Page 117 of The Reign of Blood

“You know.”

“Oh, so you’re acknowledging it now?” she scoffs, and all I can do is gape at her and her sass right now.

Arlo’s face falls as he takes another step toward her, but before he can get too close, she waves him off, leaving the two of us to get some space.

My eyes are trained on her as I speak to Arlo. “Should I be concerned?”

He clears his throat. “No.”

I cock a brow at him, giving him my bestdon’t fuck with melook.

“Fuck, Addi, I?—”

“Gather ‘round; there’s no time to waste when we’re about to do a practice trial run,” Professor Tora declares, interrupting Arlo’s words.

“Save it for later,” I murmur, waiting until he nods in agreement before I slip off to stand with Flora as Tora continues to explain.

“We’re doing a what?” someone asks, and the professor rolls his eyes.

“We’re going to do a test run of a trial,” he explains, and even Kryll’s eyes are wide in surprise, confirming he didn’t know about this either. Holy fuck. This is kind of exciting. “So, gather ‘round. We’re wasting precious time,” he adds, summoning everyone closer.

He wasn’t joking when he said now that the ball had come and gone they would be upping the trial preparation.

“What did I miss?” Brody asks, suddenly appearing at my side with a grin. His smile is too infectious, and I can’t help but grin back at him, but I quickly remember that there’s more going on right now that needs my focus.

“Practice trial,” I murmur, feeling a presence behind me. When I peer over my shoulder, I find Raiden looking down at me with a heated glare. Cassian stands beside me, but his gaze is fixed on Tora, paying me no mind.

For some reason, it makes my shoulders relax; feeling him act no differently reassures me of… something. I don’t know what, but I like that he still remains himself, even after moments like last night and this morning. He’s still a gruff asshole through and through.

“The aim of the trial is to find your way to the center,” Tora explains, making everyone frown.

“The center of what?” Kryll asks, sauntering toward us with an arched brow.

“I’m glad you asked,” Tora replies, nodding to someone off to the side. I think it’s a mage professor. My thoughts are confirmed when the ground rumbles beneath our feet a moment later and a hedged maze appears before our eyes.

“There’s a central point to this. You must work independently. Touch the token in the center and it will escort you back here. Only so many will appear, though. So if you’re unfortunate not to find one, you’ll have to walk your ass rightback out the way you came, so I hope you remember the path you took.”

“That sounds too easy,” Vallie says with a snicker, eyes sparkling with a level of chaos that seems to be her specialty.

“That’s probably because I haven’t finished explaining,” Tora retorts, giving her a pointed look, but she doesn’t falter. She somehow stands taller as her friends fawn and giggle over her attitude. I still bite back a smile at the fact that Tora doesn’t take her shit. It’s refreshing. “Once in there, you’ll face obstacles, hurdles, and challenges in the form of… each other. It’s a race; get there first.”

“And what are the rules for us with each other?” Cassian asks, folding his arms over his chest, but Tora simply shrugs.

His nonchalant approach sets my heart racing, and I instantly feel gazes turn my way.

He just put a target on my head for Vallie and her friends, along with at least half of the female wolves and everyone else who doesn’t like that I’m the spawn of the old fae king.

My excitement for the trial quickly dies down, the adrenaline pumping through my veins fixated on getting through this as quickly as possible.

“Are we allowed weapons?” I blurt, needing verification, and Tora scoffs.

“I don’t give a fuck.”

I nod.

It is as if I knew this was coming when I put daggers beneath my clothes today, in case something backfired from last night at the Kenner compound.

A siren blares before anything else can be said and everyone takes off running. I stutter for a second, gaping at the carnage as people trip each other up and clamber over one another to enter one of the openings in the tall hedges.

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