Page 130 of Trial of Thorns
I step forward so that our chests are only inches apart. He looks down at me with those adoring eyes. “Want to know a secret?” I whisper to him. “If this were real, I wouldn’t do it. Not now.”
I pull in a shaky breath. “If I didn’t know this was part of the trials, I’d sacrifice everything to save you. Even if it meant my own death.”
Then, I shove the dagger into his chest.
Rev
The crowd cheers asCaelynn exits the orb. I look down at my hands.
It’s a strange feeling to know that inside that orb we just killed each other. Something no one else on the planet knows.
I don’t look at her as she sits beside me, only inches between us. It’s hard to breath, to pull life through my body feels unnatural.
We did it. The challenge is over. Only one more trial to go. But I can’t seem to allow relief or joy to enter my shredded soul. Not today. Not now.
I’m so distracted by my own misery I don’t even notice that something is wrong until the crowd goes entirely quiet. Tyadin walks through the orb, a dagger still in his hand.
“Tyadin of the Crumbling Court,” the pixie says, “is disqualified from the Trial of Thorns.”
I stand as he approaches slowly. “Ty,” I whisper. “What happened?”
He gives me a small smile. “I made a choice. I came here to make a point. To prove myself. I think I achieved that.” He smiles sadly. “And I didn’t want to be... I didn’t...” He shakes his head.
“You didn’t want to be like us,” Caelynn whispers beside me, and I go rigid. Maybe we’re not the only people in the world who knows who we killed inside that orb.
Tyadin shrugs. “I’ll be cheering you two on. If either of you win, our world will be in good hands.”
Caelynn throws her arms around Ty’s neck, and he chuckles softly, returning the embrace.
Tears well in my eyes as Cae releases him, and he holds out his hand to me. I take it in a firm shake. “Well, if nothing else, I know I’ve earned new allies during these stupid trials.”
Ty smiles. “I’m glad to hear it.”
I focus on something in the distance. “And a few new enemies,” I say as two forms appear over the horizon beyond the desert. The crowd begins a new roar of excitement, and I take that moment to escape the arena without so much as a glance at Caelynn of the Shadow Court.
My mate and sworn enemy.
