by Tracy Wolff
I wait for the obnoxious comeback, and it doesn’t take long. “Jaxon doesn’t do normal, or haven’t you noticed?”
Says the guy who lives in my head, I shoot back, fed up with everyone at the moment. Hate to be the one to break it to you, but he’s not the abnormal one here.
Hudson starts to say something else, but he stops as we walk into the auditorium, which is already half filled with students, many of whom turn to look at us as we start toward the back row of seats.
There’s a purple carpet—a purple carpet!—lining the walkway up to the stage. It’s obviously for us, and I feel completely ridiculous walking down it, even though everyone else seems to think it’s totally normal.
Uncle Finn is waiting when we get to the stage, once again fiddling with the sound system. He grins at all of us and goes out of his way to send an encouraging little wink to Macy and me.
Still, there’s something in his eyes—they’re so serious, despite his smile and wink—that makes my stomach clench.
“Is it too late to run?” I ask, and I’m only half kidding. Something about this just feels off. Jaxon squeezes my hand.
“I told you not to come,” Hudson hisses at me. “I told you something bad would happen.”
Nothing bad has happened yet, I try to soothe, but my heart has started beating out of control.
Even Jaxon looks like he thinks running might be a good option, especially as the assembly hall doors swing open and the members of the Circle come parading up the walkway on the opposite side of the auditorium from where the rest of us entered.
Cyrus heads to the podium with all the pomp and flair of Mick Jagger at a Stones concert. Today he’s dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a purple-and-black tie and, not going to lie, he looks like a million bucks. Of course, his eyes are gleaming like a zealot’s, so it takes a little away from the whole picture.
As soon as the other members of the Circle find their seats, he starts the assembly with a, “Thank you, Katmere Academy, for the most exciting Ludares tournament we have ever experienced. It was truly a delight to preside over such an incredible event.”
The room falls silent as he looks the audience over, and I’m not sure what’s scarier, the serious looks on their faces or the sound of the locks as the doors slide shut.
I swallow the panic rising in my throat as I give the audience a shaky smile. What I really want to do is race down the aisle like a K-pop fan after my favorite idol, but instead I stay where I am as the king turns back to the audience and continues what I now know—what all eight of us now know—is a total fucking farce.
“First on the agenda is celebrating the win of this amazing team up here. They played an incredible game of Ludares, didn’t they? That moment when Grace dodged the two dragons was breathtaking. And when she turned one of the dragons to stone?” He shakes his head. “Absolutely captivating.”
The audience claps more enthusiastically than I expected.
“So, with no further ado, let’s bring them up to accept the special prize donated this year—a bloodstone from the royal collection.”
Delilah is also at the front of the stage, though it’s clear she plans to let her husband do all the talking today. She’s dressed head to toe in white, and she looks chillingly beautiful. Her crimson lips are turned upward in a perfect smile—that appears genuine as long as you don’t look at it too closely.
Cyrus motions toward our team at the back of the auditorium. “Can our Ludares winners please come forward together and take a bow?”
The group of us exchanges uneasy glances—but Jaxon squares his shoulders and walks in front, with all of us following behind reluctantly and single file.
“Take your bow,” Cyrus instructs as we come to a stop on the stage, and we do as the audience applauds.
Cyrus walks behind us now and pats everyone on the back as he calls their name. I’m at the end, though, and he stops when he gets to me.
“Grace.” Cyrus hands me the box with the bloodstone in it, looking me up and down, and it totally squicks me out. Not because the look he gives me is lascivious—it’s not—but because it’s avaricious. Like he wants me, but only because he’s already figured out how to best use me to serve his interests.
“It’s so lovely to meet you,” he tells me, coming around to my side and opening both arms in some kind of bizarre facsimile of a social-distancing hug. “My son’s mate, a gargoyle.” He shakes his head. “It’s unfathomable but so, so exciting.”
“So exciting,” Delilah echoes, and her perfect crimson smile never wavers.
Cyrus continues. “I can’t tell you how impressed we were by your performance during the tournament.”
“My entire team did very well,” I agree.
Delilah cocks a brow in exactly the same way as both her sons do but says nothing.
“So they did. But you were their secret weapon. We all saw Grace Foster’s performance at the Ludares tournament yesterday, correct?” Cyrus’s voice booms through the auditorium and elicits cheers in response. “We saw the amazing things she could do, didn’t we?” More cheers.
“But we also saw how vulnerable the poor girl is,” Cyrus adds, shaking his head. “We saw her struggle, we saw her dragged across the field by a werewolf, we saw her nearly die between two dragons. Grace, our only gargoyle in more than one thousand years.”
Where’s he going with this? I ask Hudson as he continues to list the many things that have happened to me since my parents died.
“Nowhere good.”
Cyrus pauses, and it’s like the whole room forgot how to breathe. He turns to his wife and motions her over. “Would you like to deliver the good news, Delilah?”
The queen continues to smile as she walks forward, but it’s not a happy smile. It’s rigid, brittle, and I wonder how long she can hold it before shattering. Wonder how long she can wear this facade before she breaks completely.
Long enough, I guess, because she doesn’t break as she steps forward to take the microphone. As she turns to the audience and says, “It is with the utmost pleasure that I share some exciting news.”
She faces me, and I don’t know whether it’s Hudson or me who’s more anxious about what she’s going to say. Probably me. As her smile grows wider, my heartbeat pounds in my ears so loudly, I’m not sure I’ll be able to hear the words.
“The Circle has voted and agreed. King Cyrus and I will be taking Grace home with us to the Vampire Court.”
Huh. Turns out I definitely heard that…even though I wish I hadn’t.
91
Family Feud Has
Nothing on Us
“Fuck, no!” Everything within Hudson instantly repudiates his mother’s words. Then again, everything inside me does the same thing.
“Don’t worry, Grace. I won’t let that happen,” Jaxon whispers as his hand tightens on mine, but I only vaguely register his words.
I think I’m in shock. My palms are sweaty, but I can’t hear my heartbeat anymore. It’s pounding so fast, it’s just one continuous hum in my head.
“It was a grave and difficult decision,” Cyrus takes the microphone back and adds. “But in a four-four decision—with my lead vote breaking the tie—the Circle has agreed that we must take Grace back home to London with us, where we can train her to defend herself, and protect her until she can protect herself.”
The audience of students begins to clap at his words, though not as enthusiastically as before, but he doesn’t seem to notice or mind. “I know you all care for Grace as we do, and I am so glad you agree that this rare creature, this new hope for our battered world, must be guarded at all costs.”
“You can’t do that!” Jaxon growls at his father.
Cyrus turns from the mic and tells his son in a low, contemptuous voice, “Stay quiet, boy. You won’t like what lies down that road if you don’t.”
Cyrus takes Jaxon’s pause as acceptance and turns back to his audience and continues his speech, but I’m not paying attention to what he says.
“Wait,” I whisper to my mate. “Just give Hudson a second to talk to me.”
“Hudson?” Jaxon asks, his face twisted in disbelief. “You’re going to believe him? My parents’ perfect little minion?”
“It’s not like that,” I tell him, but when he starts to argue, I hold up a surreptitious hand to stop him.
“Challenge for inclusion,” Hudson tells me. “Do it loud and make sure it’s on the record.”
Inclusion? What’s that?
“Just do it before they close the assembly. You don’t have much time.”
“Wait,” I shout, and Cyrus turns, a furious set to his normally placid face at being openly challenged.
I take a deep breath. Am I really going to trust Hudson?
“Do you have a choice?” he huffs.
I don’t. So I shout out as loudly and as clearly as I can, “I challenge for inclusion.”
And the room goes eerily quiet. Oh fuck. What have I done?
“The only thing you could,” Hudson replies, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking directly at his father, a sly smile curving his lips, like he just called checkmate before his dad even knew he was on the board.
“Inclusion?” Cyrus hisses at me with murder in his eyes.
His reaction only spurs me on. “Yes,” I say again. “I challenge for inclusion.”
“On what grounds?” he demands as the other members of the Circle start to exchange looks.
Yeah, Hudson, on what grounds?
“On the grounds that gargoyles have a rightful seat on the Circle and held one all the way up until their extermination. But don’t use that word because it will just set my father off more.”
What? That’s what inclusion is? I’m calling for a seat on the Circle? I don’t want that!
“It’s that or live in my parents’ dungeon forever. I’ve spent a lot of time down there myself, and I have to say, it’s not a place you want to call home.”
“On what grounds?” Cyrus thunders again, and when I don’t immediately answer, he gives a twisted little smirk and turns back around to face the audience. “Inclusion den—”
“Gargoyles are an equal ruling faction on the Circle by law,” I tell him. “Now that a gargoyle exists again, I have the right to representation. And since I am the only gargoyle in existence, I challenge for inclusion.”
The other Circle members exchange another look, and some of them—like Flint’s parents—are nodding. Even Delilah looks a little pained.
“Do you even know what the challenge is?” he demands.
“It’s a…”
“Trial,” Hudson supplies.
“Trial,” I call out. “It’s a test I have to pass.” Oh shit, I realize. This is what everyone told me about. The reason Ludares came about to begin with.
What have you gotten me into? I demand of Hudson.
“It’s a trial no one ever takes alone, one that only mated pairs can take,” Cyrus tells me. “Therefore—”
“Good thing she has a mate,” Jaxon says, stepping forward. “And we challenge for inclusion. Together.”
Cyrus looks like he’s going to explode and kill us both on the stage, consequences be damned, but then Imogen—one of the witches on the Circle—stands up. “They should have the right to challenge,” she says.
Her mate stands with her. “I agree.”
“So do we,” Nuri and her partner stand as well.
It won’t be enough, I tell Hudson. There won’t be enough votes without the wolves.
“You have a right to a seat by law,” Hudson tells me. “It isn’t up for a vote.”
“By law, a gargoyle has a right to a seat on the Circle. This isn’t up for debate. Or vote.” I hold Cyrus’s gaze and can tell he’s debating his next move carefully.
“Fine,” Cyrus says, the word crackling with rage and indignation. “Your challenge stands. The Trial will take place two days from now at dawn in the arena.”
“Tell him you need more time,” Hudson says urgently. “No way can you be ready in two days—”
“I need more time!” I say.
Cyrus shoots me a malicious look and says, “There is no more time. The Circle cannot afford to linger here as long as your heart desires. It is either two days from now or not at all. You choose.”
“I guess I’ll see you in the arena, then,” I tell him.
He nods, his face once again carefully blank. “That you will.”
As we leave the stage, the audience seems as mixed up as I feel. Some students are clapping and whistling, while others are whispering behind their hands or actively ignoring us—which is a new experience for me here at Katmere, but one I can definitely get behind.
The fewer people who are looking at me, the better. Especially now.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Hudson comments.
“We’re fucked, aren’t we?” I ask.
Both Hudson and Jaxon reply at the same time. “Definitely.”
92
Is It Really a Throw
Down if it Makes
You Want to
Throw Up?
“What did I just do?” I demand as soon as we leave the ceremony and make our way up to Jaxon’s tower. Panic is a living, breathing beast within me, making my hands shake and my brain feel like it’s about to explode. “What did I just do?”
“It’s fine,” Hudson says quickly. “You’re fine.”
“You agreed to compete in the Trials,” Jaxon tells me. “Everyone who gets on the Circle has to compete—and win. That’s why it’s always done as a mated pair, because it’s dangerous.” He pauses. “It’s really dangerous, Grace. And usually deadly. No one has won a seat in a thousand years. Don’t you think people have tried to remove Cyrus before?”
“Of course it’s dangerous,” I answer. “I mean, what exactly about your world isn’t deadly?”
“It’s your world, too,” Hudson reminds me, and for once he doesn’t sound cavalier. In fact, he sounds concerned, and not in a snide way.
Which, now that I think about it, might be what’s freaking me out so much. Well, that and my having just agreed to participate in some twisted paranormal version of reality TV—sudden-death edition.
“And I say you might as well be in charge of it instead of crushed by it,” he adds.
“You shut up!” I tell him, and I’m so annoyed that I end up practically yelling it. Out loud. “You’re the one who got me into this mess!”
“Me?” Jaxon looks insulted. “I’m just trying to help get you out of this mess.”
I don’t bother telling him I’m talking to Hudson. Not when I’ve got enough anger to go around. “By signing up to die with me? I’m glad that feels like helping.”
Now he just looks pissed off. “Should I have left you to go it alone when I can help you? We are mates, you know. That’s not just in name only.”
“Unless you decide otherwise,” I snark, and I know it’s a low blow, but I’m still hurting big-time from what happened before. Then to add this whole Trial thing on top of it, followed by the fact that the only help with it can come from my mate? The guy who just told me that, for a while at least, he didn’t even want to be my mate?
It’s like rubbing salt in an open wound—followed by a lemon juice and vinegar chaser.
“Okay, look,” Macy steps in. “This is bad. No doubt about it. But we have too much to do in the next two days to start sniping at one another. So can we just settle down
and make a plan?”
“I’m pretty sure Cyrus already made a plan.” I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “And it ends with me in chains or dead.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen,” Xavier tells me, hands on hips like he’s ready to battle now. “Not if we have anything to say about it.”
“Can someone tell me exactly what this Trial is that I’ve just signed myself up for? I know Ludares was based on it, but what exactly does that mean?”
“It’s basically Ludares without rules. Or safety bracelets. No-holds-barred, free-for-all till the death,” Jaxon tells me. “And instead of eight-versus-eight teams, it’s the two challengers against eight champions picked by the Circle.”
“So Ludares on steroids?” I ask as a whole new brand of horror sweeps through me. “And I’m supposed to play by myself?”
“With your mate,” Jaxon reminds me. “I’ve got your back, Grace.”
I sigh, because as mad at him as I am—and I am really, really mad—I know that’s true. Jaxon would never leave me hanging when I need him. Especially not when there’s a way for him to help me. It’s as I remember this that the last of my anger leaves me. Because Jaxon has always tried to do what is right for me—no matter how misguided—and that outweighs everything else.
“So,” I say when I can finally think through the panic. “We have two days to get Jaxon and me in shape for the Trial. Fantastic. Any ideas?”
It’s a sarcastic question, but judging from the contemplative looks on everyone’s faces, they’re actually trying to answer it. So many reasons why I adore my friends.
“Well, I think we should talk about the fact that we have to get Hudson out of your head before you get on that field,” Flint says. “Otherwise he’s going to keep draining you and Jaxon, and then you’ll both lose—and possibly even die.”
“He’s right,” Macy agrees. “We’ve got to get him out as soon as possible.”
“Which means getting to the Unkillable Beast as soon as possible,” Jaxon says. “We can’t let him out until we have the heartstone the beast is guarding.”