Page 97 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

“I let you out of my sight for half a day, and I come back to find you fighting awolfbear! Are you out of your mind?”

“I wasn’t fighting it. I was trying tosurvive.”

“Then you should have run from it. Not faced it down like some kind of lunatic.”

“Iwasrunning from it. But in case you didn’t know, the average person cannot actually outrun a wolfbear.” I blink as the rest of his words finally catch up with me. Narrowing my eyes, I watch him as he comes to a halt right in front of me. “Wait… What do you meanlet you out of my sight? Were you watching me?”

He draws up short, seeming startled by the question for a second. Then he crosses his arms over his chest and scowls down at me as if I’m stupid. “Of course I was. I’m one of the people in charge of making sure that the trial runs smoothly.” Suspicion creeps into his eyes. “Which begs the question, what the hell are you doing all the way out here?”

“I was trying to find my way back.”

“Why would you be…” He trails off as his gaze darts down to my hand. Shock crackles across his features, and when he snaps his gaze back up to my face, his eyes are wide with disbelief. “You.Youhave one of the rings?”

Crossing my arms over my chest defensively, I drag my eyebrows down deeper and glower at him. “No need to sound so surprised.”

“Of course I am. I saw Alistair, Isera, and Trevor follow Lavendera to the stone altar. How the hell didyoumanage to find it?”

I stew in annoyed silence before admitting, “Fenriel’s hawk found it. And I followed Fenriel.”

“How? You’re not skilled enough to track someone through the woods.”

“Wow. Your faith in my skills really is touching.”

“Just answer the question.”

“Fenriel is the only contestant who ever feels excited. So I tracked him by that emotion.”

Surprise pulses across Draven’s unnecessarily handsome features. And for a moment, he almost looks…impressed. Then ruthless authority slams back down over his features, and he snaps his fingers at me before holding out his palm. “Alright, hand it over.”

My eyebrows shoot up.

He narrows his eyes, and his voice drops lower and darker as threats lace his tone. “Give me the ring, Selena.”

I scoff. “Is that an order?”

“Did it sound like a suggestion?”

Uncrossing my arms, I hold up my right hand with the back of my hand towards Draven and my fingers straight. A faint hint of red light from the setting sun glints in the smooth gold ring. Draven raises his eyebrows expectantly and shoots a pointed look down at his open palm.

I flash him a smile dripping with challenge. “You want it?” I flip him off. “Come and get it.”

He jerks back, looking stunned. But I don’t stop to watch it. Instead, I whirl around and sprint towards the dense wall of vines and trees across the clearing.

I figured that the same tactic I had planned for the wolfbear will work on Draven too. The space between the trees is so narrow that I will be able to squeeze through it. But Draven, even without his wings, is much broader and bulkier than me. He will never be able to follow me through it.

An insane burst of excitement rushes through me as I dash towards the tree line. Behind me, Draven lets out a curse. Then the black storm clouds that hung around him start expanding.

My heart jerks as the clouds spread rapidly across the clearing, further darkening the already gloomy area. Winds whirl across the grass, snatching at my clothes and hair. I hurtle across the ground.

Right as I reach the dense wall of trees, a gust of wind slams into them, making them rattle. I twist sideways to slip through the narrow gap, and while doing so, I also cast a quick glance behind me.

Draven isn’t running after me.

Instead, he is simply striding across the ground as if he has all the time in the world. His steps are confident. Powerful. And there is a slight smirk on his lips. As if there isn’t a single shred of doubt in his mind that he will catch me.

We’ll see about that.

Squeezing through the gap between the first row of trees, I twist my body and slide sideways towards the next one. There is no way that Draven will be able to follow me. Twisting and slipping, I make it about four full strides into the mass of vines and thin tree trunks.

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