Page 159 of Mud

“But what—”what if you don’t,was what I wanted to say, until the curious Blackfire guy sitting on my left interrupted me.

“What about you? What kind of an animal did you bond to?”

I flinched at the reminder. “A vulcera.”

They allooh-ed andaah-ed in surprise, their eyes lighting up instantly, intrigued. “You must be powerful then.”

“They said magical animals required a lot more effort to be subdued,” said the Greenfire. They’d told me their names, but I’d forgotten them—and can you blame me?

“I don’t…I don’t know,” I muttered, wishing I hadn’t given my wine to Ben so I’d have something to do.

It got so hot in there so suddenly.

“We’re all powerful here,” said Ben. “The first challenges weed out the weakest. The rest of them requires skills and a good bit of luck.” He brought the wine to his lips before he added, “And, of course, magic.”

My stomach twisted.

“Yep. Did you hear there was a Mud somewhere among us?” said the Greenfire, and it took all I had not to let my panic show on my face.

“Mud?” said the Blackfire. “Are you serious? They would never let a Mud in the Roe—they’d die before the game even began!”

“I swear it, I heard from the players,” said the Greenfire.

“Yeah, I heard, too,” said Ben, and when he turned to look at me, I thought for sure he knew. I thought he was going to tell me that he saw me, and that this was a trap I’dwillingly walked into, and now he was going to kill me. Or paralyze me and make me fall onto something so he could use my body to get the key.

“They said it’s a Redfire. Any idea who it might be?” he then asked.

No laughs, no smiles, no hint that would indicate he knew.

I shook my head. “No clue.” The words tasted stale on my tongue. Ireallywished I hadn’t given him that wine now.

“He’s probably dead by now, anyway,” said the Bluefire.

“I heard it’s a she,” said the other, and again, I fisted my hands on my lap and kept my expression perfectly neutral. It had gotten so hard to do since this game began

Maybe because I was tired and beaten up and with so little hope. I was so damn exhausted.

“Regardless—he or she is dead already. Good riddance.”

“As it should be. Imagine a Mudwinning the Roe.Pfft.” The Blackfire guy waved his gloved hand.

Which was funny because he wasn’t Mud, but he still hadn’t completed even the first challenge—the challenge of his own coven.

Meanwhile, I had two keys in my pocket.

“Yes. Imagine that,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.

“What about you?” Ben then asked me. “What’syourplan? Any fancy Redfire spells that’ll help you get to the end of this?”

“No, actually. There is no spell that kills in a way that’s considerednatural,” I said, a bit bitter now, too.

I mean, so what that I was Mud? I washere,wasn’t I? I’d made it this far, which meant I was just as capable, and justas deserving of being here as all of them, regardless of magic.

Damn it—why are they getting to me?!

“I meantto search, actually,” Ben said, and my cheeks heated up. “Spells to search for buried bodies.”

“Oh.” Fuck. “Um…no. I don’t know of a spell like that, either.”

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