Page 28 of Death Match

This time I ignored it instead of explaining. I wasn’t in the mood.

“I feel like that was something you could have explained to me in the beginning,” I said, unable to hide my annoyance. “Kinda important, don’t you think?”

Michael seemed unfazed. “Would it have mattered?”

My mouth opened to argue but then clamped shut in the next second.

I knew the truth. It wouldn’t have influenced my decision. At all.

“Anything else I should know?” I grumbled. “Like, I can die in there or something.”

Michael’s face turned serious, making worry worm up my spine.

I had been joking. “Wait, can I die in there?”

“You can expire, yes,” he replied.

“Son of a—”

“Jade,” Eli scolded.

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know if you know this, but these are the types of things you should be telling your employees or soldiers—or whatever we are—in the first meeting. They need to know.”

Michael nodded. “I’ll make sure to disclose it to the others once they pass over and are ready for their Trials.”

Those Archangels would appreciate that. I know I would have.

I turned back to the archway and sucked in a deep breath. After holding it in until my head spun, I let it out in a rush.

“I’ll see you on the other side,” Eli whispered in my ear. His hand squeezed mine one last time before letting go.

Eyes still glued on the smoke-filled archway, I gave him a weak smile.

God, I didn’t want to step through that thing.

Not at all.

Like Michael had said before, did that matter?

Knowing the answer, I closed my eyes and stepped through.

A cool mist kissed my skin as I passed under the arch, making me shiver all over. When I opened my eyes, walls made of solid rock rose up all around me, all covered in moss and vines. I turned in a circle, taking in my surroundings. More of the green stuff covered the ground at my feet, as if this were a place forgotten by time.

Even though I didn’t see anything else besides stone and greenery, the sounds of wildlife called from somewhere nearby—birds singing their exotic songs, bugs chirping and hissing, and even a primate bellowing to a mate who responded back just as loudly. A heated dampness clung to the air, soaking into my hair and making my skin slick.

From the looks of it, the arch had dropped me in the middle of an ancient civilization’s ruins or something. Right smack in the middle of the jungle.

I blinked once, twice, taking everything in.

This place couldn’t be an actual point on a map. According to Michael, all Trials would be specifically designed for the Archangel-to-be. So, what did mine being a dense and sweaty jungle mean then? I was a hot mess?

Because…accurate.

And with a circle of stone rising up all around with no clear exit from what I could see, that could only mean I was standing in the center of the labyrinth Michael had been talking about, too.

I swallowed, my stomach twisting up again. I’d expected this. I’d known this was coming. And yet, I couldn’t help the nerves rising. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my thighs, trying to figure out what my next step was.

Think, think, think.

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