Page 3
Parker’s jaw hardens. “Sloane’s lying. Besides, I wouldn’t let anything like that happen to you. I promise. I’ll be there the whole time.” His voice takes on an air of urgency. “They’re one contestant short, and the games are next week. We need you.”
I sigh. “Look, I don’t think—”
“The prize is one hundred thousand dollars. Do you really want to let your mother die because you were too afraid to take a risk?”
The words gut me like a fucking fish.
“That’s not fair,” I choke.
“Isn’t it? Isn’t this what your dad would’ve wanted? Saving her by any means?”
A fucking low blow. I told him that in confidence.
My dad killed himself a few months ago, right around the time they cut off the insurance and the bills started drowning us. Sonny went home one weekend, and by the time he found him, he’d been hanging for days.
In his note, he said he couldn’t watch her suffer anymore. That it was pointless to live knowing the love of his life was about to die.
Tears spill before I can stop them this time.
I don’t want to lose both my parents.
Parker’s fingers find my chin, dragging my attention back to him. “This is your one chance to save her. For your dad.”
“What if the Legion is as bad as everyone says?” I whisper.
“Then we play smarter than them.”
My chest feels tight, heavy with dread and all the things that could go wrong. But beneath the fear, something else begins to take root.
Hope.
Ugly, desperate, dangerous hope.
If we pull this off, I’ll have enough for the treatment and forty thousand left over. My entire life would change. I’ll be able to quit my second job and stop working myself to death.
“What’s this thing called again?”
Maybe if I can get some information before it starts next week, I can come up with a few tactics to win.
“The October Trials.” A grin tugs at his mouth. He knows he’s got me. “It’s a series of games. One night only. Contestants win or lose each round, and the last one standing goes home with the cash. It’ll all be so easy. I promise, baby.”
“The October Trials,” I repeat, tasting the words.
They feel heavy on my tongue, yet… so freeing. I look into Parker’s hopeful eyes and nod.
“I’m in.”
2
Blair
Ihaven’t told anyone where I’m going tonight. Not a soul.
Parker shoved a thick, midnight-black card with gold edges into my hand the next evening outside my dorm, then disappeared. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.
The warning on the card was painstakingly clear: Tell no one.
It’s Halloween night—my favorite holiday, might I add—and here I am, walking a mile to play a stupid game for some rich idiots.
