Page 60 of Shadows of Ruin

In the brief time I had spent in his company, I knew everything I needed to about this man. Mysthaven may not be my home, but I’d be damn sure I helped my friends with whatever they needed to succeed against their king.

My friends.

Again, the thought struck me. They had every chance tohurt me yet hadn’t. Every chance to command me without including me. They bared their darkest secret to me, willingly. Kade brought me here for a purpose, one he felt strongly about. His hesitation in Brookmere, his words—for the first time I no longer doubted them.

The competition continued below while my focus remained on Kade. He’d had to fight his whole life. What had Storm said about how he acted back home? Cold? Closed off?

Perhaps the man in Brookmere truly was Kade. A Kade free from his father. A man able to experience life without the weight of being the king’s monster every second of every day.

Tears sprang to my eyes.

Which meant my father’s request, the request to take his life, forced Kade right back into the role of the monster he’d briefly escaped while in Brookmere. I gasped, bringing my hand to my chest. The impossible burden placed on Kade’s shoulders even in Brookmere was overwhelming.

Fates.

The king rose, standing and raising his arms again.

Kade’s gaze immediately found me as the fighting ceased, and he took a step forward. Like he’d leave the damn arena to come up here. I shook my head subtly. Too many emotions filtered through the pain I’d clung to the past week. The anger dissipated, transforming into something else entirely. A feeling weaving over my heart, my soul. A desperate need to protect Kade Blackthorn in a way he hadn’t ever been given before.

I needed air, even though I sat in the open colosseum.

The pace of my breathing increased. I closed my eyes tightly. The entire situation was horrible. In my grief, no matter how rightful, I’d ignored everything he experienced.

“Shall we add in some more fun, my people?” the king bellowed to the crowd’s delight. “The time has come for the lottery of Guardians! Cassandra will draw the names from those in the crowd who will be chosen to compete for a place among my warriors.”

I opened my eyes. Now was not the time to be caught up in this. There would be time to process everything. Later. Right now, I had to get through the rest of this battle, and hope the others survived the upcoming Blood Oath.

The king lowered his arm, extending his hand toward the entrance to the arena, where Cassandra sauntered out. A deep blue tunic billowed around her body, two sizes too large. Her face donned a smile, and her skin practically glowed despite the dimming sun as she approached a small table set to the side of the arena. On it rested a large cauldron. Black, shiny, it took me by surprise; I hadn’t noticed it at first.

She tossed her curly silver hair over her shoulder and waved a palm over the mouth of the pot.

“Guardians for Mysthaven, tried and true. Hearts and minds we seek for you. In the depths of the Fae not yet pledged, bring forth more warriors to fight at blade’s edge.” Her voice carried through the colosseum, an airy sound flitting around us.

A shimmery gold smoke swirled along the edge of the cauldron before shooting straight up into the air. The spectators cheered at the theatrics, leaning forward and taking in the show.

Cassandra’s smile widened as she brought her hands from above her head downward in a slow descent. As she did, the smoke settled from the eruption, following the height of her hands until the cauldron merely steamed with the golden mist.

A man approached her, holding a scroll and quill. She nodded toward him, then the king.

“Begin,” he ordered.

Cassandra snapped a finger. A plume of gold mist puffed out in a circle in front of her face, then dissipated.

“Morgan Talley,” she said.

The man beside her wrote on the scroll while a group of Fae at the far side of the colosseum shouted, slapping a manon the back as he moved toward the aisles leading to the arena’s entrance.

He’d barely made it to the opening when Cassandra moved again.

“Tyson Rivbane,” she called out from behind another puff of gold.

The same process happened again. Cheers erupted from various locations in the colosseum, and the potential Guardian moved through the aisles and into the ring.

Cassandra called out more names of both men and women. As soon as they entered the arena, they were handed a sword, mostly procured from bleeding Guardians already removed from the battle in the arena.

Forty or so Guardians stood in the center of the arena, either unmarked like Kade, Storm, Jax, and Raya, or boasting one or two bloody wounds.

I couldn’t look too closely at the scattered dead bodies lying on the colosseum ground.

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