Page 36 of Dragons' Mate
I don’t disagree, but several of the other women seem emboldened and take to the path. I tilt my head back to survey the tense bodies of the dragon shifters lining the catwalk. Apparent spectators. Except… Except the males standing there are already responsible for killing or running out a third of the packs. If none of them react to the crossing humans, we could all live. But the priests are counting on the competitors’ own violence.
This is all kinds of messed up.
I’m proved right just as the women already on the path seem to find their cadence. There is a whip-crack of sound, and a dazzling streak of pure white energy leaps down, striking the earth. Lightning magic. The air splits with a terrifying crack, a blinding flash lights up the entire arena.
One of the women falls dead on impact but all lose their footing as the path convulses under the force of the impact. A cloud of dust and clumps of earth rise together with the screams. The path crumbles in two places, sending two more competitors off the side.
“What was that?” Lee asks.
I cover my face. The stench of ozone, sharp and metallic, fills the air, leaving a bitter tang on my tongue.
“That was the future king of Massa’eve,” Bianca informs her, before turning to me. “Enjoy your stroll, Lady Kitterny.”
Of course it was him who’d broken the fragile unspoken peace. Because the asshole couldn’t bear the thought of anyone but his own pack getting through this.
Now that the possibility of safety for all is off the table, chaos breaks out in full. Flames roar to life from one shifter's command, snaking their way down towards the path. Before the fire can reach its target, a sudden surge of water rises from the pit's depth. The two elements meet in a clash. Hissing steam and reverberating magic spreads out like a shockwave. Rivers of wet earth roll down the path’s sides, dragging two women toward the roused piranhas.
More attacks follow, some hitting the path, others meeting shields or elemental counter strikes.
“Stars.” Lee’s face pales. “My males… they don’t have the power to go against someone like Geoffrey.”
One of the women still on the path takes off at a sprint. I grip Lee’s wrist as the runner makes it to the second bend before she is targeted in earnest. Geoffrey tries to send his lightning down again, but someone—presumably one of the males in her pack—throws up a shield to block the assault. My stomach clenches as the ground beneath the girl’s feet gives way regardless.
She leaps over the hole. Pushes herself faster. Harder. Then she is on the west platform, safe and alive and panting. A shimmering shield that matches the one forming the dome repels any attack trying to smite her there.
Cheers and boos break out from the stands. The sound of clapping hands and stomping feet is nauseating. There is coin being exchanged. I bet there is. As if all this, all our lives, are nothing but a game.
You need to go next,Tavis says into my head.Geoffrey is distracted. Go. Now.
I grab Lee's hand. "We need to go now."
Fear pales Lee’s face and she shoots a quick glance up to the catwalk.
Now, wildcat!Tavias mind shouts.
“I—”
“You are staying close to me and getting across,” I tell her with all the authority I can muster. “We both are.”
There is a static sensation along my skin as Lee and I pass through the invisible barrier that separates the arena from the safety of the platform. Immediately, I feel the coarse stone of the path under my boots. The path seems less steady than I expected. Narrow. The wind picks up around me, tugging at my clothes and hair, trying to upset my balance. Perhaps worse, the gust carries the stench from the pit below. The piranhas’ rot is now mixed with the coppery tang of fresh blood.
Bile fills my throat. I want to wretch.
“We’ve got this.” Lee squeezes my hand.
Holding on to Lee’s hand, I inch forward along the path, testing each patch of ground before putting my full weight on it. My pack may protect us from above, but they can’t keep the abused ground beneath our feet from giving way. More stench fills my lungs, dust from raging explosions gritting my nose and mouth and eyes. I bend, shielding my face with my free hand, my attention focused on one step after the other.
Fear courses through me, my body tense. Alert. Pelted with a storm of non-unending debris and screams of the injured. As horrible as those sounds are, the sudden silence at the end of those howls are worse still. I don’t want to die. Not here. I shudder as a surge of magic hits the path a few paces in front of me, raising a fountain of rocks into the air. Something strikes my shin. My leg buckles. A sudden stab of pain drops me to the ground.
“Get up, Kit.” Lee pulls desperately on my hand. “You have to get up.”
I know she is right. I have to move no matter how much it hurts. I rise. Step. Falter.
“Kit!” I hear Lee’s voice through a haze that I try to shake off. I can’t. I think Tavias is shouting something into my mind as well, but I can’t catch the words.
The bite mark on my breast tingles, calm confidence flowing like a lifeline into me. Quinton. I hear him. Not his words now, but the ones he’d said to me back at the inn. About me being the pack’s best chance. About believing in me. That sensation and more flow into my soul, giving me the strength to push on. Keep moving. So I do.
Which is when Geoffrey turns his attention to me and lightning splits the air.
