Page 40 of House of Ydril

“The Fighter’s job,” the Pied Piper continues, “is to take the ball from the giant and throw it… Now wait.” As she says that, the screen captures the appearance of a levitating golden hoop a ways in front of the Pied Piper’s booth. “Right through this hoop,” she finishes, making my stomach twist at the very thought of even trying to do it.

“I also need to mention,” the Pied Piper adds with a sly smile, “that you have a time limit. You only have half an hour before the clock runs out.” At that, I see the image of an hourglass on the screen above me. “When it does, you’re out. But if you manage to get the ball through the hoop before that time, you’re a winner.”

The crowd goes wild again and I hear the other Chosen around me cheer, soundly patting each other on their backs.

Nuh-uh, I think to myself. No way in hell am I focusing on anything other than surviving. I only need to manage it for half an hour and I’m done.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” the Pied Piper says. “I think we’ve had enough talking.”

The crowd roars once again and I see Amra get into position, leaning forward as if preparing for a sprint.

A gong sounds and it all happens so fast, I barely draw in a breath. The giant lunges at the girl and the girl lunges at the giant.

He swings one enormous, muscled arm in her direction, she evades the attack and kicks herself off the ground, shifting midair. My jaw drops as I watch her frail human body turn into the biggest bear I’ve ever seen, with my own two eyesoron screen.

With bated breath, I watch her try to attack the giant repeatedly, the creature roaring at her and flailing its spiked arms whenever she comes close. The few times she does get close enough, it rips into her bear body, spilling blood all over the ring.

Holy fuck, this seems totally inhumane. How can they do this to us?

I almost jump up off my seat when Amra’s giant bear claws finally manage to land a blow. And now there’s blood everywhere.

I hear the crowd yelling, but the giant seems to have more than enough fight in him to return the favor. He just lifts his hand and slams her body into the ground.

Holding my breath almost the entire time, I watch Amra squirm as she tries to pick herself up. Strangely, the giant isn’t taking the opportunity to attack. Maybe he’s been injured too heavily. Which is why she finally manages to push herself up off the ground and take another leap.

I don’t actually see what happens. It’s too fast. But I hear wild roaring coming from the giant and I see the girl shift back into her human form. The next second, she’s jumping and the screen is showing the ball flying through the hoop.

The crowd breaks out into loud cheering. “And we have a winner,” the Pied Piper’s voice booms as I fix my eyes on Amra bleeding down there, my heart constricting in my chest.

After Amra leaves the ring, more Chosen get called to fight. Nine more win, including Sarya, Harry, Zelda and Leo. The others all lose. Hard. They also get injured so badly that the medics need to come take them away. And just as I think someone’s going to actually die, I hearhisname being called out, making my knees go weak.

I watch him walk down the steps leading from our booth and down into the arena. My eyes dart between the real him and the enlarged image of his face on the screen. He’s smirking.

From the way he moves and the way he smiles, his hands in his pockets as if he’s about to go to class and not fight to possible death, it’s obvious that he’s enjoying the attention. And I can’tnotgive it to him.

“Now, this should be interesting to watch,” I hear the Pied Piper say. “The prince, of course, is of the House of Lilith, which means that he could simply order the giant to give him the ball. But that’s exactly why the Trial Architects have made sure the giant’s skin is smeared with vampire blood.”

The people around me murmur, but I don’t care about that. My entire focus is on him.

Once he’s in the arena, he just stops and remains standing there, waiting for the gong to sound. The screen shows him smiling as he cracks his neck in one slow, controlled motion, making the girls around me let out a giggle.

He seems so relaxed, it’s making me want to slap him.

But then the gong sounds and all of a sudden, he’s nowhere to be seen. Except as a blur making deft jumps around the arena, finally landing on top of the giant himself. The giant roars, flailing in an attempt to figure out what’s going on, but Faust is already back on the ground, a piece of giant’s armor in his hand. He takes it with both hands and snaps it against his knee, creating a spear-like weapon. Then he turns around and smirks at the camera. The son of a bitch. It makes me draw in a breath, feeling desire tingling all over my skin.

When he turns back to the giant, I see that the big guy is just about to jump at him. But Faust just raises his spear and throws it effortlessly straight into the creature’s hand. The giant roars and lets go of the ball.

The prince seems to disappear. And the next time I see him, he’s standing in the arena as the gong sounds to mark his victory. He’s managed to get the ball and throw it through the hoop without me noticing any of it.

Holy shit.

As the crowd roars, I keep watching him as his eyes sweep over it. Oh, he’s enjoying this. And for a second, our eyes meet. And his linger. I draw in a breath, my thighs clutching as the flames of his gaze lick my skin, making me go wet with desire.

Good job, Quinn, I snarl at myself.Heis exactly where your focus should be right now.

And of course, it’s at that exact moment thatmyname is called out. I feel air being knocked out of my lungs and my entire body going numb.

As if in a trance, I get up and walk out of the booth and down the steps. I can barely do more than keep breathing and putting one foot in front of the other.

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