Page 124 of Saints & Sinners

I spotted a thick fallen tree ahead, its trunk half rotted and split open. Without thinking, I dove behind it, landing hard on the cold ground.

I clamped a hand over my mouth, chest heaving as it all went silent.

Then—I heard the sound of heavy footfalls.

My eyes darted around the dark forest floor, searching for anything to defend myself with before my fingers brushed against something cold.

A rock.

Not much, but better than nothing.

I tightened my grip on it, muscles coiled.

But right when I was about to fight back, something slammed into the creature with a sickening crack.

I rose to my feet, and that was when I saw Hunter, with a spear made of wood, standing between me and the beast.

“Grace, run!” He barked, digging the spear further into the creature.

But I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

The beast lunged, and Hunter met it head-on, slamming his spear through its shoulder.

A shriek tore from its throat, and it reared back. Shadows rippled across its skin before it vanished into the dark like smoke drawn into a vacuum. Gone. As if it had never been there in the first place.

Silence fell except for the sharp sound of Hunter’s breathing.

He stumbled back a step, blood dripping from a shallow cut on his arm. The spear clattered to the ground beside him.

I blinked. My body finally unlocked, and my lungs caught air in one desperate gasp.

“You didn’t run,” he said, turning toward me. There was no anger in his voice—just disbelief.

“I—” My voice broke. “I couldn’t.”

His eyes met mine. “You can’t freeze like that again, Grace. Next time, I might not be fast enough.”

He reached out, brushing his fingers over my sleeve before they dropped away. The contact was brief, but it grounded me.

“I know,” I whispered.

He shook his head, jaw tight. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a blade made of stone and tossing it over to me. “Just stay alive.”

I stared at the blade, then back at Hunter as he turned to retrieve the spear, leaving my heart hammering in my chest before he disappeared into the woods.

Chapter Fifty- Seven

The glade felt endless as my boots hit the hard ground, and mud kicked beneath me as I wove between trunks. The last competition involved simulations, but this time, the Council involved actual creatures that had been stored away for centuries. They were doing everything possible so that Grace failed.

I caught movement ahead. I slowed, crouching low, my fingers tightening around the spear. As I moved closer, muffled voices reached my ears.

“If you keep stumbling like that, we’re not going to make it past sunrise,” Silas hissed.

“Me?” Brandon shot back. “Maybe if you weren’t fucking whining every five seconds, we’d actually make progress.”

I stepped out of the shadows, glaring at both of them. “Are you two shitheads seriously arguing right now?”

---