Page 24 of Run of Ruin

The applause that followed was deafening, but I felt a sudden unease crawl up my spine. Evanora’s gaze never wavered as she stood there, studying us.

The crowd slowly started to settle, but there was an unspoken weight in the room.

Thorne leaned in slightly, his voice low but teasing as he murmured to me, “Well, it’s official now. Let the trials begin.” His words were almost a dare, and the corner of his mouth twitched as if he were enjoying this far more than I was.

Briar gave me another appraising look, her expression unreadable but her eyes sharp. I nodded, forcing myself to breathe deeply and shake off the unsettled feeling in my chest. I didn’t want this. But now that I was here, I wasn’t going to waste the chance. I would fight, claw, and outsmart whoever I had to in order to make it out alive and bring what my brother needed back with me.

The Reclamation Run wasn’t built for the brave, it was built for the brutal. One wrong move, one misplaced trust, and it could all be over. I had to be smart. I had to be careful. I had too much to lose.

Archon Veritas raised her hand, signaling for the crowd to quiet once more. The room fell to a heavy silence, all eyes locked on her. “Tonight, you feast, you celebrate, you dance. But tomorrow, the first trial begins.”

My heart thudded in my chest, and I knew this was just the beginning.

Archon Veritas lifted her crystal glass high, her voice ringing with hollow warmth as she declared, “To unity, preservation, and progress!”

A sweeping cheer followed, polite and practiced, as the Praxis elite mirrored her movement. Golden arms raised innear-perfect unison. The air shimmered with the clink of glass and the rustle of silks and satins.

I glanced around at the rest of the Challengers, those of us dressed in black and gray, standing like shadows in the midst of a celebration in our names but one we didn’t feel invited to. None of us lifted our glasses. Some didn’t even hold one. We stood still, watching them, because toasting this might be a lie too far.

Because what were we toasting, really?

Their unity wasn’t ours. Their progress had cost us everything. And as for preservation... we were barely surviving out in the Collectives, what exactly were they preserving?

So we stayed still.

And I felt it then…that divide. Us versus them. They were here for a show.

We were here to survive.

The crowd exploded into lively and jovial excitement, as the music resumed and they slipped onto the dancefloor to take a turn about the room.

“Wanna dance, love?” Thorne asked, holding his arm out for me to take.

“I don’t dance,” I replied.

“Then follow my lead,” he said, gripping my hand and dragging me toward the dance floor.

“See you around, Hollis,” Briar promised with a genuine smile. Thorne spun me, and my feet moved on their own accord, when I was pulled back to him, he circled my waist and held my front pressed to his. I looked up breathless at him.

“So, fuck that lottery, am I right?” he said, breaking the tension and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not sure I would say it quite as brashly, but I can’t say I disagree with the sentiment,” I said back with a soft smile. “I can’t believe you were chosen in the lottery after yoursister was elected. I mean what are the odds of that happening?”

Thorne let out a low laugh, his voice smooth with just a hint of smug. “Roughly zero-point-zero-zero-one-zero-two percent. One out of an eligible population of 9,792.” He tilted his head, looking far too pleased with himself. “You’d have better odds of catching a snowflake on your tongue in Wildfold in the middle of summer. Blindfolded.”

I gave him a dumbfounded look.

“I’m really good at math,” he whispered, his voice almost too smooth, like he was revealing a secret only meant for me. I shouldn’t have felt the heat rush through me, but I did. Maybe it was his cocksure attitude, or maybe the way his intellect practically radiated from him, but something about it had me thrown off balance.

“I can see that,” I replied, my voice a little more breathless than I intended as he spun me out and then pulled me back in. My head was spinning, not just from the dance, but from everything else. I couldn’t help but wonder if someone with his level of sharpness would be my biggest competition. To save my brother. That thought was always there, in the back of my mind, lurking.

“Well, now that you’re here,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady and free from the nerves that were coursing through me, “what trials are you hoping to aim for?”

The question hung in the air, and I felt a tightness in my chest. I didn’t want to admit how scared I was of facing him, someone who could probably calculate his way through any obstacle without breaking a sweat. Me? I could memorize equations, sure, but actually applying them? That was a different story entirely.

“Don’t worry, love,” Thorne said with a crooked grin, that mischievous glint in his eyes sparking like lightning. “Youwon’t have to worry about me and my incredibly impressive brain getting in the way of you and your precious medical trials.”

I huffed a laugh, a small knot of tension loosening in my chest. But before I could reply, his voice shifted.

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