Page 38 of Gods' Battleground

“I didn’t ask. I commanded.”

Bella shot the speaker a savage look. “Healing takes time!”

“You’re a witch. Make it work. You have magic.” He sounded annoyed.

“Even magic-assisted healing takes time.” Bella grabbed some bandages and took a step toward Calli.

“No.” She shook her head. “Take care of them first.”

In addition to the broken ankle, Calli had a nasty gash on her head, but neither Bella nor I tried to argue with her. It would only make our stubborn foster mother dig in her heels even deeper. The best thing we could do was heal Tessa and Zane quickly so we could get to Calli sooner.

“You have two hours, witch,” said the Night Prince. “I’m sending your team regardless. If you want them to survive the next match, you will make them ready to fight.”

Bella was busy preparing another dose of the poo-colored potion for Tessa, so I answered for her.

“And if you want to win, you will find someone else to fight,” I told the Night Prince, then started wrapping Zane’s wounds in potion-soaked bandages.

“I need the phoenix in the match,” the Night Prince insisted.

He wasn’t listening to a single word any one of us was saying.

“Gin’s injuries are severe,” Bella told him. “She won’t be reborn in the next two hours.”

“And the others?”

“Zane and Tessa can barely stay conscious. And Calli definitely won’t be walking until tomorrow at the very earliest.”

“So that leaves me withonlythe human?”

I wasn’t human at all, but we weren’t advertising that fact. If the Night Prince knew I was immortal—that it was almost as hard to kill me as it was to kill Gin—he’d throw the team into even more perilous battles.

“Very well, witch,” the Night Prince slurred with vicious delight. “I will allow your wounded family members to rest. But I amnotforfeiting the match. The human will fight. And since you can’t fix up my best warriors in time for the next match,youwill join her in the arena.”

CHAPTER 13

SMOKE AND SUBTERFUGE

The air was thick with smoke. My eyes watered and my throat burned, but I didn’t dare cough. I couldn’t let the enemy know where Bella and I were hiding. Plus, if I coughed, I might fall out of the tree we were perched in. And I couldn’t even use my wings to catch me. That would give away way more than just our position.

We’d run into this sticky-hot jungle an hour ago, fleeing the enemy team’s welcoming committee. There were ten of them: big, bad, bald vampires with supernatural senses. Their eyes were sharp, their noses keen, and their desire to rip us to shreds and feast on our blood very, very real.

That’s why I’d set off so many stinky smoke bombs inside the jungle. Under normal circumstances, the vampires would have tracked us down within seconds, even on a dark and cloudy night like tonight. But the garlic-and-onions scented smoke made us hard to see, hard to smell—and, hopefully, hard to kill.

I could hear an aerial video camera buzzing around my head like a mosquito. It was one of many cameras the Tournament organizers used to broadcast the battles to the rich and spoiled ‘princes’ competing with one another for money and glory by sending in other people to die for them.

I didn’t look up at the camera. I probably wouldn’t have been able to see the tiny device anyway. The flying cameras didn’t just sound like mosquitos; each one was the size of a mosquito too.

Can you hear the vampires?Bella asked inside of my head.

Before the Night Prince’s guards had shoved us into the arena, we’d decided to restrict our communication to telepathy only, and we were sticking to that plan. Speaking aloud wasn’t a very smart idea when you were being hunted by a group of vampire commandos with supernatural hearing.

Yes, I can hear the vampires,I told Bella.

The vampires weren’t the only ones with supernatural hearing. I had it too. That and telepathy were two kinds of magic I could use without giving away my secret.

They’re making quite a lot of noise down there,I added.

They know we’re only standing in for Calli and the others,said Bella.So I guess they’re not feeling very threatened by us.

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