“Peachy,” I growled, trying to figure out the pattern of the blades. I wanted to turn tail, go home and eat some chocolate just from looking at the damn thing. I’d live longer, my ass might not like me come morning but I would be alive for it not to like me.
“Peachy as smooth or peachy as you found something you didn’t like?” Adam persisted.
“Hey, tell Larissa she can have my OPI collection if I don’t make it out of here,” I said moving up to the course.
“Syn—”
“Enough Adam, if you don't hear from me in twenty minutes you need to head in and report to the Guild.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” he said in a small voice.
“I need silence, no noise on the comm Adam,” I growled trying to make myself grow enough balls to take the first step into the course.
I turned, eyeing the glass walls, what was it with these guys and glass? I noticed my platinum blonde hair looked darker inside the room. My azure eyes looked a little too big with the thick eyeliner covering them. I looked like a mess. My shorts were just that, very short. The tight tank top hugged my size D’s seductively drawing my eyes to them instead of the star brands on my shoulders.
My mouth was actually quivering and I was never afraid of anything—except the Fae. I turned away from the mirror since it wasn’t helping me and I needed to do this now before the Prince returned. I re-pulled my hair back into the tight ponytail and stepped up to the gauntlet.
I inhaled watching as the blades moved. I bit into my bottom lip and shook my head. There was no way to get past the knives. I was pretty sure the moment you tossed something in to their space, more bad things would pop up. I let out a shaky breath and took off from a dead stop that would lock me into the deadly course.
The wicked looking blades shot out the moment I entered their path. One sliced through the small of my back, but it only drew a thin line of blood. Sure enough, as soon as I turned around, wicked looking poles shot up to keep me locked into the course.
“No going back now,” I said to myself. I turned and ducked, rolling on my stomach as the blades whizzed past me. I was flat on my back as they swung mere inches from my face. I took a quick breath before I turned my head slowly, watching as the axe blade gouged two inches from the ground next to me.
I was skinny, but not that skinny. I counted and then rolled quickly to the next thing before standing effortlessly and twirling my body through yet more sharp blades and axes. When I had successfully made it past them, I barely avoided the flames that shot from the walls.
“Fire in front of me, water beneath me. Meet.” I brought my hands together to give the spell more force, without needing the ancient language.
Nothing happened. I hated his Witch, whoever it was…someone had used a lot of blood to insure those flames were magic proof. “Aqua within, come to me,” I whispered allowing the magic to pulse through me, my body used the water inside to cover my skin, turning it slick and wet enough to quickly step through the flames and up to the vault door. “Take that Witchy Witch,” I growled already tossing a few pieces of vellum onto the thick metal door. “Patefacio," I said even as the thought crossed my mind that the course had been a little too easy.
I gave a wicked little grin at my success and stepped through the door—to guns pointing at my face. I swallowed and looked around calculating my chances of escape. I met a pair of eyes so golden that it startled me. The face they belonged to was harsh and beautifully masculine. Shit.
“Abort, that’s a direct order,” I said with more calm than I was currently feeling.
“Syn?” Adam shouted.
“Run.”
Two
I reached up carefully so as not to get shot in the head and removed my comm. I tossed it to the floor, knowing if I did more I might end up dead before I could figure out how to get out of this situation alive. The Dark Prince stood before me, his hair so black that it almost appeared blue in the lights. Golden eyes stared at me, no emotion in their endless depths, at all. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Would ever see, since my life was about to be cut short prematurely.
“Search her,” he ordered. His voice had a slight brogue to it.
My knees were kicked out from behind me, making me hit the floor ungracefully. I bit into my bottom lip to keep from crying out, or making any sound. Rough hands searched me from behind for weapons and came up empty.
“She’s clean,” the Fae who was still behind me said after he was sure I held no threat. As he continued to search me, he found the thin paper in the tight pocket of the spandex shorts I wore. They had been tipped off, it was the only way they would have been waiting for me. I glared as cuffs were secured around my wrists from behind.