I brush a strand of deep, red hair from her sticky forehead, searching her eyes. “How do you feel?”
“Well,” she chokes on a laugh, “my pride seems to be hurting more than I am. I didn’t even see the snake coming. And then the rest of them showed up and...I’m sorry.”
She trails off, focusing on the sun now beginning to sink behind the mountain. “Hey, none of us saw them, remember? But I need you to tell me how you’re feeling.”
Plagues, please don’t be poisoned.
“I feel alright. It hurts like hell, but I’m alright.”
For now.
The unspoken words hang in the air between us.
I’m hoping that our only problem is the pain she is in and nothing more. Hoping that I don’t almost lose another one of the few people I can’t afford to.
“Can you walk?” I ask.
She takes a step, her face scrunching in pain. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” I mutter before crouching down in front of her. “Come on. Get on my back.” I throw her a small smile over my shoulder. “Just like old times.”
She laughs hoarsely. “Seriously, I’m fine—”
“Well, clearly you’re not,” Blair’s agitated voice cuts in. “So get on his damn back so we can get a move on.” She starts climbing upwards, muttering something that sounds like, “Plagues, I hate teamwork.”
“I could try to transform into a small animal so I’m easier to carry?” Andy sounds doubtful. “But I’m not sure I could hold that state for long...”
“Save your energy. Come on. Up you go.” I help her onto my back, gripping the back of her knees as she grips my shoulders. She’s tall and lanky, her weight barely bothersome.
For now.
And then we are climbing again.
Chapter Forty-One
Paedyn
There is a rock in my shoe. The same one that’s been there for the past half hour, but my hands are too busy keeping me from falling to my death to do anything about it.
We’ve been climbing for hours. There are far fewer trees now, giving way to steep slopes covered in slippery plants. My hands are grasping at large boulders as I catch my breath, turning my eyes toward our destination.
The peak.
Despite our constant climbing, it still looms far above us. Jax is beside me, panting just as hard as I am. “I think we’re out of shape,” I say breathlessly.
He flashes a smile before rasping, “You think?”
I huff out a laugh while forcing my feet to move again. My legs are shaky, strained from climbing nonstop for hours with no food and no water to aid us. I hold out a hand to Jax, helping him over a particularly steep patch of rock, returning a favor he has done for me multiple times.
“How cute.”
Jax and I stiffen at the sound of that voice, considering that the owner of it tried to kill the both of us. I bite my tongue, forcing myself to stamp down the flare of anger igniting inside of me and ignore him instead.
Ace sighs dramatically as he continues to climb nearby. “Well, this is awkward. The three of us being paired together to be a team.”
It’s not awkward—it’s intentional.
Everything the king does is deliberate. Twisted. And this Trial is no exception. The fights, the teams, and the tension between contestants are all calculated.
“What? Are you just going to ignore me until we reach the top?” Ace croons from behind.
I’m thankful that Jax happens to be the other Elite I’m paired with, so I don’t have to fight the urge to kill both of my teammates. Though, that may be a bad thing considering that I likely trust Jax too much. But I ignore the thought just like the boy behind me and continue carefully climbing.
“At least—” Ace’s words die on his tongue before he cries out, “Paedyn! Look out!”
I turn to face him and instead spot the giant snake slithering around my ankles. A strangled scream tears from my throat before I can stop it, and I stumble. My ankle catches on a rock, and I trip, falling backward—
The last thing I see before I’m about to fall down the mountain and likely to my death, is the snake scattering into shadows when my foot connects with it.
Illusion.
But it’s too late. My body is falling and I’m going to tumble down the slope with no way to stop myself.
What a pathetic way to die—
Hands are suddenly at my back, pushing and pulling me to my feet before I can collide with the rocks and roll down the mountain.
“I got you,” Jax grits out behind me. “I think.”
I reach out a hand and claw at the closest jagged rock, helping to get my feet beneath me. When I’m standing mostly upright on unsteady legs, Jax Blinks back in front of me, sweaty and panting. I’m sure I look no different, but I offer him a weak smile and hope he sees the gratitude in my gaze. This boy Blinked behind his opponent to save me from—
The thought vanishes from my head, along with any other rational one that might have been residing there. I whirl on Ace even as I cling to a rock, not trusting my shaking body.
His smile is cold. “Careful. I wouldn’t want my teammate to get hurt.”
“You,” I spit. I’m about to slide down the slope and strangle him with my bare hands—
“Don’t,” Jax says quietly. “Not yet.”
I hesitate, slowly returning my eyes to his dark ones. After a long pause and a deep breath, I nod. Jax is not only right for reminding me I can’t kill our teammate, but he’s clearly far better at reigning in his rage than I am. So, I stiffly turn back towards the mountain, focusing all my attention on scaling it.
We climb in silence for a moment before I clear my dry throat and say softly, “Thank you, Jax. You didn’t have to help me, but you did.”
“Of course I helped you,” he says with a shrug. “Besides, I’m not sure my brothers would forgive me if I hadn’t.”
His brothers.
That night Kai and I danced during the first Trial—the night we spoke so openly about our lives—was when I had first learned of just how close the princes truly are with Jax. Kai briefly told me of the advisers’ shipwreck on the Shallows, and how they took their son in when he was barely six.
I force out a quiet laugh. “I don’t know, I’m sure Kai wouldn’t mind having less competition.”
He gives me an odd look, clearly trying not to laugh. “Not if that competition is you.” I huff in response, but Jax carries on cheerfully. “Speaking of Kai, I wonder how he is handling this.”
“Handling what?”
Jax pulls himself over a jagged rock with a grunt before breathlessly saying, “The mountain.” When my expression remains confused, Jax adds, “He hates heights.”
“What?” I choke out. “But I watched him climb up one of the pines in the Whispers during the first Trial. He seemed—”
“Fine?” Jax finishes for me with a laugh. “Calm even? Yeah, he’s pretty good at hiding what he feels.”
“Just another mask he slips on,” I mutter under my breath.
Jax nods, causing a bead of sweat to roll down his face. “He’s gotten a lot better with heights though, but only because of all the training the king put him through.”