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