Page 65 of Shadows of the Crown

My stiff fingers find the icy blade on my thigh and unsheathe it. The distinct features of another person fill out the closer I get. They must hear my shuffling as they spin, screeching beforethey stumble to their back, indenting the snow with their flailing body.

I take a step. “Please don’t!” the person croaks. A woman. “I don’t want to die on the mountain! Please just let me get down so that my family can have my body!” I recognize that voice.

I march forward and rip trembling arms away from their face to be met with—“Ally?”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ariella

“Fuck’s sake, you couldn’t have died already?” I blow out a long, grating breath. I shouldn’t hesitate—she will be killed by something else, if not me—but her presence reminds me too much of Isaiah. Memories flicker through my resistant mind, but I quickly shove away the thoughts and focus on Ally.

She frowns at whatever she finds upsetting about my words and pushes weakly to her feet. “That was rude…so glad to see you, too!”

“You shouldn’t be.” She smacks her cracking lips, coughing dryly. The tips of her eyelashes and brows are frosted over, creating an eerie aura around her eyes.

She scoffs, hunching into herself until she looks no more than a child. It would be so easy to leave her and allow the mountain to handle her death. Isaiah is no longer here to reprimand such considerations. Perhaps the Angel allows him to watch from the Aether realm, but why should I care? What is he going todo—resurrect himself just to tell me that I must be nicer to a woman he had a crush on?

That’s exactly what he’d do if the Angel permitted…just to annoy me.

“Listen,” Ally croaks, rubbing a hand over her throat. “I know I’m not going to live through this, but I truly just want off the mountain before I die. My family deserves to have my body.”

My forehead creases—this is the second time she’s said that. I may have let it go once, but twice is no coincidence. “Your family?” A slow nod. “How exactly did you come from the guild if you have a family?” Her eyes look to my left as she searches for an answer.

Her impassive laugh is a little too forced. “I forgot you wouldn’t even consider anyone at your guild a friend…but they’re my family.” I hum and tap on my blade, her eyes catching the movement.

“Is that why they sentyou—the weakest member—to a deadly competition? Because they’re yourfamily? I remember you admitting similar thoughts only weeks ago…”

She shivers as her arms somehow slide around her torso further. Her voice shakes as she mumbles, “Whatever, Ariella. Can you just please wait to kill me until we’re down? It’s what Isaiah would want you to do…”

I flex every muscle I can, if only to keep from sending the full force of my shadows over her to drain all the pathetic bits of essence resting under her skin.

If I foundher, there are likely others nearby. Watching.

“Do noteverspeak his name again, or you’ll be begging me for death long before we’re off this fucking mountain.” If it was possible for her skin to pale further, it would have. Quiet rage flashes in her eyes before she looks away. I nod behind her and change my grip on the blade. “Go—before I change my mind.”

There is no delay to her movements as she spins and stalks through the snow. The blizzard has calmed, the wind less biting, though I still cannot see too far ahead. I keep a good distance behind Ally, and the crunch of her footfalls identifies the amount of warning I would have before an attacker reaches me.

I fixate on the back of her head for the next hour, debating on whether saying fuck it and sinking my blade into her skull would be the right decision. I don’t—the prominent awareness of what happened the last time I said that sticks obnoxiously to every thought.

I’m unsure at what point every breath that entered my lungs turned from burning to only slight discomfort, though the possibility of being close to the bottom energizes my nerves. I twirl my blade through a hand, surveying the dull landscape around me.

My feet move before my mind registers the scream up ahead—I’d have to thank the Angel if another competitor killed Ally before I had to. But it’s not another person…I slide to a stop just behind her, rearing back to avoid stumbling over the cliff edge like it appears Ally did. She lies flat on the ground with her legs dangling over the edge as she clutches to a blade I was not aware she could use.

She tilts her head into the snow, eyes immediately finding mine. “Thanks for the help!” I truly was unaware that such mindless fools existed in this realm.

“Why in the Aether would I have helped?” She gapes at me as if I’m the ridiculous one.

I straighten as a prickling sensation skims down my neck. I flip my blade to hold the tip before stepping one foot back and flinging it at a barely perceptible shadow. Another blade zips past my head—where I’d just stood—before succumbing to the endless drop over the mountain. Forever lost.

My eyes narrow when the shadow grunts, muttering curses under its breath before marching closer. A figure with red hair and an arrogant swagger comes into view.

Jeth.

Fuck me, I do not wish to deal with this.

His dark eyes lock onto mine, a wicked smirk cresting his face. “Ah, my favorite cock-blocker!” He yanks my blade from hisshoulder and tosses it to the side. “Well, only for a day…Sivara was more than willing to take your place.”

I raise a brow, keeping my voice as low as the storm will allow. “And where is my place, exactly?”

---