Page 74 of House of Lilith

And as soon as I walk around one of the cliff walls, I see her. She’s getting surrounded by three of them, they’re about to paralyze her with their song and there’s no knife in her hand. She must’ve lost it somewhere.

I grit my teeth, my mind buzzing.

But just as I’m about to charge straight at her and the creatures surrounding her are about to open their mouths, her eyes narrow, she lifts her hand up and I hear this whizzing sound from somewhere to my left.

The next thing I know, she has her knife in her hand and the knife is glowing.

Within the next five seconds, all the bat birds are falling to the ground, lifeless, their throats cut and blood spurting out of the gashes.

Fucking hell, I think as heat starts washing over me.

It snaps me out of it, when I sense someone else watching. My eyes dart to my left, where I see her brother, my buddy Nikolay, observe her in silence, his eyebrows pulling down.

But the next second, someone slams into me, I double back and I see the asshole prince whiz past me, throwing me a look filled with contempt.

Fucking dick, I think to myself.

But when I turn my focus back onto her, she’s gone. And so is her fiance. And I sure as hell won’t let myself be the last to escape this hell hole of a circle.

*

It’s almost at the same time that Romanov, the asshole prince and I reach the edge of the second circle.

They leap and I leap after them.

Once we come crashing to the ground on the other side, for a second, there’s only silence.

Then the stone beneath our feet starts giving way to sand. Silky, fine sand. The whole of the circle fills up with it, but then everything stops and there’s only the breeze upsetting some of the more surface grains.

The two of them are standing not too far ahead of me. I see them hesitate, throwing each other a loaded glance.

She throws one over her shoulder as well, at me, and for a split second, our eyes meet.

Then her fiance moves. I think for a second, but I don’t follow suit, despite the finish line being clearly visible from where I’m standing. And neither does she, though her hand is hovering above her holster. We seem to be employing the same strategy. Wait until the creatures appear.

For a second, I just watch the asshole prince use his stealth to practically glide over the sand. Fucker, I think as I ball my hands into fists.

But the very next second, I see him double back, practically jumping up into the air, when the sand beneath him shifts, rising higher above the ground as if it’s coming alive. For a moment, he struggles to keep his balance, but then the sand lowers him back onto the ground.

I see him throw an amused look at Romanov.

Right before he throwsmea smirk, making my blood start to boil.

Then he turns back ahead, grips his javelin tighter and starts charging through the desert all around us, straight for the finish line.

All my muscles tense up. And just as I hear other players joining us, their shoes hitting the sand behind me, a giant snake bursts out of the sand, coils itself high up in the air and comes charging down like an arrow, straight at the asshole prince. It’s got the head of a scorpio.

For a second, my heart thundering in my ears is the only sound I can hear.

But then it begins. Chaos.

All of a sudden, there are students screaming as that same snake keeps bursting out of the sand, dealing cuts with its giant pincers. Blood curdles in my veins when I see how thick yet sharp they are.

The next second, I feel the sand beneath me shift and I find myself leaping up and doing a flip, throwing myself onto the ground and rolling as far away as possible.

Once I push myself up, panting, I see one of the students with his arm cut off in a single, clean swing, but the skin above it already turning poison green. The next second, he gets zapped out of the Game.

Holy shit, I think to myself as I quickly scan my surroundings in search of a hiding spot.

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