“No,” he said. “But nothing—not even that girdle—can overpower the mate bond.” He looked over at Sage, and she moved closer to him to take his hand.
They smiled at each other, their eyes so lovey-dovey that it made me sick.
Why can’t I have that?
I shook the thought away. Going down that road would bring nothing but heartache.
“You were awesome back there,” Sage said, looking back at the strait. “Making Scylla’s head explode? That was some kickass magic.”
“It wasn’t mine,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t chant a spell to create that boundary. It wasn’t witch magic. It was…” I bit my lip, unable to say it out loud. Because it was ridiculous.
Sage let go of Thomas’s hand and came over to lean on the rail next to me. “It was what?” she asked.
“It was mage magic.”
“Hm.” She tilted her head, studying me. “Is that possible?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “When Reed and I created the boundary spell around the yacht, my magic connected with his. It felt stronger than ever. Maybe some of it was still left in me during that fight.”
She took my hand, removed my cloaking ring, and sniffed. “You smell stronger than before,” she said, putting the ring back on my finger. “That could explain why.”
“So you think what? That Reed gave me some of his magic?” I laughed it off, since the thought was ridiculous.
“I have no idea,” she said. “But it can’t hurt to ask him.”
“There’s no point,” I said. “He hates me. He’d never give me his magic.”
“I don’t think he hates you,” she said.
“Um, yeah. He does.”
“He’s guarded,” Thomas said as he finished wrapping the girdle inside of his jacket to keep it from direct skin contact. “Don’t mistake that for hate. I was guarded once, too.” He glanced at Sage, and his eyes softened, like they always did when he looked at her.
It was similar to how Reed had looked at me when I’d been holding the girdle.
Ugh.
“It was probably a remnant from the spell we did together,” I decided. “It’ll go away.”
“Ooookay.” From the way Sage elongated the word, I could tell she didn’t believe it.
“How much farther until our next stop?” I asked Thomas, eager to change the subject.
“Not far,” he said. “We need to head downstairs to strategize. Maybe pop a bottle of champagne while we’re at it. After all, we did just get Charybdis to eat Scylla.”
“That was pretty awesome, wasn’t it?” Sage smiled.
“It was more than awesome,” he said. “Because if knowledge serves me right, we made history with that one.”
I followed them down the steps, reminding myself to forget about Reed and focus on the present. Because at the end of the day, the way Reed felt about me didn’t matter.
All that mattered was getting the three remaining objects, giving them to King Devin, and saving Selena.
20
Selena
Cassia, Felix and I sat on the same sofa for Antonia’s selection ceremony, with Cassia in the center.
Julian was in the armchair closest to me.
One plain golden orb remained floating in front of Antonia. The other two floated above her head, with holograms of Octavia and Cassia’s faces in their centers.
Cassia and I had been holding hands from the start of the ceremony. She’d taken her selection so gracefully that she hadn’t even stirred when her name was called. Octavia—who was sitting across from us—had done the same.
Antonia reached for the final orb. She hadn’t bothered explaining why she’d chosen Octavia and Cassia, and I expected that this time would be no different.
“The final champion I’m sending to the arena is…” She looked around at all of us, her eyes full of glee as she drew out what I knew was going to be the announcement of my name.
My grip on Cassia’s hand tightened.
After a few unbearably long seconds, Antonia tossed the orb into the air.
Everything moved in slow motion.
I’m ready for this, I thought. I can do this.
The orb leveled out with the others above her head, and a face appeared in the center.
It wasn’t mine.
No. I stared at the face in the orb, as if staring at it for long enough could make it change.
I should have felt relieved that I was safe this week. But my breathing shallowed, sparks flaring up inside of me as betrayal rattled me to the core.
Cassia’s hand went limp in mine.
“Pierce, the chosen champion of Vulcan.” Antonia smiled at him, and he beamed back. “You’re the third champion I’m sending to the arena.”
“Finally.” He rubbed his hands together, and smoke drifted up from his palms. “Thanks, Antonia, for giving me a chance to show them what I’m made of.”
“Anytime.” From the way they were looking at each other, it was obvious that they’d planned this.
Electricity rushed through me. I pulled my hand out of Cassia’s, not wanting to shock her. The light glowed in spidery lines up to my elbows. Everyone in the room looked my way, and one of the many orbs zoomed to float above me.
“Selena?” Vesta asked. “Is there anything you want to say before the ceremony ends?”
I looked to Antonia. “You lied.” I spoke steadily and slowly, focusing on reining in my anger.
“It’s the Faerie Games,” Antonia said with a conniving smile. “Everyone lies.”
Her words punched me in the gut. Because they were true.
The only people I could trust in the Games were Julian and Cassia. I’d known that. Yet, I’d believed that Felix could control Antonia. He’d believed he could control Antonia.
Either he’d failed, or he was playing us. For Cassia’s sake, I hoped it was the former. But I had a sinking feeling that it was the latter.
If—when—Cassia made it out of the arena this week, she, Julian, and I needed to win every Emperor of the Villa competition from next week forward. It was the only way to ensure our safety. We had the strength to do it, and we would do it.
I was raised by the leaders of Avalon, born of a powerful witch and a faerie prince, and gifted with magic from Jupiter. I wasn’t going to let fear control me any longer.
It was time to show them what I was made of. And if the Nephilim army didn’t come before Julian, Cassia, and I were the only ones remaining, I’d refuse to fight my soulmate and my closest friend in the Otherworld. I’d go against the gods before it came to that.
Decision made, my electricity dulled down to a low hum until it was no longer visible on my skin.
“Does anyone else have anything they wish to say?” Vesta asked.
No one said a word.
“Then this Selection Ceremony has come to a close.”
21
Selena
Octavia, Pierce, and Emmet followed Antonia up to her suite after the ceremony.
Cassia buried her face in her hands and ran out of the library.
Felix and I stood up to go after her. But I zoomed to stand in front of him, blocking his path.
Surprise crossed his face, quickly followed by annoyance. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Stopping you.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because bombarding her isn’t going to help her,” I said. “She needs time with someone she can trust.”
“Which is why I’m going to her.” He looked down at me and narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to put me in my place.
But I hadn’t been intimidated by him before, and that wasn’t going to change now.
“You have no idea how much it hurt her to see you parading around with Antonia these past two days,” I said. “But I was there. I saw it all. And I was the one who was there for her. Not you.”
“It hurt me, too.” His eyes were so cold that
goosebumps rose on my skin. Was he trying to conceal his pain? Or did he just not feel anything at all? “But I did what I did to help her. She knows that.”
“You failed her.” I didn’t bother hiding my contempt.
“I did my best,” he said. “And it wasn’t enough.”
“You’re right. It wasn’t. And seeing you will only remind her about how much you let her down.”
His face crumpled in pain.
Maybe he did actually care for her?
I didn’t know. But now wasn’t the time to figure it out.
“I’m going to her,” I repeated. “If she tells me she wants to see you, I’ll let you know.”
I marched past him, expecting him to continue fighting over the issue.
But he stood there and let me go.
Cassia was curled up under the covers in her bed. Her wings poked out of the top, the green duller than normal. She peeked out from under the covers when she heard me come in. Her eyes were tear-stained and red.
I sat down on the bed next to hers—my bed—and leaned against the headboard. There was no point in asking her if she was okay. She clearly wasn’t.
I searched for the perfect words, but none entered my head.
She wiped her eyes and sat up, mirroring my position. “They planned this,” she said. “Antonia, Octavia, and Pierce planned this to get me out.”
I wished I could say it wasn’t true.
But we’d both know it would be a lie.
“Octavia must have told Antonia about me and Felix,” she said.
“Maybe.” I leaned on my side to face her. “But Octavia’s one of the biggest threats in the Games. Pierce has every reason to want her out. We can talk to him. Get him to fight with you.”
“He’s working with them,” she hissed. “You saw them go up with Antonia to her suite. Antonia, Octavia, Pierce, and Emmet.” She counted them off on her fingers. “They’re a team.”
And maybe Felix, I thought, although of course I didn’t say it out loud.
“We have three more days until the arena fight,” I said instead. “We can swing Pierce over to our side.”
“I hate this.” She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t want to be here. I never wanted to be here.”
“So why did you volunteer?” I asked.
Unlike me, most half-bloods volunteered to be nominated for the Games. They all had different reasons. Most wanted money, or magic, or an eternity of being honored as a god in Elysium.
Since half-bloods had no magic, the Faerie Games were pretty much their only way—except death—to escape a lifetime of servitude to the fae. Desperation could drive people to make incredibly crazy choices.
That was how I’d ended up here.
Desperation to get home, faith in the Nephilim army, and yeah, I did want magic of my own.
I was no different than the rest of them.
Cassia unwrapped her arms from around her legs and picked at the green polish on her nails. “My family lives a better life than most half-bloods,” she finally said. “Me, my parents, and my two brothers.”
This was the first time she’d ever mentioned her family. So I stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.
“We have a large apartment close to the fae part of the city. Both of my parents are employed in a royal fae’s household. We had ample food, and gave whatever we could spare to those less fortunate.”
“That sounds lovely,” I said, although I couldn’t help noticing how she’d said they had ample food. Past tense.
“It is.” She sniffed and gave me a half-smile. “Or at least, it was.”
“What happened?” I spoke cautiously, wanting to learn about her life but also not wanting to pry.
“About a year ago, my father started going to the gambling hall.” She lowered her eyes in shame. “At first it was only on the weekends. But then he started coming home from work later and later. We no longer had food to spare for those less fortunate. It didn’t take long before things started disappearing from the house. Trinkets, silverware, the little jewelry my mom had—stuff he could sell. All we have left now is the furniture.”
“So you volunteered for the Games to help your family.”
“I didn’t volunteer.” Her eyes hardened. “My father thought I was sleeping the night when a fae came to our house, demanding he pay him back an enormous amount of coin that I knew we no longer had. I peeked out of my bedroom door, but the fae’s back was toward me. All I saw were his sapphire wings.
“The next day at dinner, my father told us the truth. We had nothing left. Worse—we were in debt, so badly that not even ten years salary could pay it back. He said he kept thinking that if he just played a few more games—if he bet coin he no longer had—he could win it all back. Instead, he dug a hole so deep that we were going to lose our home.”
“I’m sorry.” I wished I could say something more to help her. But there was nothing more to say. And right now, she didn’t need me to say anything.
She needed me to listen.
“But he said all wasn’t lost,” she continued. “He said there was a way out. And then, as if he were waiting for that exact moment, a fae came to our door, bearing sweets and honey wine. A fae with sapphire wings.”
“The same fae from the night before.”
“Yes.” She swallowed, and then continued. “The fae joined us at our table and introduced himself as Prince Cormick. The son of the prince who employs my parents. He was the one who introduced my father to the gambling hall in the first place. But unlike my father, he was skilled in the games he played. The debt my father owed was mostly to him. And now, he’d come to collect.
“The entire time he spoke, his eyes were mostly on me.” She glanced at the nearest orb, like she was speaking through it to the sapphire-winged prince himself. “Conniving, ambitious eyes that watched me like he owned me. I soon learned why. He and my father had come to an arrangement. The prince was going to nominate me for the Faerie Games, so my father could pay him back using the stipend my family would receive for my participation.”
I swallowed down the disgust rising in my throat. “Over a hundred half-bloods were nominated for the Games.” I needed to find some kind of flaw in her father’s plan, even though it was already over and done with. “There was no guarantee you’d be chosen.”
“My father’s a gambling man.” She chuckled, although it was far from funny. “He was willing to take the risk.”
“You could have said no.” I sat up, electricity crackling under my skin. “You should have said no.”
Her eyes were wistful, like she was imagining a life where she’d done just that. “My older brother volunteered to go in my stead,” she said. “But my father wouldn’t risk the lives of his sons. And the fae was offering the opportunity only to me.”
“So you said yes.”
“I had to.” She bit her lip, looking more vulnerable than ever. “They’re my family.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Cassia was kind—too kind, at times. Her father had used that to his advantage.
“Family doesn’t gamble their daughter away like she’s worth no more than a pile of coins.” My words were harsh, but true. And she didn’t deny it.
“It’s okay,” she said, even though it wasn’t. “I’ve found new family here. In you, and in Felix. I want one of you to win. I believe one of you will win. But if you don’t, we’ll always have Elysium.”
“You’re talking like you don’t have a chance,” I said.
“Because I don’t.” She shrugged.
“That’s not true,” I said. “You’re powerful. You have to survive this week. I’ve told you all about my family—about Avalon, and the Nephilim army. They’re coming for us—I know they are. We just need to stay alive long enough for them to get here.”
Prince Devyn knew where I came from. He knew the strength of Avalon. The fae needed to know, too. Perhaps they’d even free me—or, better yet, end this y
ear’s Faerie Games—to avoid war against my realm.
“Your faith in the Nephilim is inspiring,” Cassia said. “But the fae are a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps more so than your army.”
Her words stabbed me in the heart. Because the longer I was here, the longer I was wondering if it might be true.
I had a plan if Julian and I were the only two left. But as hard as I tried to think it through, Cassia didn’t fit into that plan. Which was why the Nephilim army had to make it here, and soon.
“We’ll talk to Pierce,” I said firmly. “I did him a favor by not sending him to the arena when I was Empress of the Villa the first week. We can cash in on that favor and get him to do something for us in return.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“You’ll fight,” I said. “If Pierce and Octavia work together, then yes, you’ll be the underdog. I won’t lie and say otherwise. But people love when an underdog wins. It’s entertaining. And isn’t that what the Faerie Games are all about? Entertainment?”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “I guess.”
“We haven’t had a good underdog fight yet,” I said. “I’d say it’s about time for one. So who knows—maybe the arena will be designed in your favor.”
“I hope so.” She gave me a small smile, but I could tell it was forced. “Thanks for the chat. But if you don’t mind, I’d like some time alone right now.”
“Of course.” I stood up from the bed. “Come find me if you need me, okay?”
“Okay.” She snuggled under the covers again, curling up and pulling them to her chin. “Thanks for being such a great friend, Selena. And if this week doesn’t go well, I want you to know that I hope you win.”
22
Torrence
We gathered around the map spread out on the table.
“Circe’s island isn’t far from here.” Thomas traced the route with his finger. “Forty-five minutes, tops. I’ll stop the boat until we come up with a plan to get her staff.”
The Faerie Mates (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 3) Page 8