Lucien stands close to my side. “This is not good,” he says, his voice low so that only we can hear him.
“Where’s Ash?” I ask, scanning the crowd.
“I’m sure he will be here,” Lucien replies. “He was meeting with some of the remaining Blood Moon Coven members.”
The great double doors of the Great Hall loom ahead, and the crowd slows, nobody eager to be the first ones inside. I feel a sense of dread settling in my stomach. Whatever’s waiting for us in there, it’s not going to be good.
Lucien gently places his hand on my lower back. “Stay close.”
We file in with the rest, finding spots near the back wall. I look around the room, spotting Ash almost immediately. He stands with a small group of Blood Moon Coven members, his back rigid, face expressionless. Our eyes meet across the room, and I feel the mark on my arm flare.
“I don’t like this,” Drake says. “It feels like a trap.”
Before I can respond, the doors slam shut with a magical force that makes the entire room jump. A hush falls over the crowd. From the side entrance, Jasmine makes her grand entrance, with silver hair loose around her shoulders. She’s wearing a flowing dress of deep purple. At her side slithers her serpent familiar.
“Welcome, welcome,” Jasmine sings, spreading her arms wide. “I’m so pleased to see you all here, my eager little beavers.”
Her eyes roam over the crowd, and I force myself not to shrink back when they pass over me. The serpent—Ollie—coils at her feet, its unblinking gaze as unsettling as Jasmine’s.
“It’s been too long since our last trial, hasn’t it? Too long since we’ve had some real fun.” She claps her hands like a child excited about being treated to an ice cream cone. “And today, I have something very special planned.”
The crowd shifts uneasily.
“Today,” Jasmine continues, “we’ll have a duel.” She pauses for dramatic effect. “To the death.”
Shocked gasps ripple through the crowd. A girl near me starts crying.
“But it gets even better!” Jasmine’s smile widens. “Today, I myself will participate.”
Soren mutters a curse, Drake grips my hand, and Lucien growls.
Jasmine giggles girlishly, and it’s the most gruesome sound I’ve ever heard. “I think it’s time I showed you all what is possible if you’re willing to put in the work and do hard things.”
I squeeze Drake’s hand, and it hits me. Just like Hank, what will happen to Drake if something happens to me? I can’t breathe suddenly.
“And for my opponent?” Jasmine’s eyes pass over the crowd again, this time more deliberately. I know what’s coming before it happens. I feel it in the mark on my arm, a burning sensation that grows hotter with each passing second, and I know Ash is raging inside.
Her finger rises, pointing directly at me despite the distance and the crowd between us.
“Rose Smith.”
I feel every face turn to me, but all I can see is Jasmine’s sinister smile and the hungry look in her yellow eyes.
“No fucking way.” Ash’s voice booms in the cavernous space as he strides into the center of the circle. “This isn’t happening, Jasmine.”
Jasmine’s head tilts to the side, reminding me of her serpent. “Oh? And who’s going to stop me? You?” She laughs. “I think we both know who has the real power here, Ash.”
Lucien steps forward, his hand closing around my upper arm. “She’s not playing your sick game.”
“But she must,” Jasmine says, feigning innocence. “It’s a direct challenge from the headmistress. Surely you wouldn’t encourage a student to break the rules?”
“Rules that you invented in your insane little brain.” Soren joins Ash in the center.
Drake moves to stand beside them. “You’ll have to go through all of us.”
For a moment, Jasmine looks annoyed. Then her face splits into a grin that chills my blood. “Whatever.”
She twirls her wrist, and a wave of dark magic, her own corrupted power, and the magic stolen from her victims, blasts out. It hits Ash first, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the far wall with enough force to crack the wood. Before the others can react, she repeats the gesture, sending Lucienflying one way, Soren another, and Drake straight up into the air before he crashes down hard on the wooden floor.
