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“You!” A piercing shriek raises goosebumps across my skin.
I glance over one shoulder to see a fae—the woman who’s tossed more scowls and nasty words my way than most of the others combined—race from one of the other pathways.
I push on. I can beat her. I’ve got a massive head start. I can—
She yells, and I look again. The fae presses her hands together and flings them toward me. Something rockets my way faster than I can make out.
My legs cramp up.
A bolt of pure, hard air barrels toward my chest. I can’t stop it. Can’t move.
It glances off, slicing a gash in my shirt and hurtling past me to crash into the stage. Wood explodes into a shower of splinters. Fae scream.
A hole three feet wide looms in the center of the stage. Fae—competitor and non—brush off splintered wood, a few bearing new cuts that gleam with bright red blood.
That was meant for me, to destroy me.
But… I touch the exposed skin on my side. Unharmed. A warmth pulses in my arm, then fades away.
The Unseelie woman’s spell. It protected me.
And now it’s gone.
The fae woman lets out another guttural cry and breaks into movement.
I can’t let her beat me. I won’t.
I bolt across the last few feet to the stage.
The announcer is still wide eyed, inspecting his mussed attire. He blinks at me as I leap up the few stairs and dodge the new hole. With a little shake, he comes back to himself and raises my hand in the air.
Cheers erupt. My heads spins. Colors dot my vision. Breaths come hard and fast.
But I made it.Imade it.
“Our last semi-finalist, Wren!”
Chapter 22
Icollapseastheannouncer lets me go, landing hard on my backside on the stage.
The fae woman has reached the stage and spouts unintelligible curses my way, but I can’t muster up the ability to care. Galen and Lysandir fill my vision, blocking out the angry fae beyond. Their questions are a buzz in my ears. All I can focus on is sucking in one breath after another.
Someone touches my exposed side, and I shiver.
I should be dead. I could be.
Did the Unseelie woman know this would happen? Why save me?
A shadow blocks the sun overhead. Suddenly, my friends are being pulled off me. Strong arms scoop me up, and I’m embraced by the scent of citrus and pine.
Sigurd.
I lean against his chest.
Safe.
The world twists around us, but I barely notice. A second later, we’re somewhere else.
