Blood and the taste of ash coil in my throat. I would spit lava on him right now.
McAllister walks around her like a vulture. The second, he brushes his fingers against her shoulder, Iscream in rage,straining the chains until the clothes are ripped off me where the metal meets the fabric.
“I’ll fucking kill you. I’ll rip your fucking heart out and make you eat it. I swear.”
“She was supposed to be dead anyway,” he goes on as if he didn’t even hear my threat, his tone accusatory. “I know she’s been in Kharon. I also know she was supposed to be dead.”
“You fucking hacked into my systems,” I growl, low enough to rattle the marble floor.
It’s only as if my accusations amuse him. “I’ve been inside your systems, for years. Your programmer left a fewwindowsunlocked, and I took the opportunity. Just to watch you cheat.” He pauses, and I hate that he calls me out on this.
In all my existence, I only cheated because of Brynn. I broke everything I believed in to protect her, and now this fucking bastard thinks he has this against me.But the secret will die with him. I’ll kill everyone present here, every single one of these bastards, even if I die in the process.
McAllister goes on. “Everyone's death is recorded on camera except Cynthia Aaron’s. I wasn’t sure at first, but over the years we’ve developed very advanced surveillance systems. Some of them even recognize the predictability of movement. Her gestures in Kharon match the ones you two use during training.”
My eyes narrow, realizing we’ve been watched outside of Kharon, too. There was no way he could have had access to my house. That means he watched us while we trained at the abandoned house. I didn’t have surveillance there, but he must’ve planted something.
“To be honest, I would’ve wanted to wait until Brynn’s leg had healed completely. But considering your visit, our plans had to change.”
“Let her go. I’m the one you want, not her,” I groan, feeling like I’m going insane with rage.
“We’re hunters, Ares. She was brave enough to stand up to you. We want you both. You’re both prey,” he says, and the wordpreyis like poison in my soul when I know it refers to Brynn.
I lift my head, forcing my muscles to tear through the chain once more, but they only drain the last of my powers.
“Stop, please,” Brynn begs, noticing the blood spewing from my torn clothes. I meet her eyes and notice something: she’s afraid, but not for herself—for me. For theGodbound in chains.
I try to calm down. I don’t want to agitate her more and risk her doing something stupid.
“We wanted to wait until next year before Kharon, make her the star of the show, along with other players. But I know she’s strong. We’ve all watched footage of her fighting. So the rules of the hunt will be different this time. She will be the star of the show tonight. The only one.” McAllister says, satisfaction obvious in his voice.
“You fucking coward,” I bark. “She’s a fucking woman, you piece of shit.”
“Quite a woman indeed,” he continues, and I can see Benedict smile along with another bastard that stands beside them. “That’s why we decided to be generous and give her a ten-minute head start.” McAllister looks at his wristwatch. “Starting… now,” he announces, and the guard keeping Brynn lets her go.
But she doesn’t move, doesn’t want to leave me. Her eyes are on me, her body leaning my way, refusing to run. Not for her own protection. But to protect me.
I see the intent in her eyes. She will fight to the death.
“Run,” the word tears from my throat, knowing that they start hunting her in ten minutes, whether she spends them here or not. At least she has a chance if she runs.
“We’re fair people. The same rules as in Kharon apply. No firearms. Just your own weapons. And since we can’t have the last one survive, as Ares does in his game, here you’ll have tocross the north section of the valley. There’s a hunter's cabin there. Reach it, and you win the game.” One of the guards hands her her knife. She looks at him as if she’d gouge his eyes out with her bare hands first. But she doesn’t have time for this.
“RUN!” I command again, more urgently this time, channeling every ounce of authority into one single word. I will break free somehow. Whatever it takes. Whatever it would cost me. But I need time, and I need her to survive.
She still hesitates, looking at me like leaving would betray me the same way she thinks she betrayed Elias.
While I know she didn’t betray any of us.
I can see her counting the guards, her mind working through scenarios of how she could fight her way to me. I know that look. I’ve seen it on countless warriors right before they make a fatal mistake.
“Brynn! No!” I order, and my heart breaks for betraying her intentions, but I’m only doing it so because she doesn’t have a chance of fighting now with everyone here. “GO! NOW!” The roar that accompanies my command is inhuman, the voice of the God of War summoning armies. Even the marble floor beneath me cracks from the force of it. The men present here shrink back as they witness a fraction of my true nature.
Only McAllister remains unmoved, watching everything that’s happening around him with interest and amusement. “Listen to him, my dear. We want to make this interesting and avoid killing you right now. That would take all the fun out of it.” He checks his watch again. “Nine minutes. Consider you’ve been warned.”
His eyes return to me, and I see the hunger there, the desire to break me and everything around me to try and match my powers. Pathetic. The bastard thinks he’s the first man who wanted to be a god.
Brynn looks at me, like it takes everything in her to leave me, then she turns her back and starts running through the men whopart to make her room. She runs slowly at first, like something is keeping her here, dragging her back. But then she runs faster and faster as if she’s just now realizing the danger, like she knows she has to survive.
