Page 96 of Tempest Blazing
Every instinct I had screamed at me to change course, to find them, to fight alongside the people who actually mattered to me. We could watch each other's backs, cover each other's weaknesses. Face this trial the way we'd faced everything else—together.
By the time I reached the midpoint of the trial, my individual score had climbed to a respectable fifty. The scoreboard above the arena flared with shifting numbers—not enough to guarantee my safety, but close. Close enough that I could almost taste the relief of keeping my bond with Thalon intact. But what was the point of safety if it came at the cost of everything that made that safety worth having? What good was succeeding if I had to become someone I hated to do it?
But if I abandoned my role now, if I let my individual score stagnate while others climbed higher... I could lose everything. The Guild could sever my bond with Thalon with a few bureaucratic signatures, and all of this—the training, the friendships, the sense of finally belonging somewhere—would disappear like smoke.
Each breath scraped against my raw lungs, mirroring the rawness of the choice tearing me apart. I stared at the path toward my friends, then back toward where my temporary allies were probably positioning for their next ambush.
The warmth in my chest pulsed again—Thalon's presence, distant but constant. Those golden eyes looking into mine when we first bonded. The trust there.
One step away from my friends. Then another. Each step felt like betrayal, but I made them anyway.
Thalon. I was doing this for Thalon.
So why did it feel like I was tearing myself away from him with every stride?
Chapter 39
Tess
I burst through the crumbling archway at a full sprint—
And ran straight into a nightmare.
Selena's smirk hit me first, sharp and predatory, her dark hair whipping around her face like she was some avenging goddess of spite. Valen stood beside her, red eyes gleaming with anticipation, his pale hands already moving in the fluid gestures of a binding spell.
"Oh, look what we caught," Selena purred.
I tried to skid to a stop, to throw up my Golden Shield, but Valen's chains were already whipping through the air. Dark metal wrapped around my arms with brutal efficiency, yanking them behind my back before I could even begin to channel my magic. Cold bit deep, sending shocks straight to my shoulders.
"Shit—" The word barely escaped before Selena's palm flared with sickly green light.
The spell hit me like molasses mixed with lead. Not just a standard snare rune—this was something else entirely. Something designed to counter my specific magical signature, layers of binding magic woven together with careful precision and intimate knowledge of how my power worked. Something that sank into my muscles, my bones. Every breath felt likedrowning in thick honey. When I tried to twist against Valen's chains, my body moved like it was fighting through wet sand.
"Funny thing," Selena murmured, stepping closer until her breath was hot against my ear. Each word carefully chosen to cut. "We've been waiting here for you specifically, Tess. Amazing how predictable you get when you think you're being clever."
Ice water. They knew exactly who was coming. They planned this. Clever? I'd thought I was being strategic, taking the shortcut. But I'd just walked right into their trap like some amateur.
A force rune slammed into my ribs before I could process the implications. The impact drove all the air from my lungs in a harsh wheeze, and stars exploded across my vision. Pain bloomed sharp and immediate along my side, and I felt rather than saw my amulet flare to life.
Compromised.
Crimson pulsed against my wrist like a heartbeat counting down to my execution. Two minutes. I had two minutes before this became permanent.
What I saw when I twisted toward the path made my stomach lurch.
Anya. No.
Anya was pinned against a broken pillar, her smaller frame looking fragile and wrong against the stone. And it was my teammates holding her, their magic wrapping around her like living restraints. She must have followed me. Must have seen me take this path and tried to catch up.
And her amulet. Gods, her amulet was glowing the same crimson as mine.
Compromised.
Our eyes met across the ruined courtyard, and something in her familiar dark gaze flickered—not anger, not surprise, but a wounded confusion that made her scent shift from warm vanilla to something bitter and lost. Like she'd come after me despite everything, and this was what her trust had earned her.
This is my fault.
"Looks like your little friend got caught being reckless too," Selena whispered against my ear, her voice a mockery of intimacy.
