Page 71 of Dance of the Phoenix
Knowing he was right, I nodded, and then we heard Renaldi’s voice echoing in the arena, calling, “Please welcome the Rayne League’s Aileen Henderson and Logan Kazar!”
“Here we go,” Logan murmured, letting me go, and we both stepped into the arena.
The cheers were even stronger than before, full of vehement bloodthirstiness that made me feel even sicker than before. I looked up to see my face filling the large arena screen. It was pale and etched with trepidation. I looked like I was about to pass out at any moment.
Unable to look at myself anymore, I averted my gaze.
Logan and I stopped in the middle of the arena, and once we did, Renaldi called, “Please welcome the Atalon League’s Eleanor Simmons and Jebediah Ackerman!”
From the other entrance across the arena, Eleanor and Jebediah walked in. The closer they got, the better I was able to see Eleanor. I realized she was thinner than I remembered and that her tactical gear, while the same as other participants’, was covering a turtleneck shirt. It made no sense to be wearing anything under this skintight tactical top, especially since it was humid and warm in the arena.
It gave me an ominous feeling I wished I didn’t feel. Especially when I saw Eleanor’s face and how emotionless it looked. As if she was operating on autopilot.
Jebediah, on the other hand, looked no worse for wear. I’d seen him around the Atalon League but never knew his name. All I knew aboutthe blond-haired, green-eyed man that had an athletic build similar to Logan’s was that he was Gifted, though I had no idea what his Gift was.
Eleanor and Jebediah stopped across from us in the center of the arena. And then, Renaldi, from his spot at the host’s cabin, said, “Let the battle begin!”
And the battle I wanted the least to fight started.
Chapter 38
Aileen
Before Jebediah and Eleanor could move, Logan and I attacked.
Both of us launched ourselves at Jebediah. Logan used his Gift, his enhanced strength in his legs thanks to his years as a soccer prodigy, to shoot a kick, which contacted, at Jebediah’s midsection. Before Jebediah could respond, I came from behind him and chopped the nape of his neck with an intense precision.
A normal human would’ve passed out from my chop, but Jebediah was a vampire—and a Gifted at that. So all it did was give him a momentary concussion that made him stagger in place.
As Logan used the momentum to launch a set of kicks at Jebediah as if he were a punching bag, I turned around toward Eleanor. All she did was stand and stare at what was happening with dead, dark eyes, her body immobile.
Why wasn’t she fighting?
Why was she only standing and staring as if she was simply awaiting her turn?
Something was wrong.
And without thinking twice about it, I closed my eyes and thought,Stop!
The soft pounding in my temples, along with the sudden silence, told me time had listened to my command, and I opened my eyes and looked at Logan, who gave me a quizzical look. “What’s wrong?”
Part of our plan was to use my time-stopping power only in an emergency, in case one of us was on the brink of death, so as not to exhaust me. But this was a different emergency. “Eleanor is acting weird,” I said quickly, knowing I had less than thirty seconds to talk to him. “You’ve got a handle on Jebediah, so let me handle her by myself.”
Logan’s face contorted in rising anger. “Aileen, we agreed to stick to the plan of doing everything together—”
“I know!” I snapped, cutting him off, pointing at Eleanor. “But she’s not even moving! Let me handle this on my own.” I sucked in a deep breath and said, “Please.”
Logan looked at Eleanor for a few precious, long seconds. The pain rose in my head steadily and angrily, ready to take me under unless I released my hold on my power soon.
He then let out an angry breath. “Fine. But keep some of your attention on me in case I need your help.”
Relieved, I said, “Noted,” and thought in my head,Resume!
The noise of the audience returned with a vengeance, and I approached Eleanor, while Logan continued his onslaught on Jebediah, who now seemed to get ahold of himself and began to fight back.
“Eleanor,” I said when I was right in front of her, my hands on her shoulders. “Talk to me. Please.”
She stared at me, but I could tell she wasn’t really seeing me. She did not speak.
