Page 122 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

But it’s drowned out by another wave of blinding agony as Kevlin stomps on my left hand again. I almost pass out as the already shattered bones grind further together.

“Stop,” I gasp out. “Please, I’ll give it to you. Just stop. Please.”

Kevlin stops with his foot hovering over my hand. He is still crouched down and slightly bent forward so that he can hold my wrist pinned to the ground while also being able to bring his boot down on it.

My vision swims and my head spins as I slide my right hand along the ground towards his feet.

“Please,” I beg again.

His eyes are hard and merciless as he stares me down. But he returns his foot to the ground. His hand remains around my left wrist, though.

“Alright,” he says. “Unclench your hand.”

“I can’t.” A whimper of pain spills from my lips. “You’ve shattered everything in it.”

A frustrated sigh rips from his lungs.

Then he finally lifts my hand off the ground, allowing me to raise the rest of my body too.

The moment he moves, my right hand wraps around the knife that was lying on the ground behind his feet. I straighten as he pulls my left hand towards him and bends my finger up so that he can take the ring himself.

Another cry of pain rips from me, and I lose the ability to move for a second as agony spikes through me.

Panic blares inside my skull.

Kevlin pulls the ring off my finger right as I slash the knife across the back of his thighs, severing his hamstrings.

He screams in pain and his legs buckle.

The ring flies through the air as he crashes down on the ground. Blood runs down the back of his now useless legs. I yank my wrist out of his grip and scramble across the ground before he can grab me again.

A ray of afternoon sunlight shines down between the trees and hits the ring where it rests on the ground a few strides away. The gold glints in the warm light. I crawl towards it.

Kevlin’s screams echo from behind me as I drag myself towards the ring that will make this all worth it. The ring that will save me. That will give me a new life.

When I’m still two strides away from the ring, a pair of boots become visible right behind it.

Dread and panic and a terrible sense of hopelessness washes over me as I snap my gaze up to find another contestant standing there.

Lavendera looks down at me in silence before shifting her gaze to where Kevlin is writhing on the ground. Then her gaze drops down to the gold ring before her feet.

I want to scream my lungs out. My hand is broken and my ankle is shattered while Lavendera looks entirely unharmed. There is nothing I can do to stop her if she decides to take the ring. I won’t even be able to chase her to the finish line.

Her pink and purple eyes stay locked on the ring for a few seconds. Then she looks up at me.

I don’t even know if I’m breathing anymore.

Lavendera heaves a deep sigh.

And then walks away.

Lurching into motion, I scramble the final distance to the ring and snatch it up. The gold is cool and smooth against my palm as I clutch it in my uninjured hand.

My gaze shoots to Lavendera’s retreating back. Confusion and disbelief and overwhelming gratitude swirl inside me.

And because I need to know, I call after her, “Why?”

She stops and turns around to face me again. There is a strange and faraway expression on her face as she sighs again. “Because it can’t be me.”

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