Page 82 of Prisoner of Steel and Shadow

“Wait, what? And you’re still going in there?” Bast tried to grasp Ronan’s arm but was no match for the pure fury propelling him forward.

“I’d hate to disappoint whoever worked so hard to get me alone.”

“Ronan...” Bast muttered a series of fervent curse words before following after him.

“What are you doing?” Ronan snapped, barely sparing him a glance as he pulled the Butcher’s famed sword, Souleater, from his bag.

“Getting myself killed, apparently.”

“No. Stay outside. Better yet, get to the arena and see if there’s any way to buy me some time.”

Sebastian’s gray eyes filled with an intensity Ronan hadn’t seen from him before. Everything was a joke with him. Life was a game to be played and enjoyed, never taken seriously. Never real. But he was deadly serious now.

“Where you go, I go.”

The declaration floored him. “Bast...”

Sighing heavily, Sebastian eyed the door to what seemed to be an abandoned apothecary and then pulled it wide open. “Come on then, Ronan. Death waits for no man.” He darted inside, leaving Ronan with no option but to follow or let him walk into the ambush like a lamb arriving at slaughter.

Shadow

“Looking for someone?”

Shadow stiffened, her entire body going on high alert as the High Lord’s voice caressed her ears. How he made three little words sound so threatening was beyond her. It was a skill she would have worked hard to master under other circumstances.

Peeling her eyes away from the gate and the people still flooding in, she gave a slight shake of her head. “No one in particular.”

“Liar,” he breathed.

Her heart stuttered in her chest, but a lifetime of practice kept her expression wiped free of emotion. “I’m merely curious where the other contestants are. Or did only four of us complete the last trial?”

Her eyes drifted over Dichen and Cedric before coming to rest on Loren. His attentive stare surprised her. He wasn’t even trying to disguise the fact he was eavesdropping on her conversation with the High Lord.

Recalling the man’s soft smile and the way he’d played with that familiar teal feather the other night at the Siren, she couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t the only one on the lookout for Ronan. Or rather, the Butcher’s handsome friend.

They should be here by now. Actually, Ronan should have been here nearly an hour ago to be debriefed by Dmitri with the rest of them.

She knew damn well he completed the last trial. They’d broken every rule to ensure it. Removing their masks. Revealing the details of their tasks.Workingtogether... among other things. If Erebos found out... but of course he had. Erebos knew everything. He had eyes and ears everywhere.

She was such an idiot.

He’d been avoiding her since the ball. She should have known it wasn’t a reprieve.

Fuck.

A bell chimed, signaling the approach of the hour. Only fifteen more minutes until the start of the final trial. If Ronan didn’t show up soon, it was over. She should feel relief at the thought. At least he’d be spared the fate of the others. But it wasn’t relief she felt. It was panic.

Still looking at Loren, she spotted one of Dovina’s best girls weaving through the crowd and coming up to tap the crowd favorite on the shoulder. He leaned down with a frown, his expression turning thunderous as he listened to whatever she whispered in his ear.

But then Erebos chuckled, and the sound of dark satisfaction set her teeth on edge. It was the first time she could ever recall feeling openly hostile toward the man who’d been her hero since the day he saved her.

“What have you done?”

Erebos gave her a slow, cruel smile. “No less than he deserved.”

Her heart sank, and she had to clamp down hard on the urge to pull her blade. Knowing there was nothing she could do, not at the moment, Shadow looked away and prayed that luck would continue to favor the stranger who’d wormed his way into her every waking thought. She didn’t want to see Ronan harmed because of his involvement with her, or worse.

There was no future for them.

---