Page 93 of Courting War
Nothing.
Theo reached for another arrow, but she was out after taking down six beasts herself.
Fuck.
Dropping her quiver and bow, Theo unsheathed her sais. But she couldn’t throw them. Her eyes scanned the gladiator pit, but no far-range weapons remained.
“I suggest finding that island quickly because we’re out.”
Kellyn’s gaze darted to her and then to the bird whose claws were approaching his face. He ducked, giving the creature his back.
The harpy clawed his tunic in two, exposing his chiseled back and chest to the world. Theo would have stopped to take in his physique, but he was losing. Anxiety clawed up her throat, and she shook. Water sprites hopped on the water and consumed her fear.
Theo rubbed her chest. There was a stirring of something happening inside. She was starting to—no, she couldn’t even think it.
It didn’t matter anyway because if Kellyn knew the truthabout her being agod,he would hate her. He despised the gods. But she wanted desperately to tell him—all of it—yet if she did, he’d leave.
Not that it mattered because he’d never love her. Theo was unlovable . . . no matter what form she was in. War was a villain, and villains didn’t get love stories. They didn’t have friends. They had subjects.
None of that mattered if he died. She felt useless. Utterly and completely useless. Theo wanted to burn the world down to protect him but couldn’t. She couldn’t doanything. But it turned out she didn’t need to because Kellyn was allowing the bird to get close enough for him to stab his chisel in its eye.
Cecile hopped onto the correct island, and four massive pookas replaced the harpies.
Emmett was still weak, but he managed to flank her as she took the heat of the battle. They worked together perfectly, like four arms being controlled by one body. With his excellent training, she could easily predict where he needed her, and she was getting used to the way her mortal body moved.
It was still far too slow, weak, and vulnerable, but she managed to make it work for her.
Still, she hated it, but there wasn’t nearly as much for her to fear as she thought. She was still the most skilled warrior in the world.
A symphony of clangs rained throughout the cave. Blood splattered everywhere and seeped into her mouth, mixing with the taste of sweat, grapefruit, and wax of her lipstick.
But she didn’t care. There was beauty in battle, like an aria of gore and glory. It was also a horror-made manifest—the battleground for nightmares to come out to play.
It was majestic and horrible.
All at once, Theo bathed in it and hated herself because of it.
The game continued with four more beasts, but they eventually succeeded. The hardest part was returning to the island because dearest old Nefeli refused to refract them.
Punishment for doing too well in the challenge. Theo andEmmett managed to get to the middle island in between, but he was too weak by far to jump the last section, so Kellyn had to engineer a bridge, literally building it from the willow tree.
Theo smiled. The boy was skilled with his hands, and she wanted to do far more with them than simply build a bridge.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
KELLYN
Champion of Theoden
BALLROOM, CITY OF THE GODS
The Tribunal was like swallowing sand. Coarse and utterly uncomfortable.
As soon as they exited the mirror, they were forced to pull on party clothing, directly over their open wounds. Apparently, they needed to be presentable. Another punishment for beating the challenge. Cecile wore a thick corseted dress, and Morrigan was forced into a black silk dress, with a metal snake fastening the plunging back together, while Kellyn and Emmett were put in suits.
Clothing for the Tribunal.
The four-faced down the firing squad together, all eight of the pantheon gods and Gallagher lined up—their magic floating around them—the ballroom light shining down upon them. Gallagher’s pink eyes glittered and devoured Cecile, her gaze not letting up for a moment. Her skin was painted with blue sugar dust, and her blue hair moved on a phantom wind, magic surging through it as if proving to all those who gazed upon her, she was indeed divine and meant to be there.
