Page 82 of A Sky of Storms
I ran to the ramparts, seizing my chance to fly while I still could.
Victoria shrieked in anger, and I heard the pounding of her boots as she ran after me. Fuck, if she caught me in the sky, I’d be a goner. With Noah in my arms, I had no way to defend myself, and I was slow with the extra weight, my wings beating double time.
A bellow reached my ears, and I turned to find Victoria’s arm outstretched, her wings sprouting to follow me, but I was more focused on the blond warrior behind her.
Zane jumped—freaking jumped into the air—latching onto her back with one hand on her shoulder, the other slashing a knife through one wing. She screamed in pain and they spiralled down. My heart just about exploded as they tumbled, but at the last second, she managed a few feeble beats of her wings, stopping them from crashing to their deaths.
He whooped loudly, jumping off her and sprinting into the trees. I bellowed my own victory cry, flapping to meet him before my wings gave out. We’d done it. Somehow, some-fucking-how, we’d escaped. I caught up to Zane, who took Noah carefully.
We turned to face the rising sun. Dawn was coming, which meant it was the last day of the first trial.
A final hurdle awaited, and I glanced at Zane and Noah with worry clouding my heart. We were so close, but with Noah in tow, we’d be lucky to make it at all.
Time was running out, and if the sand stopped falling before we found the gold, well…
Only the gods knew what awaited us.
Istrodethroughthemud and cracked my knuckles, with my head a mess of unanswered questions. I knew the Drakes were up to some shady shit, but I’d been kept completely in the dark. People disappeared all the time in DH, so it was nothing to write home to your mother about. After what I’d seen during this trial, I was starting to think there was more to it.
The helicopter had been one of ours. I’d ridden in it more times than I could count and would have recognised it even without our emblem on the side.
There were bigger players in this game than Mark Leroy. The guy had been doing grunt work, which was fucking evident when a bullet grazed my head. The asshole who shot me? I had no fucking idea who that was, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Who the fuck was Cormac in bed with and why hadn’t he let me in on the plan?
I’d trusted Cormac to keep me in the loop on the gang’s movements, but I’d been a fucking idiot. And now he wanted the House Jupiter ring?
Fuck that. If he wanted me to finish this job and steal the ring, then he’d have to give me answers first.
And then there was Noah. He was suspicious of me even after I’d told him I had no idea what the Drakes’ involvement was. I’d taken a fucking bullet for him out there. I could have stood by and let him try to meet the hooded guy, but no, I went and got a nice bullet graze as a thank you. I don’t know why I fucking cared whether he believed me or not. We weren’t friends. None of us were.
I reached the drop, mud slicking up my thighs as I looked down at the giant crater in the ground. Water spilled over the edge, falling to the foggy marsh below. Not that I could see much with the fog obscuring most of the centre, leaving an outer rim of foul water and mud with shit floating in it. I lifted my elbow to cover my nose from the disgusting smell coming from the place. It was where things came to die. On either side of me, other Potentials were standing around the perimeter, staring into the crater, and not one of them looked stoked about going down there.
A roar rumbled overhead and I looked up to see a huge shadow rippling through the clouds and flying off into the distance. Great, just what I needed, another monster to add to the collection. A chill ran down my spine at the thought of that thing flying down from the sky, but I used it to solidify my resolve. I should have died more times than I could count. This would just be another on that list.
“That thing better not come back,” Kayden commented beside me, glaring at the sky.
Both Kayden and Kendra stuck with me when I’d started to follow the beacon, the former occasionally making obnoxious comments that I ignored. The three of us may have walked here together, but we were each other’s competition. Nothing that had happened in the last few weeks would change that and frankly, that’s how I wanted it. Kendra was alright, but Kayden… I’d been tempted more than once to slit his throat and be done with his shit, but the threat of monsters had made me hesitate. I needed to come out of the trial alive and if enduring the brick head’s bullshit kept me from dying then so fucking be it.
I focused on the crater before me instead of the asshole at my side. There was very little light thanks to the clouds and fog surrounding the place, making it look like something out of a gothic horror movie. Movies like that just so happened to be my favourite.
“Come on, you two,” Kayden said, slapping me on the shoulder. He strode forward and smashed right into the invisible force field, causing a wave of sparkling dots to dart across the air in front of us. “What the fuck?”
A laugh burst from my lips as he skulked back over, rubbing his nose. Nothing beat watching that shit-for-brains do something stupid.
“Not funny, bro,” Kayden grumbled.
“It totally was,” Kendra replied, not bothering to hide her laughter either.
The guy was so impatient, always demanding something as soon as he wanted it. Thinking like that would get him into a shitload of trouble.
The Overseer obviously wanted us to start at a certain time. Part of me—a microscopic speck—wondered whether Zane, Noah, and the Princess would make it here for kick-off. It’s not like I cared if Noah was okay, or if the other two succeeded. It was only so I had an idea of what I was going up against. Keep your enemies close and all that.
“More survived than I expected,” Kendra commented.
I turned to see where she was looking and sure enough, more Potentials began arriving. Some were from our garrison, but there were others too. Everyone looked like shit warmed up, and that was putting it nicely. The month had not been easy and judging by the number of Potentials sporting fresh injuries, the trek here hadn’t been a walk in the park either.
It was a mystery to me why most of these people were here. What had crawled into their heads and told them signing up to a set of deadly trials to become the ruler of Terrulia was a good idea? I could understand the motives behind those from Damascon Hollow and the Crimson Steppes. Fighting for what we wanted had been beaten into us from day-dot, but those from the other cities that looked like they belonged in a country club?
Ego, all of them. They’d never been told ‘no’ a single day in their lives, so why was getting a crown any different? I bet they thought it’d be handed to them on a silver fucking platter. Double that bet they were deluded enough to think it might still happen.
