Page 116 of The Wishing Game

He looks down at me, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"You think I am insensitive?" he asks in a low voice.

"That's an understatement." I roll my eyes. "You've been behaving abysmally the entire morning. What's gotten into you?" I ask, exasperated with his behavior. In the past, I might have seen his cluelessness about the world as cute. But this is straight-up mean.

He blinks slowly.

"I see. I shall attempt to be more sensitive, then." He nods, pursing his lips.

"I think you owe us an apology."

TWENTY-EIGHT

He looks at Thea, a soft warning in his gaze. Turning back to me, he simply stares at me for moments on end, his mouth opening and closing as if it's physically hurting him to say the words.

"I," he starts, swallowing in discomfort. I lean into him, ready to hear the magic words. "I—" He clears his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"Welcome to P'davi," a voice resounds from the stage, saving Ze from having to swallow his pride and, God forbid, apologize!

Shaking my head at him, I turn my attention to the stage. I should have known he wouldn't be capable of an apology—he who wastes no time in pointing out how inferior the rest of us are compared to him. I blow out an annoyed breath as I try to calm myself down. It's not worth it to get so incensed over him. Not when I have more pressing things to focus on—like getting ready for the second trial.

Ze puts his hands on my back, his big body a barrier between me and the rest of the crowd. In an unprecedented gesture, he leans down, placing his chin on my shoulder, his mouth angled toward my ear.

"I apologize," he whispers in a barely audible voice. The crowd is so raucous that for a moment I think I'm imagining things. "Will you forgive me?"

I swallow, the heat of his body seeping into mine.

Never did I expect him toactuallyapologize.

"Do you promise to try to be nicer?" I murmur, looking straight ahead and ignoring his proximity.

There's a pause as he breathes deeply, blowing hot air into my ear.

"For you." He sighs, his voice low and gravelly.

Before I can question him about what he means by that, he resumes his position, his attention back on the stage. Meanwhile, all I can think is how odd Ze is. He keeps surprising me, and at times such as this, it's a rather pleasant surprise. Maybe not all is lost when it comes to him.

"I am so pleased to see so many of you here. I trust that the first trial hasn't been too hard?" Milado calls out.

A chorus ofnos resounds from the crowd. They probably didn't encounter a soul-eating demon in their trial.

"As you know, each trial will become increasingly harder. I see a few hundred of you here. I wonder how many of you will make it to the next round."A chuckle. "Some of you might not be aware, but P'davi is an intermediary realm that connects all other worlds together. Every place outside of this complex might lead you to an unknown world, some of which could prove quite hostile. All of you come from different worlds, with different evolutionary mechanisms that enable your species to thrive inoneparticular environment. But to compete in this game, you'll need to be able to thrive inallenvironments.

"Regardless of your abilities, orlackof, you all have something in common. All of you havemortalbodies," he proclaims, eliciting displeased sounds from the crowd. "And if you die in this game, you forfeit the immortality of your soul."

I wish I could see him to associate a voice with a face, but with everyone so much taller than me, the only thing I can see is the back of some random person. It's in vain even if I raise myself on the tips of my toes.

"And that brings me to the second trial of The Wishing Game. Are you ready to know?"

"Yes," everyone shouts.

"Good. I like the enthusiasm." Milado laughs. "You see, the moment you stepped into P'davi and left your worlds behind, your clock started ticking."

I frown. What does he mean by that?

"There are only a few worlds whose atmospheres are similar enough for multiple species to live in, as you well know. But that will not be the case with the ones you will encounter in this game. In plainer terms, that means you are all currentlydying."

Gasps erupt from the crowd.

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