“She doesn’t need to see what it means if I lose,” Ryker said.
Oh.
Oh.
That was dark. Even for him. But I could respect the compassion he had for his familiar. I just didn’t think he was capable of such an emotion at all.
“This is going to be interesting.” Ryker’s scoff shattered the millisecond of empathy for the guy. “When I told you about the tests before, you said you had no intention of trying to pass them. Yet here you are.”
He watched me, his green eyes narrowed almost the same way as his friend’s had moments ago. Was the demon a friend? Or was he a brother or a lover?
The room around us filled with anticipation the longer he held my gaze and I half-expected a small thundercloud to burst to life above his head.
“I changed my mind,” I said.
“And you think you’re going to win the Inferno? After repressing your power for twenty-five years? You’ll be lucky to survive the first trial. You’re obviously out of your fucking mind.”
“Then I’m in good company,” I told him. “Now stand aside and enjoy the show. Feel free to make yourself comfortable.”
His attitude didn’t discourage me as he most likely intended, nor did it foster a sense of dread, or doubt, or fear. Instead, he spurred me on. His comments fueled my fire.
“Death awaits you on the other side of that portal,” he said in an undertone, loud enough for me to hear but no one else. “You should turn away now while you have the chance.”
Little did he know, death awaited me everywhere. “I’m so touched you care.”
“Is this a joke?” he asked.
“If it is, you’re the punchline.” I’d enjoy watching him break and falter. If he held his breath waiting for me to fail, then I’d watch him go down blue-faced, too. Either way, I’d be a winner.
Ryker scoffed again, towering over me like he could use his height to intimidate. Had he learned nothing while he’d watched me? I didn’t intimidate easily.
“You have an inflated ego if you think you stand a chance against me,” he said. “Or any of these other competitors. You’re completely ignorant of this world and ways, and your laughable human outfit just proves it. You’re powerless. You’re weak. What are you going to do? Try to punch your way through the trials?”
“I’m not completely ignorant.” I gave him a half-shrug. “I’ve been competing and kicking ass for years. So yeah, I think that plays to my advantage. This is just another match for me to win. And you can bet your sweet ass I’m going to win it.”
I pushed my way in front of him, feeling him rolling his eyes at my back more than seeing it.
“Speaking ofass,you might be annoying, but I do enjoy watching you walk away,” Ryker called out.
Was he hitting on me? It was starting to sound like it.
Better yet, why was my body responding to his piggish comments at all? My stomach was twisting into knots, and not in the way it should. Frankly, it was pissing me off.
“Keep your eyes to your fucking self,” I muttered under my breath.
He caught up to me in a single stride.
“Have you ever thought about smiling more? You’re—”
“Don’t you fucking dare finish that sentence.”
He was kidding, right? It was like he had a list of the top ten things never to say to a woman and he was just checking them off as he went to see when I’d snap.
When I glanced over and saw his victorious smile, I knew my assumption had been right. He was doing everything possible to get under my skin.
Asshole.
I couldn’t let him get in my head and distract me. That was what he wanted, and Iknewthat. I had to just ignore him.