Page 289 of The Mortal Trials

“It’s stunning,” she says.

“Thanks.”

Elias pops up beside me. “Since we’re all asking questions, why did Torsten help you today? That seems very strange to me. Some might call it suspicious.”

“Some might ask why you’re here, too. Allying with Callalie after trying to kill her in the first trial.” August’s words hit home.

Elias raises his hands in supplication but waits for an answer.

I sigh. “Torsten got sucked into the mud on the bank. It was swallowing him and I helped him get out. He didn’t assist us because he felt grateful, though. He was going to run for the portal. His mom saw Aster and made him jump into the river to help get him out.” I raise my chin, waiting for his reply to August’s question.

Everyone quietly watches our Greek friend.

“I’m here because I want to win. I could lie and say it’s because you stopped me on the troll bridge, or because of your stirring speech in the rain about how we’re all on the same team and it’s ‘us’ versus ‘them’, but I’m only here because this group is winning and I have too much to lose.”

A truth we all share.

“That,” Elias shrugs, “and I gods damn hate Torsten. For now, being part of an alliance is beneficial, and I’ll even take you over him.”

I can’t help but laugh, because at least he’s being honest. The second we’re pitted against each other, he’ll come at me with everything he has. If the tides shift and the other group seems like they’ll get ahead faster than us, he’ll leave us for them. Assuming they’ll take him back. It may come down to numbers at some point.

Niall speaks after quietly watching us all. “Morrigan says that what we’ve faced in the trials is just a warm-up for something far worse. We’ll need allies to get through them.”

“Until we’re forced to fight against each other,” Elias notes.

That will happen as the games end.

I can’t imagine turning on these people. I’ve seen their loved ones. Learned their hearts. Fought alongside them.

On the field of war, we never considered the people we faced. The world was reduced to our next move and a selfish desperation to live. I never knew Elias’s name when I thrust my blade into him and left him in the grass to fight someone else. There was no time to learn his face.

It’ll be different with these people because I’ve had time to get to know them. Maybe not well, but well enough. I’m not sure I can just pretend they’re enemies now that they’ve become friends.

Then again, maybe survival instinct will supersede all thought.

Not that I’ll make it to the games without a champion. I haven’t even cleared the first hurdle, which means it’s pointless to worry about all the ones that come after.

We stay at the pool until the sun slides westward and the shadows crawl to the east. Then we trail away to our homes, hoping we’ll hear the sound of Hermes’s horn soon.

After my second shower of the day as I leave the bathing room wearing a towel and my necklace, damp feathers in my clean-smelling hair, August meets me in the steamy doorway.

“If there is a feast, do you think it’ll be at the temple or the palaestras?”

I don’t even have to think about it. “The temple.”

He tilts his head, pressing the pile of clothes he’s carrying to his chest. “You sound very sure about that.”

I try to smile. “Ares is going to want everyone to watch me crawl to him.”

“Please tell me you will,” he begs.

I reach up and pull his face toward mine, then kiss his cheek and walk past him to get dressed.

August wears loose linen pants and a white tee shirt. His feet are bare, his posture relaxed. As is his usual stance in the evening, he’s staring out the window, pensive.

He doesn’t know that my blood is boiling.

I’m sick of worrying. Sick of cowering. If these are my last nights, I want them to overflow from the joy I pour into them.