Page 57 of A Kiss From Death
“White Egret Orchid,” she calls down, and the Illuminist nods in agreement. She stacks the block on her shoulder, following my example, and slowly climbs to the top, placing the block next tomine. She takes her time making her way back to the ground and successfully makes it back without toppling the tower.
She skips over to me with a huge smile on her face, looking damn proud of herself. Ruffling her hair, I pull her into a side hug as we turn to watch Sierra take her turn next.
“That was something else!” Ray squeals next to me, coming off her adrenaline high like an addict. She’s literally bouncing next to me like a kid hyped up on candy. I grab one of her shoulders, slowing her down.
“You need to preserve your energy. There is still a chance you may have to go again. I don’t want you to be exhausted from all this shaking before you even step a foot back on the tower,” I say to her, but I add a side smirk so she doesn’t think I’m scolding her.
“She’s not wrong. It would be wise of you to reserve your energy.” Aeron’s smooth voice slithers over my shoulder. Turning my head, I come face to face with his icy blue eyes and tan skin. “That was a nasty slip up you had there, but I’m impressed with your determination,” he coos to Ray, making her blush.
Knocking my shoulder into his, I say, “Shouldn’t you be over there studying your opponents and keeping your head focused instead of being a shameless flirt to anything that moves?”
“I would have to feel ashamed for that to be true, Vagrant, and that’s just not the case, I’m afraid.” He gives me a flirty wink and goes to step closer when I catch the faintest black floating line in the corner of my eye. Aeron’s foot snags on it, making it look like he tripped over himself, and he lands face first, snagging a mouth full of sand in the process. Most people would be embarrassed, but leave it to Aeron to gracefully stand back up and beam down at me. “You literally have me weak in the knees every time I lay my eyes on you.”
I shove him, but he just chuckles to himself, getting ready for the possibility of climbing for a second time. Quickly, I shoot my eyes back to the troublemaker I know was at fault for Aeron’s littlemisstep, but Hade remains scanning for any danger around the Empress. This time, though, he’s flaunting a shit eating grin on his face, looking proud of himself.
Empress save me.
Suddenly, a piercing scream makes me throw my hands up to cover my ears, looking up just in time to see Sierra’s bright red hair tumbling towards the ground. Blocks litter the space above me, raining down alongside her.
Grabbing Ray’s wrist, I drag her back with me, just narrowly missing a large wooden block that hits the ground right where we were standing.BOOM!The sounds of block after block assault the ground, creating a giant dust cloud. I’ve lost where Sierra landed, her small frame now piled with a tall stack of fallen blocks.
The dust clears, and half of the tower now resides on the floor, ending our portion of the game before Tank even had a chance to go, which doesn’t seem fair. The other contestants are still competing for their lives next to us. I spot a couple blocks being shoved, and a bruised and bloody, but very much alive, Sierra emerges from the rubble. She looks devastated, and even though I know it’s her or me, I still feel sick to my stomach at the thought of her losing her life.
A Vanquisher walks over, dragging her away to stand on the side to wait for the second game to finish. She thrashes in his hold, but she’s too weak to put up a fight. I focus my attention back on the other tower, noticing Cartwell has just successfully pulled a block.
“State the five sectors of Fallout in ranking order and their specialties,” he reads out loud, rolling his eyes at how simple his question is. Leave it to the genius to be upset at getting an easy question.
“Command Sector who makes and enforces our laws. Enlightened Sector are our scholars who pass down knowledge through each generation. Visionary Sector houses our creatives and healers.Sweat Sector provides physical labor, building our lands and tending to our food supply. And that leaves Vagrant Sector… They, uh, they just are, I guess.” He shrugs. The Vanquisher gives him the go ahead, and he makes his way to stack his block at the top.
I try to focus on Cartwell and his vibrant blue hair, but I fail because my mind keeps thinking about another man. A man whose rough hands have delicately caressed my face. Hands that have slipped between my curls and gently tucked them behind my ear. Hands that have made my body come alive under them, and now, they are about to take another’s life.
How many lives have these hands claimed? How many times have they blindly obeyed an unjust ruler in the name of duty? These revelations should bother me, but I can’t seem to push aside this growing ache within me. Embarrassingly, though, what does bother me is thinking about how many other women those hands have explored before me that I am not privy to. My body is not unique in knowing the effects this man can pull out of it without even trying.
The hands of akillerhave brought me back tolife.
Cartwell successfully makes it back down, and Yazi takes his place. Yazi is an older man, probably in his late fifties, his hair having long turned gray. After talking with him during training, I’ve learned he has a kind soul. After tragically losing his late wife, he vowed he would enter the Crucible in hopes of earning magic and never having to feel powerless again. It’s way to take control over his life, and I find it honorable. He is in great shape for his age, but it will still be a challenge for him to climb to the top of the tower. He opts to pull a block from the bottom, where it’s still sturdy. Reading it off, he hesitantly answers and fails to guess correctly. He slides to the other side of the tower one row up and slides another block free. Reading his second question, he confidently answers it correctly and stacks both blocks on his left shoulder, attempting to carry both to the top at the same time.
Slowly, he takes his time dragging his body up. Leaning, he attempts to wedge his foot in a small crack as one of the blocks on his shoulder slips and topples backwards. He quickly lunges for it, attempting to catch it before it’s out of reach, but his momentum drags the tower along with him, and they all come crashing back down to the ground. Just like that, another life has been sentenced to death in a matter of seconds.
Yazi shoots up from the rubble, frantically looking around for an escape route. He lunges, sprinting for his life right past me, knocking me down in his pursuit. I crash to the ground next to Ray, who looks at me wide eyed.
“I’m okay,” I promise her, dragging my body up off the ground. I can tell this part of the trials is too much for her, the reality of people losing their lives settling deep within her. Her breaths turn a fraction deeper, and a younger-looking Vanquisher, who I assume is her guard, drags her to the side, whispering who knows what in her ear. Whatever he said seems to have calmed her, which I find intriguing. He whisks her away with a hand on the small of her back, heading back towards the castle.
Hearing a loud grunt, I swivel on my feet, catching two Vanquishers tackling Yazi, taking him to the ground. He swings his arms furiously to no avail as they slowly choke him into unconsciousness, his body going slack.
“Now, now, children, you all knew what you were signing up for when you entered this greedy game for magic,” the Empress purrs out from in front of us, suddenly appearing back in the Bubble. “Now, it is time to pay up. Two lives in payment for the opportunity of a lifetime. Hopefully, you have better luck in the afterlife. Maybe you can strike a better deal with the gods while you’re there.”
Hade rounds her body, kneeling on one knee with a mask of indifference. Right now, he is not Hade, the man who bent me over a wishing well and whispered filthy things in my ear, whodelicately cleaned and patched my wound. This is the Cardinal, the brute in charge of the Empress’ bidding…her killing machine.
“My dear Cardinal,” her seductive voice makes me squirm in disgust, “as my trusted right hand, I leave the choice of their deaths to you. Your wish is my command. My only rule is that it must be now, for all to see.”
Hade’s indifference slips the smallest amount, almost looking thrown off guard at her request. He recovers quickly before anyone can notice. He nods once to the Empress, and I see him conjuring up a plan in his head. He looks off to me, his jaw clenched a fraction tighter than normal, his face a shade slightly paler, but I doubt anyone else can see the difference that’s as clear as day to me. I realize I may know Hade better than anyone here. I may be in too deep with this beast.
He gets up, walking to stand in front of Yazi, who is now awake and being held between two Vanquishers. Sierra is being held in place by one Vanquisher next to him. Donning a mask of boredom, Hade speaks with a monotone voice.
“I’m quite tired and hungry, to be honest, and your lives hold zero value to me. So, I will make this quick.” With a simple flick of his wrist, two black shadows swirl around both of their necks, squeezing tight, turning their faces bright red. He’s choking them to death with his magic. Their wide, scared eyes slowly start to droop shut as they fight, failing to take a single breath. Their shaking bodies flail less and less until they both fall limp, sucked of life.
Two more souls sacrificed in the name of entertainment.
