Page 82 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

We all glance around at each other, assuming that he’s talking about us. But to my surprise, Imar sweeps his arm out and points towards the door.

Another shifter from the Red Dragon Clan pushes the two double doors open.

Surprise ripples through our group when people from our city stumble in through the doors. An anxious murmur starts up. Both from them and from several of us. I study the fae men and women who shuffle nervously across the floor and spread out across the room.

Imar motions towards them. “These are the people from your city who have volunteered to help out in today’s trial.”

I barely manage to suppress a scoff. Volunteered? More like voluntold.

“There are twenty-four of them,” Imar continues. “Just like you.” Then he pauses for dramatic effect as he sweeps his gaze over us. “Ten of them are carrying a small wooden coin somewhere on their person. They will not hand them over willingly, so your mission is to acquire one.” A wicked smile tugs at his lips. “By any means necessary.”

Several of the volunteers swallow and anxiously shift their weight while casting worried glances between us and Imar.

“There are only ten coins,” Imar announces. “And without a coin, you won’t move on to the final trial. Other than that, there are no rules.” He flicks his wrist. “Begin.”

My heart leaps into my throat at the sudden start.

All around me, people lurch into motion and scramble to catch up as well.

I remain frozen on the floor as indecision tears through my soul.

Isera’s words from the last trial echo through my mind.Why don’t you use your magic against everyone else?

Icould. I could use my powers to mess with everyone’s emotions. This is the perfect kind of trial for that. Everyone is in the same room, and I can stand on the sidelines without being attacked. This is the perfect opportunity for me to sabotage all the other contestants. The perfect opportunity to make them too frustrated or too worried or too uncertain to finish the task. The perfect opportunity to make everyone else fail.

Nausea rolls through my stomach. Am I really that kind of person? Am I really someone who would sabotage people who have done nothing to me?

My gaze drifts to Fenriel, who has summoned his hawk and is apparently waiting for the bird to scout the room from above. Even though we’re in a stressful trial, there is a smile on his face as he watches his hawk soar through the air.

I drag in a breath while pain squeezes my heart. Could I really sabotage someone like Fenriel? Or Isera, who I consider something of an ally now? Or Lavendera, who protected me against Alistair back in that corridor after the first trial?

Indecision whirls through me like a violent storm.

A scream of fear cuts through the room.

I whip my gaze towards it.

Halfway across the room, Alistair has just shot a torrent of fire at one of the volunteers. The guy threw himself on the ground to evade the flames and is now pushing up to his knees. I watch as he holds out a trembling hand to Alistair. A wooden coin wobbles in his palm. Alistair picks it up.

And then starts towards the next volunteer.

Panic washes through the room as everyone realizes something Imar alluded to. There are only ten coins, and without one, you can’t move on to the final trial. But he never said that each person could only collect one coin. So if Alistair gets three of them, there will only be eight people in the final trial. And if he gets five, there would only be six people.

The room explodes into frantic movement as everyone else hurries towards the other volunteers to see if one of them has a coin while also fighting each other for it.

For a moment, I just study Alistair.

Then my mind settles.

I am not like him.

I want to win. Desperately. But I don’t have to sabotage other people to do it. I don’t have to play the game the way Alistair plays it. I can’t. Because I still care too much about what other people think. Still care whether they like me or not.

But that doesn’t mean that I can’t win. I don’t need to be cruel to win. I just need to be smart.

Lurching into motion, I channel my magic and throw it across every volunteer in the room.

Almost all of them have a purple spark of worry in their souls. Since I can’t just sense emotions without manipulating them, I decrease those sparks of worry ever so slightly while I scan through them all until I find the ten people who have the biggest sparks.

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