“No, you go. Have fun. We’ll put the place back together, sweetheart.” Daniel says to me and waves me out of the door. I walk with Ruby in almost silence as the nerves inside me grow. The halls are silent as we’re due to the ball a little later than everyone else, since the champions are being announced. People have come from all over the world to enter the trials, and the who’s who of our entire world is waiting down there, waiting for me to fall on my face, or expecting me to change the world. We head out to the new area which has been built especially for tonight and the trials.
The building looks as old and gothic as the school behind us despite its newness. We climb the many stairs to the huge doors, where we’re met by Laney.
“Girls, you’re the last to arrive, and the last champions to be placed. Come on, quickly.” She leads us up more stairs and through a series of halls until we reach a door and I see my four guys stood in front of it. They each just stare at me, like they barely recognise me. I take in each of them in their white fitted suits, with white shirts and silver ties. Each with small silver crowns to match mine. I try not to openly drool at them, it doesn’t seem to matter how much time passes, I want them more and more each day. I clench my thighs and refocus.
Creed steps forward and takes my hand, kissing it before pulling me close. “You look every bit a queen that that outfit says you should be. Exquisite, my love.”
The others murmur their agreement.
“Okay, so as we discussed, when your name is announced, the doors will open. Gus, you and Cam will stand on either side of Eden first, just a touch behind, followed by Ziniyah and Kane, with Ruby bringing up the rear. I really must go. They won’t start the announcements without me. Eden, eleven other contestants were chosen to be champions. Most of them are much older than you are, but I know who and what you are, and I have every faith in you. Your parents would be so proud of you.” She hugs me close before rushing away.
I move to the front, standing just behind the double doors, waiting for my name to echo out of the speakers I see in the top corners.
“Are you okay?” Cam asks softly from my side.
“I’m fucking terrified,” I admit.
“We’re here, Eden. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Kane tries to reassure me.
“We’re your bonded. Your consorts. Your protectors. Even if you’re meant to be the protector of the world. We won’t let you down, Eden.” Z says proudly, and his fire fuels mine. I twist the amulet ring on my finger and let my power wash through me.
“Amberley Aveyard.” comes through the speakers and I’m floored.
“Did you guys know she was entering?” Ruby asks and is met with a round of no’s. I can’t think to dwell on it. I wait patiently, trying to keep my fire burning, my wolf on edge inside of me as names call out. Once the eleven have passed, I feel Creed relax.
“Aurora wasn’t called.” He whispers and I smile, glad he has one less thing to worry about.
“Eden DeMontford.” My name echoes around me and the doors before me open. I’m blinded by flashing lights, but I keep my face still and trained as Laney told me to. I step forward, and I feel the five of them move in sync with me. We step forward and the crowd quietens. I walk forward and down the staircase slowly. I find Laney across the room who smiles and nods, before I keep descending. Once we reach the bottom, the crowd of people parts and we walk straight through to a table that seems to be reserved for us.
“Well, that was dramatic.” Ruby remarks as the crowd begins to talk again loudly, the rush of noise seeming extremely loud after the silence.
Lucius appears at our table, and leers at me. “That was quite some entrance, and the crowd… well, you definitely made a statement. Let’s hope you back it up tomorrow.” He scowls and leaves us without another word.
“Dude, your dad is kind of a prick.” Z says to Kane who shrugs.
“Can’t pick your family, man.”
“Sure you can. Eden has.” Ruby says with a smile. “Now, where are the drinks? You guys need to loosen up!”
A few drinks later and I’m not hating this fishbowl as much as I thought I would. People have given me a reasonably wide berth, but the whispers and the stares are pretty hard to miss.
“Want to dance?” Z offers me his hand, and I blush. I don’t want to admit that I don’t know how, but he guesses. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you look anything other than perfect.” He winks and pulls me up from the chair. He guides me to the middle of the people moving around the floor and puts one hand on my waist, keeping the other locked with mine and begins moving us across the floor.
“You really can dance,” I laugh.
“My parents love this sort of bullshit, so I learned from a young age.”
“Well, I’m glad. People are staring at me enough without giving them any more reason to.”
“Fuck them and whatever the hell they think. You need to focus on tomorrow and nothing else.”
“I still think it’s absolutely ridiculous that eleven other people are entering. How do the Fae have no morals? They’re confident I am the Chosen, so why the hell would they make such a big deal out of everything?”
“They’re confident, but the Fae love bloodshed. This is entertainment to them as much as it is necessary.” I sigh at his words as he brings us to a stop as the song ends.
“Mind if I cut in?” Creed smiles at us and Z nods, stepping back and Creed replaces him as the band starts up again.
“You can dance too?” I ask, shocked.
“I keep telling you, there’s still a lot about me you don’t know,” he winks as he begins to guide me across the dance floor, weaving through the other couples. “How are you feeling?”
“Mixed bag. I’m a little nervous about the trials, a lot angry at the amount of loss of life that everyone else seems so excited for, and I’m just ready for this to be over if I’m honest. It’s what comes next that makes me falter, but one step at a time and all that.” I tell him honestly.
“Whatever comes, we’ll handle it together, all of us. You’re stuck with us whether you want us all or not. Always.” He pulls us to the edge of the dance floor and kisses me gently, and I can feel the eyes on us, but I choose to ignore them. Let them watch and judge. I don’t give a fuck anymore.
“Ladies and Gentleman, it is time for our champions to leave us and head to the arena for their night of preparations,” Lucius’ voice crows out across the audience. “If you can please all make your way to the main foyer. As for everyone else, let the speculation and wagers commence.
“Did you know about this?” Creed asks me, his unease obvious.
“I had no idea.” Kane, Cam, and Z join us with looks of concern.
“I don’t like this,” Cam announces as the other champions start to leave the room.
“We’ll come with you. Some of them look ready to kill.” Kane declares. We walk together, but Lucius stops us at the door.
“Sorry, gentlemen, but it’s champions only in the arena tonight. They all need a good night’s rest,” he leers. “You’ll have to say your goodbyes now. Good luck tomorrow, Eden.” He looks me up and down and makes me shiver. I don’t understand that man at all. He pushed me to be here, but he acts like he wants me dead and I can’t decide which version of him is the real one.
Chapter Eighteen
Eden
“Are you ready?” I turn at the sound of Ruby’s voice as she enters the arena waiting room where I’ve been since last night. She looks me over and whistles. “Girl, even if you don’t feel it, you look one hundred percent badass. I wouldn’t want to be those trials or going up against you.”
I smile and shake out my hands trying to shake off the nerves. Even bound in the black leather straps I feel like I’m going to fall apart.
“I just wish I was going in alone, and that I had a better idea of what is to come. All of this pomp and spectacle when so many people are going to die. Risking themselves for a chance at glory. I don’t even want to be
here. I don’t want the glory. If it wasn’t for Lucius, I’d have run a long time ago.” I blow out a breath and tighten my ponytail again; the leather cuff holding it in place feels so loose.
“Well, I mean, at least we’re sure you’re the Chosen one, right?” She shrugs her shoulders and I bark out a laugh.
“I’m not sure of anything right now. I could literally just be walking to my death on the word of people I’ve barely known a year.” I clutch my stomach unable to stop the foreboding that threatens to cut off my air supply. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
She frowns at me, but before we can say anything more, the door to the room opens and people filter in. My guys, Laney, Ethan, Lucius. Everyone who persuaded me that I was the person who needed to be taking part in these trials.
“How are you feeling, Eden?” Lucius booms, with a large smile, making a show of greeting me.
“Honestly? I’m wondering why, if you’re so sure I’m the Chosen one, you’re letting eleven other people throw themselves to their death.”
“Oh, Eden. This is the way things have always been. Our people haven’t been this happy and excited in a lifetime. The trials are a foretelling of hope, and finally, we shall have a successor.” He smiles, but I can see the menace behind it.
“That doesn’t answer why you’re letting those people choose to get themselves killed. If you had no doubts, then why let them compete? Why make it a competition at all? Just let me enter the trials alone.” I challenge. I’ve not been quiet about the fact that I don’t agree with the way this has been handled, and if there’s anything I can do to save those people, even Amberley, then I have to try. “Or maybe you don’t have the faith in me you make out to have? Maybe I shouldn’t enter the trials at all?”
“Now then, dear girl, don’t be absurd. This is the way of our people. Just because you don’t understand our ways after being outside of it all growing up, doesn’t mean you get to scoff at our traditions. The trials have always been a competition, a fight to the death as it were. The strongest of us all being the only one able to survive. The trials in place are designed solely to test the Chosen one. I have no doubt at all that is who you are, and once you are successful, the real trials will begin. This is merely a test of what is to come in the days to come, the prophesized downfall of our people, that will be your truest trial.” He glares at me, and I refuse to break eye contact with him.
“Well, now then, this is not how we should be spending the last moments before the trials. Lucius, you and I have things we need to be sorting, and people to see. Let’s leave Eden with her bonded in the last minutes before we begin, shall we?” Laney says enthusiastically, trying to diffuse the situation. She has seen how far I have come in the few months I’ve been training, which means she probably thinks, like me, that I’m not ready yet. Even if I am the Chosen one, I’m more likely to die in these trials than I am to succeed. Lucius and Laney leave, ushering Ruby out with them, leaving me with my guys and Ethan.
“There’s still time to walk away from this, Eden. You can leave.” Ethan pleads with me. I can see it in his eyes, how much he wants me to survive, but how much he doesn’t think I will. He paces by the door, seemingly unable to come any closer to me.
“Stop it,” Kane barks. “Eden, you are strong enough, you are ready. I’ve never met anyone in my whole life who is like you. I’ve seen it, the various outcomes of today. You can do this. You just need to have faith in yourself.” He pulls me in close for a hug, tucking something into my pocket. “For later.” He whispers before he pulls away and walks over to the door, stilling Ethan’s movements.
Z grabs me and kisses me, lighting me up from head to toe. I can’t help the moan that filters out as he wraps himself around me. He pulls back too soon, before leaning his forehead on mine. “You’ve got this, Eden. I need you to have this, because I can’t imagine a day, a life without you in it.” He murmurs softly, kissing me gently on the tip of my nose before stepping back and standing with Kane.
Cam tugs on my hand and swallows me with his arms. “Please be careful in there, little wolf. I don’t know what we’d do without you. I’m not sure we’d survive it. Any of us.” He tips my head up and kisses me softly, and I feel his fear trickle through, no matter how much he tries to hide it. He squeezes me once more, before letting me go, leaving me with Creed, whose eyes tell me more in a second than his lips could in a lifetime.
I reach out to him, and he steps closer, his hand wrapping around mine, resting over his heart. “This belongs to you, Eden. I’m not sure exactly when you stole it, but I’ve never been gladder to have been stolen from. I need you to not think about anything but what you need to do in there, what we’ve taught you, the things you’ve discovered alone, because you, Eden, you are the heart of us all.” His words are interrupted by a buzzer.
“Will all trial competitors please make their way to the pit. The trials will commence in five minutes.” The voice rings out around us, stealing what little oxygen there seemed to be from the room.
Creed tugs me closer and kisses me, like I am the start at the end of everything. He pushes his emotions at me, and I feel it: his hopes, his fears, his love. I take it in and let it fill me, giving me another reason to fight. These five have been my lifeline, my reasons to survive. My reasons to fight. Their open love, their lack of jealousy, their willingness to not make me choose when there was already so much on the line. I know the day is coming when I will have to choose, but today is not that day.
He smiles down at me, squeezing my hand before retreating.
“I’ll see you guys soon, okay?” I tell them with a wistful smile. They leave, and panic spikes in me. I’ve never felt more lost, never wanted to fly away more, but I know more than anything that I couldn’t leave them, even if I tried. I take a deep breath and take in my reflection one last time.
Let the games begin.
To be continued in Hunted.
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Chosen: A Paranormal Romance Academy Series (Black Water Academy Book 2) Page 13