Page 77 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

When the pain passed, Jasper was already continuing, but he moved slowly, as though waiting for me to catch up. I shook myself and limped after him.

The next obstacle was a puzzle. Jasper and I both took our human forms to try to solve it, but every time we reached for the pieces, they skittered out of our reach. I made myself invisible to grab them, and Jasper figured out the correct placement. When the wall lifted, both our collars shocked us so badly that we were knocked to the ground.

“Guess they don’t like us working together,” Jasper gasped.

“Typical.” I struggled to my feet. “Guess we better start trying to kill each other instead, huh?”

The challenges grew more difficult from there, but we made it through each one. We traded off shocks, and despite the situation, I almost found it … enjoyable.

Freta was already being treated by the healers when we emerged from the maze. Jasper was whisked off by the faculty at once to congratulate him for his good showing. Everyone ignored me, so I went to my friend. She gave me a shaky smile.

“Two down. We just have to wait for Silas and Penry,” she said.

Silas came from the maze several hours later, cradling a broken arm with blood smeared across his face and chest. His partner, someone weak-bound, had been killed by the final obstacle. The medics declared his injuries weren’t bad enough to be treated with magic, so they set his arm and left him. We continued to wait.

And wait.

When the last students came from the maze, everyone started to pick up and leave. Silas, Freta and I looked at each other in horror.

“We must have just missed her. She must have been taken back into the Academy,” Freta whispered.

But she wasn’t. I knew she wasn’t.

We received confirmation shortly after. Her body was brought out of the maze by Atira, floating behind her on a stretcher. Atira’s normally jovial expression was cold. So utterly cold.

Penry’s throat was dark with bruises. Her eyes were closed. Skin pale. Cold. Still. My chest was too tight. I couldn’t breathe.

Freta let out a cry.

“She was unable to manifest a beast,” Atira explained to us as she pulled a white cloth over Penry’s body. “Her family already signed away burial rites. She will be interred on the grounds. If you wish a memorial, you are welcome to arrange one.”

Everything felt like I was hearing it underwater. Had I really thought that going through the maze with Jasper wasn’t that bad?

Atira continued away, Penry’s body floating behind her.

As I looked at the other students congratulating themselves on their survival, the faculty discussing who the best-ranked students would be, and the crowd of people who excitedly talked about what their favorite parts were, a rush of fury filled me. Nobody cared. Nobody cared that Penry and the others had died. She was nothing to them, and her death was seen as entertainment.

My hands clenched into fists and they started to shake. All of these people, so cold and callous.

“Penry,” Freta sobbed. She clung to Silas, her face buried in his shoulder.

I felt beyond tears. I just wanted to make all those cold people pay. I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill—

Hands grabbed me. Jasper spun me around, making me face him. His icy blue eyes drilled into mine, and he cupped my cheeks with his hands. “Don’t,” he whispered. “Azriel. Don’t. It won’t bring her back.”

Chapter 34 - Jasper

I held Azriel’s face tightly in my hands. Her brown eyes flashed, tears pooling in them. If she didn’t get herself under control, she was going to reveal her powers. She’d give away her identity and be dead by the end of the week—after they tortured her into insanity, looking for information she didn’t have.

“She’s gone,” I told her. “She’s gone, and there’s nothing you can do. Don’t make your friends lose you, too.”

Azriel squirmed. She tried to shake her head, but even as I watched, the anger in her face started to melt into grief. When she opened her mouth, the noise that came out was a strangled sound. She quickly closed it again.

“Z?” Freta said nearby, sounding alarmed.

People were watching. I was putting her in danger. Not just the faculty, but the other courts, too. Everyone had come to watch the binding trials. I’d even seen glimpses of my own family. They could see, and if they figured out what I was feeling, it would all be over.

I dropped my hands. “Go to the Vespa room,” I hissed between my teeth. “I’ll meet you there and explain everything.”