by Eva Ashwood
“Tough titties,” I told Merrick with a grin. “If they don’t like what I have to say, they can go spy on Alaric. Or Brielle.”
Merrick huffed a laugh and opened his mouth to reply when a low bubbling sound from my right caught my attention. I thought maybe I was just hearing things, but then it came again.
Putting up my hand, I cut him off. All three men stared at me, and I could feel them drawing their magic up, close to the surface. They knew I wasn’t the kind of girl to be paranoid.
“Do you hear that?” I whispered.
We sat perfectly still, listening hard.
Another small burbling sound. Still from my right.
Lachlan nodded, his gaze scanning the rippling fire on that side of the boat.
“I hear it. But I don’t know what—”
Before he could finish that thought, a loud roar split the air.
Chapter Seventeen
From my right, three medium-sized dragon-like creatures burst up from the flames, their wings blazing and fire pouring from their nostrils.
The fire water churned and rippled, several waves almost splashing over the edge of the boat.
“Oh, fuck!”
I swiped my hand through the air quickly, creating a shield around us. We all ducked as the fire hit the shield and bounced back.
“Ari! Make a hole in the top of the shield. Open up the top!” Merrick called.
Ugh. With three fire dragons flying around us, I hated to lose the cover. But we couldn’t attack through my shield wall, and I couldn’t sustain it against an attack if all the dragons came at us at once. A fourth one had joined their ranks, rising up from the left side of the boat.
We had to get rid of them.
I dropped the top part of the shield, and Merrick stood, bracing his feet wide in the base of the wobbling boat as he began to throw long rotating spears of energy at the dragons.
“Fuckin’ hell!” Lachlan shouted as he turned and sent out a vibrating surge of magic toward several more dragon-like creatures that were bearing down on us from the other direction. “Is there anythin’ in this bloody forest that isn’t deadly?”
I snorted, struggling to hold my shield up. “I’ve been asking myself that this whole time. I’m still waiting for the sweet, furry baby bunnies.”
Trace threw large balls of electric magic over the shield, taking down two of the dragons. “Yeah, right! Baby bunnies in this place? If they exist, they’ll probably just try to eat you. Or they have some sort of weird human skin fetish where they’re creating little rabbit houses with human lampshades.”
For a half-second, all three of us paused in our fight to turn and stare at him.
“You’re so weird,” I said.
Trace chuckled.
Then his eyes grew wide as he looked straight behind me. “Watch out!”
Before I could do anything, he threw himself at me, wrapping his arms around me and dragging me down into the bottom of the boat, shielding me from a spray of fire that came from one of the dragons.
Merrick moved as fast as he could, piercing the beast with his spear and watching as it sunk back into the fire. Still, it wasn’t fast enough.
By the time I was able to move Trace’s limp body off me, half of his back and all down his right arm was burnt. He was groaning and looked as if he were about to pass out.
Fuck. Fuck!
The other two men continued to fight off the last beasts until finally the boat picked up speed again, moving at a faster pace this time.
I pulled energy from the pit of my stomach and began to move it carefully around the burns on Trace’s body, hoping it would do something to help him until we could get him somewhere to treat him. He winced as the energy circulated around him, and I winced with him.
My heart slammed against my ribs, and my hands shook, my stomach twisting as if I could feel his injuries in my own body.
“I know it hurts,” I whispered desperately, “but you have to hold still and just let me do it. If nothing else, it will protect you from getting anything in those burns. Just hold on.”
I felt like I should say something else—touch him or thank him for what he had done—but I wasn’t quite sure how to put it into words, or whether he’d even hear me right now. I would’ve been nothing but a burnt shriveled up body in the seat next to him if he hadn’t tackled me.
But now he was the one who was hurt, burnt badly.
Suddenly, another dragon shot up out of the flames, and the anger in me took over.
“Lach! Steady me!” I yelled out.
Not even waiting for him to respond, I stood up on the bench seat next to Trace and began waving my arms back and forth wildly.
Sprays of magic, pulsating and red, shot out all around us. Merrick and Lachlan ducked down, avoiding my rage as they each wrapped their arms around one of my legs, keeping me from toppling out of the boat as I whipped my magic around.
The energy wrapped around the dragon’s throat, and I held my arms straight out in front of me before spreading them wide, as if I were pushing open two sliding doors.
I snarled and grunted as the dragon’s body split apart, its head flying to the right, into the fire, and its body to the left, landing on the shore. The other dragons that had begun to emerge when they heard the noise quickly dove back down and out of sight.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to bring my temper back down, trying to get a hold of myself.
The sound of Trace groaning slightly pulled me out of my rage.
Just as I turned toward him, a shadow fell over us.
“Motherfuck. What now?” Merrick muttered, annoyance and apprehension in his voice.
I looked around apprehensively as we drifted under a rock outcropping, entering a large cave.
Well, at least now we knew why we’d had to take the boat. If we’d approached this place on foot, there would’ve been no way for us to access the cave. The only point of entry was the hole the river flowed through.
Slowly, I sank back down onto the seat, looking over at Merrick, who gave me a small nod, his tight expression softening slightly. It seemed to be a nod of approval, or maybe a thank you for helping Trace—I didn’t know, and I didn’t care at that point.
Finally, the boat came to rest at a rocky shore within the cave. The ceiling soared high overhead, and the cave itself was nearly the size of a football stadium—the part I could see anyway. Rock formations rose up from the ground and grew down from the ceiling.
I used my magic to shield Trace’s body as Lachlan created a slab of energy to put him on, laying him gently on his unburned side. For all the magic we had, we still had to lift him carefully up and out, and the sounds of his pain sent anger and sadness rampaging through my chest.
“We need to help him,” I said, trying to hide the growing desperation in my voice. “We need to do something. Those kinds of burns could kill him.”
I didn’t know a ton about first aid or burn wounds, but I knew that having that much scorched skin was a huge shock to the body, and an invitation for infection to set in.
Merrick nodded over toward a flat section of rock near the cave wall. “Set him down there and let me see the bag.”
We had all, in a show of solidarity, put our personal things into the pack we carried with us—the things we’d collected on our own before joining up as a team.
As soon as we had Trace settled, I handed the bag to Merrick. He reached inside, pulling out a satin satchel.
Carefully, he lifted a small vial of blue elixir from the bag. He held it up, looking at the silvery streaks that swirled through it. “I found this before I ran into you guys. None of these fucking potions are labeled, but I think it’s a healing potion. I remember seeing Professor Howes give one to a student who broke her arm in his class last year. It looked just like this.”
I blinked at him, impressed in spite of myself.
Not only that he had a healing potion, but that he was willing to give it to another contestant when
he knew there was a good chance he might need it somewhere along the trip.
Merrick pointed at Trace. “You two get on either side of him. Aria, tilt his head back. I’m going to have to pour it into his mouth and make him swallow.”
Nodding, I hurried over and sat down behind Trace, pulling his head carefully to my lap and tilting his chin up. He groaned. His eyes were open, but his gaze was unfocused, darting over the ceiling of the cave.
Merrick took the stopper out of the vial and whispered something, words I couldn’t make out, into the liquid. It must’ve been an incantation to activate the potion. Potion-making was a skill that only advanced magic users could master, and as far as I knew, they didn’t even offer classes in it at Magic Blessed Academy. But anyone who knew the right words could activate one.
“Trace,” he murmured, his voice surprisingly soft as he spoke to his nearly unconscious friend. There was no swagger or cockiness left in it, just concern and determination. “I’ve got a potion that will help you. I need you to do your best to swallow it, alright? Come on. You can do this.”
Trace’s eyes focused briefly as he gazed at Merrick, and although he barely even nodded, Merrick took it as a yes anyway.
I held the ex-rock star’s head as Merrick poured the liquid between his lips and lifted his chin to close his mouth.
The corded muscles of Trace’s neck worked as he swallowed. Then he let out a long, deep sigh, as if all the pain and agony had suddenly disappeared from his body. I laid his head down on my lap and watched as the other two men stood up and rolled their shoulders, trying to gather themselves.
“Thank you, guys,” I said, my throat tight. “I expected something, but not that. Shit, I didn’t even see that dragon until it was too late.”
“Well, good thing you have a bodyguard.” Trace’s voice rose up from my lap.
I looked down quickly, finding his bright blue eyes staring back at me.
Clear. Alert.
He was getting better, the burn marks on his shoulder and back fading to a bright, shiny pink instead of the angry red, blackened blisters that had been there before. The tattoos on the worst affected parts had been totally burned away—apparently healing spells didn’t regenerate tattoo ink along with flesh—but the skin looked healthy and unbroken.
As I watched, the pink color faded even more, and a surge of relief welled up in me, so strong it nearly bowled me over. “Holy fuck, Trace! How are you—are you okay?”
Merrick walked over, chuckling as he reached his hand down to Trace. “He’ll be fine. Don’t go all fangirl on him. From what I remember, the potion works pretty quickly.”
Trace accepted the hand up, and I had to fight down the urge to grab him and keep him right where he was. A minute ago, he’d been nearly delirious with pain. It seemed too soon for him to be walking around like nothing had happened.
And maybe, just maybe, I didn’t want to stop touching him. Maybe I wanted his head in my lap and my fingers in his hair for just a second longer. Long enough to convince myself he really was okay.
I worked hard to keep any of those thoughts from showing on my face as Trace stood though. They unnerved me, and it would only be worse if any of the men realized what I’d been thinking.
How much I was starting to actually care about them.
Trace clapped Merrick on the shoulder. “Thanks man. I owe you one.”
“No you don’t.”
The other man shook his head, and I could tell he absolutely meant it. I was suddenly very glad that the four of us had agreed to team up—not just for my sake, but for theirs. The guys were all competitive people, and the unspoken rule of the gods’ challenge was that each competitor worked on their own. There could only be one winner, after all.
But if we’d split up after the dome, if all of us had forged ahead alone… how many of us would be alive right now?
Half of Trace’s shirt had been burned away by the fire water, and he ripped off the remaining charred fabric, craning his neck to see the damage. His face fell, sadness reflecting in his angular features.
“Ah, fuck. I liked those tattoos.”
He looked truly pained, and I wondered if the inked images had held special meaning for him. Probably. Most tattoos did, didn’t they?
I stood, dusting off my hands as I approached him. Running my fingers over the skin, which had continued to heal to the point that it was barely even pink anymore, I traced the edges of the burn marks where they met up with the half-formed images of his remaining tattoos.
“I’m sorry. That sucks.” My voice was lower than I’d meant it to be. Softer. “I’m sorry you lost them, but… this is beautiful too, in its own way.”
Trace’s other hand reached up, grabbing onto mine and squeezing gently as his bright blue eyes searched my face. “Thanks, Snow.”
“Uh, guys? Ye might want to take a look at this shite.”
Lachlan’s voice dragged me from the deep pools of Trace’s eyes, and the three of us joined the Irishman in looking around, finally taking in our surroundings fully.
The river of fire hadn’t simply dead-ended into nothing. It fed into an enormous lake, which flickered and crackled, providing enough illumination to light the entire cave.
We all watched the waves of flames for several moments, the dark, slick cave walls contrasting with the vibrant flames of the water.
Despite the light of the flames, the cave seemed to be getting darker and darker as the moments passed, and I glanced over at the large hole in the cave wall we’d entered through. It was obviously getting late.
I scrubbed my hands over my face, suddenly feeling so exhausted I could’ve collapsed right there.
“Well, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do from here, but I think we all need to get some sleep. We’re not gonna find whatever new clue we’re hunting for if we’re absolutely exhausted. We know it’s in here somewhere, so I say we rest, regroup, and start searching tomorrow.”
Lachlan lifted his arms overhead, his muscles bunching as he stretched out his shoulders. “I agree. I’ll take the first watch.” He glanced at Trace. “I know it’s meant to be yours, mate, but ye should get some sleep first. It’ll only help the healin’ do its thing.”
Trace nodded, accepting his friend’s help with more seriousness and grace than I would’ve expected of him when I’d first met him.
Then again, I’d learned enough about these three men in the past couple weeks to realize that most of my first impressions of them were wrong—or at least, incomplete.
Merrick shifted his gaze back to the large lake of fire. “I don’t think it’s worth trying to make a fire. Not when we don’t have much to burn, and there’s a ready-made fire right there. We can sleep close to the shore—just not too close.”
“Agreed,” I muttered.
As proud as I was of the magic I used to light our campfires every night, I really didn’t want to do it right now.
At that point, when we got back to the human realm, I wasn’t sure I’d ever light so much as a candle ever again.
Chapter Eighteen
“That was really decent of you.”
My quiet words seemed too loud in the large cave, as if the massive space picked up each sound and amplified it. Or maybe it just felt that way because I really didn’t want the others to overhear me.
Merrick’s brows drew together. “What was decent of me?”
The two of us were going through the contents of the pack, gathering rations for the four of us to eat. Despite the fact that our supply was getting dangerously low, we’d decided to have a little extra tonight. We all needed the energy boost of food and water. We’d deal with getting more food as soon as we could.
I pulled out two wrapped packets of rations, setting them side by side as I glanced over at the blond-haired mage through my lashes. Trace was resting several yards away, leaning up against a small rock formation that jutted up from the ground, and Lachlan was doing a perimeter check, scanning the surrounding area
for any threats before we settled in for the night.
“Giving Trace that potion when you might need it later on in this competition,” I said, still keeping my voice low. “I guess I just didn’t know you had it in you.”
Merrick pulled two more packages of rations out of the pack. He looked at me intensely, wearing an expression I’d seen on his face before. It was a mixture of desire and amusement, with a dash of frustration thrown in. “You don’t know everything about me. You made sure of that, remember? You’ve gone out of your way not to know things about me.”
My nose wrinkled, and I glanced away, stuffing the items we wouldn’t need for now back into the pack. “I know. I’m not saying I’m right, but I had my reasons for it. If it means anything at all, I’m—I’m glad you’re here.”
There was silence for a long moment, and I wanted to break it. I didn’t want things to be awkward; I hated the hurt I could feel radiating from him, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
Fucking hell. This is the absolute worst time and place to be having this conversation.
I was sure fire-filled caves in the godly realm weren’t on Cosmo’s top ten list of best places to hash out old relationship drama. But it was what I had to work with, and I couldn’t take the tension simmering between us anymore.
If I’d had the guts to have this conversation back in Boston, maybe we wouldn’t have to do it here.
It was my cowardice that’d gotten me into this situation—and I hated admitting that. I wasn’t one to back down from a fight or a challenge, but that’s exactly what I had done with Merrick.
Because he had challenged me.
He’d challenged my perception of myself as a person, my idea of what my life was meant to be, and not by trying to hold me back or tell me how to live it, but just by wanting to be a part of it.
I was a loner.
Had been for as long as I could remember.
And when Merrick came into my world, first as a one-night stand, and then slowly as more than that, it had scared me more than the idea of going up against a two hundred and fifty pound bruiser in a bare-knuckle fight.