Page 75 of House of Lilith

There is none.

But time is definitely not on my side, I decide as I watch the beast shoot up again at the same time as yet another student being taken away. So I take a deep breath and I start running, zigzagging in an effort to make myself a tougher target.

And I do manage to put some distance between myself and the start of the circle, but I’m not as fast as I’d like. I keep having to stop, jump up into the air to avoid the scorpion snake. And then there are the sounds, the sounds of panic, screaming, flesh being torn out.

Just as I’m about to reach the center of the circle, I watch Romanov appear out of thin air before me, falling on her ass, but not wasting any time. Just as the beast comes to hover above her, she raises the hand with the knife, flings it and watches it puncture the beast’s neck, making it hiss with pain.

To my surprise, she looks in my direction, locking eyes with mine. And she throws me a sly little smile that I know means she thinks she’ll win. She’ll get to the finish line faster.

I hesitate, but I start walking around her and the beast, all my muscles tense and ready to attack as I keep moving, gaining advantage.

As the scorpio snake prepares to attack, I see Romanov try to get her knife back, but it’s stopped glowing. No magic left.

And the beast is leaning forward, starting to charge straight at her.

Against all reason, I stop. I sense someone else do the same, the asshole prince coming to stop somewhere to my right.

Then, the next second, Romanov disappears and my eyes start darting left right in search of her.

But it’s at the beast’s neck that I spot her next, pulling her knife out and jumping back down, her boots making a cloud of sand rise up when they hit the ground.

Without hesitation, without mercy, she swings her knife at her wrist and cuts, deep, making dark red blood gush out.

With the corner of my eye, I catch her fiance take a step forward, his fist clenched.

But then her knife starts glowing and she throws it, again, then calls it to her, jumps high up to catch it and while still in the air, throws it once again.

She does it, over and over again, so fast and hitting the neck with such precision, it doesn’t take her long to make the beast start swaying. It sways and it sways and then it comes crashing to the ground, splattering panting Romanov with her sticky blood.

I don’t have time to process what’s going on because I see her turn on her heel, weak in the knees but with such a determined look on her face. And she starts walking towards the finish line, towardsme, and I catch her eye and she’s all bloodied and the look in her eye is so ruthless, it makes my blood rush around and my fox start clawing to be let out.

Her eyes don’t linger on mine. I see her fight off the shaking of her knees and start to sprint for the finish line, leaving me standing there, my heart pounding in my chest and my head all jumbled up.

The next thing I know, she’s jumping down, down onto the field, the scoreboard letting out that loud yet high-pitched sound marking her finishing the Game.

And then, still in some kind of trance, I feel the need to look to my left and I see the scorpio snake coming back to life.

My muscles tense up again. Of course, there are still a lot of players in the Game, I think as my eyes sweep over the desert. We need a monster to fight, right?

I ball my hands into fists. I may have let myself get a little distracted, but now thatshe’sgone…

As I watch the beast dive under the sand again, watching its movement under its silky surface like a hawk, I finally let my fox through.

And he charges out of me, hitting the ground running, his enormous, strong body making it possible for me to leap up, keep myself up there until the beast comes shooting out, then grab it by the neck and snap it while still in the air.

I jump down, the corpse falling behind me. And I’m panting, but my fox is enjoying the smell of blood filling his nose and the rush of adrenaline from the kill.

I don’t hesitate. I start charging straight for the finish line, almost reaching it when I remember who’s waiting down below.

Quickly, while already in the air, I shift back and I jump down, anxious despite the win. Because it’s not the Games that are on my mind.

*

As soon as I land, I have to start fighting off all the people crowding me, wanting to congratulate me, needing me to explain to them what exactly happened at this or that point in the Game.

It’s only when I politely wave them off that I realize I’ve found myself in a large fenced-out resting spot, with benches all along its edges.

When the last of the eager students disperse and I look around, my fox starts sniffing once again. She’s here, but I can’t see her. And there’s this overwhelming urge to go to her and I give in, following the trail of her scent.

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