Page 45 of Blood and Reign

They’d deserve it, too.

The wall to our left begins to shimmer before disappearing, revealing a hall. We head over to it only to stop before it, a translucent barrier shimmering in place.

“No one tou—”

Jax curses, shaking his hand as he pulls it away from the barrier. “That fucking stings.”

“I wouldn’t try it again if I were you. It gets stronger each time you try.” A guard wearing Ivor’s crest reveals himself.

“Who are you?”

His dark eyes narrow on me. “Lucian, second in command of the Infernal army.”

“Like we give a shit. Let us out of here now.”

Lucian ignores Jax. “I’m afraid that will not be possible. You’ve caught the attention of one of the Guardians. They want to see just how powerful you really are.”

“Release us and we’ll fucking give you a first-hand demonstration,” Axel growls.

He ignores him, glancing down at our wrists. “Each of you has a bracelet that you will need to… charge.”

Charge? I glance down at the black bracelet and dull beads. How are we supposed to do that?

Axel voices my thoughts. “And how the fuck are we supposed to charge them?”

“In order to move onto the next trial, you’re going to need to charge those pulling true emotions from within each of you until they’re full.”

“I’m feeling some pretty strong emotions right now, and nothing is happening.” Axel grits out.

Lucian chuckles, looking at Axel like he’s an idiot. “Getting pissed off isn’t a strong enough emotion. You may want to kill me, but unless you actually perform the act and fully commit to it, those beads will remain empty.”

Axel stalks closer to the barrier. “Come in here and we’ll see how long these beads stay empty.”

Lucian smirks. “I’m afraid I can’t help you with this. You’re going to have to figure out another less violent way to gain power.”

Lucian glances at me before looking at the others. “You’re going to need it for the next trial… That is, if you survive this one.”

Jax rushes forward, forgetting about the barrier as he heads straight for Lucian. Before we have time to stop him, he’s thrown backward cursing as he slams into the side of the bed.

“I’d hurry if I were you. Time is ticking and once the room disappears, so does anything that’s in it.” Lucian chuckles as he walks away.

“Let the games begin.”

CHAPTER 10

As soon asLucian is out of sight, the barrier shimmers and the white and gold wall reappears. Luka and I move over to Jax, helping him up.

He looks to me with a pout. “I think I have a boo boo. Kiss it better?” That innocent look he has nailed down is back, making me chuckle.

“And where exactly is this so-called injury?” I ask, knowing damn well whatever comes out of his mouth will be anything but innocent.

Jax’s smirk turns savage. “Well, my dick—”

Luka slaps him upside his head before yanking him up.

“Hey!” Jax narrows his eyes on his brother.

Luka glares at him as he grabs my hand, pulling me over to the others. Jax follows, still pouting.

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