Page 61 of Bonded to the Fallen Shadow King

She nodded and swung her discs around the column. The metal locked in place with a satisfying clang.

I turned to face the column and stepped in close, positioning myself between her arms. Then I crouched and hoisted her up in an awkward piggyback hold, her weight unbalanced but bearable. My legs strained and wanted to buckle as her arms locked around my waist. Her legs hugged my sides, trembling but strong enough to hold.

“Don’t let go.” I took in a ragged breath, already feeling the strain from her weight.

“Don’t plan to,” she gritted out.

Then together, we climbed.

The straps strained under our weight, but they held. We levered ourselves upward, inch by inch. Rhielle’s breath shuddered against my neck, and my legs burned as my wound bled more. Every movement pulled at my injuries, and no doubt hers as well.

But we both were determined not to stop.

Working together was easier than I would have thought possible. My muscles trembled from the strain, but Rhielle clung tight. Each foot braced against the stone while each shift of weight got us closer to the top. Her breath puffed hot against my neck, uneven but steady.

The straps creaked but held.

Inch by inch, we reached the top.

Kaylen mumbled stuff, but I didn’t have the energy to spare to listen. Most likely, she was pissed that I was going to beat her twice. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips, but I was too tired to lift them. Every bit of energy had to be saved until Rhielle finished too.

I hauled us up with one last shove. My knees hit stone, and I fell forward, dragging Rhielle with me until we collapsed on the platform. The cloudy sky blurred in my vision, and for a second, I just breathed.

Then I forced myself to my feet.

Rhielle grunted as I lifted her again, hooking one arm under her legs and the other around her back. Slowly, minding the vipers, I carried her around the ring to the container with the shadowed panther, muscles sleek, eyes sharp, etched in obsidian. Her emblem.

Kaylen finally reached the top of her own column. Her face was greasy with sweat, and her legs trembled.

“Move slowly, and don’t be scared of them,” I reminded Rhielle and set her down in front of her container.

“I’m too injured to be scared,” she hissed as she very carefully guided the discs into the slit. Her fingers trembled as the snakes licked the air. The metal sank in with a soft snick, and her leathers fell from her wrists.

A burst of violet light surged around her container.

The air filled with the scent of lavender and ripe plums. Warm and sharp. Familiar and defiant.

Rhielle’s eyes widened, and she laughed. Her head tilted toward Kaylen.

“Eat shit,” she said, grinning through the pain.

The mechanicalclicksounded again, deep and final.

Kaylen snarled and shoved herself over the ledge. “You think that means anything?” She dragged herself toward her own container, fury etched in every step. “You’re both still scaffing abominations.”

She slammed her discs into the slot, and the tower shuddered.

The snake on top of her container coiled tight. Kaylen didn’t notice...and it struck.

Its fangs dug deep into her face, and she screamed bloody murder.

My stomach lurched, and I had to look away. Even if I hated her, no one deserved that sort of pain.

The sound tore through the platform as she stumbled backward, hands flying to the wound. Blood poured from beneath her eye as the snake retreated back into the stone like smoke.

Another loud, ground-shaking metallicclickrang and settled deep into my bones, making my teeth chatter. There was a grinding noise, like a machine stopping, and the world disappeared from under our feet.

ChapterTwenty

---