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“Then keep trusting me,” he said, cutting her off.
“Question,” Maya said, coming to a stand. “I can’t help but wonder, what motivated you two to sign up for this tournament? It’s no secret you two are nothing like the callous immortals The Elaron Games typically attracts. So what gives?”
“Is it that obvious?” Sophia asked. Maya gave her a look that said,yes, it really is.“Why didyousign up?”
Brushing the dirt off her pants, Maya said, “Money, status, and the ability to wish for everything money and status can’t give. How could I resist?”
There was no denying Maya was a bitch, but Sophia didn’t buy what Maya was saying. Something about Maya was different from the usual pool of immortals this tournament attracted as well. “I doubt that.”
Antonio backed Sophia up by adding, “Sorceresses rarely travel far from home. A sorceress traveling alone is an even rareroccurrence. I’d say your reasons for competing run much deeper than just money and status.”
“Very well, I’ll play. You two divulge your secrets and I’ll divulge mine.” Maya inclined her head at Sophia. “You first.”
Sophia didn’t exactly trust that Maya would stay true to her word, but she also didn’t see anything wrong with humoring Maya’s curiosity. “Fine. It’s not like it’s some dark secret. I want The Heart of Aphrodite so I can save my parents. I have to free them from slavery.”
Maya arched her brows. “There’s more fey out there?”
No, Sophia’s parents were probably more vampire than fey now, but they were still her parents.
“And what about you?” Antonio spoke up when Sophia failed to respond, and she believed he did so because he sensed how uneasy Maya’s question made her.
“Ah, smart. I’m assuming you won’t bite until I do.”
“We both know you won’t tell us anything once your curiosity has been appeased, so appease ours first.”
Maya seemed impressed. “Luckily for you two, I’m an incredibly curious creature. So Iwillbite. I’m here because I’m trying to save my aunt’s soul from eternal damnation. A few centuries ago she sold her soul to a witch after a seriously embarrassing overreaction to love triangle woes. Whatever her reason, she lost her soul because of it. I intend to get it back.”
“So youdohave a heart.” Sophia gasped at her own words, throwing her hands over her mouth in regret. Maya allowed herself to become vulnerable for a moment and how did Sophia decide to respond? With sarcasm. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean that. I meant-”
“It’s okay if you did. I guess Idohave a heart. But that heart starts and ends with my Aunt Hella. Everyone else can rot in hell for all I care, as long as I’m not rotting with them.” She cocked her head in Antonio’s direction.
“I need to save an old friend who died a few centuries ago.”
“Resurrection? Nice.”
“Still?”Sophia spoke without thinking again, but dammit, his response irritated her! Didn’t he say he chose her over Giselle? If that was the truth, why was he still trying to save that damn fey?
Antonio locked eyes with Sophia. “My future is with you, not her. You have to understand I need to right this wrong. If it wasn’t for me she’d be alive today.”
Sophia began visibly shaking. It was taking everything in her power to keep her cool. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re wrong. You might have forgotten this little bit of history, but about forty years ago the fey population was decimated by vampires. Which means that even if she never met you, her fate would’ve been sealed years ago. The unnatural world would’ve already forgotten her, just as the unnatural world has forgotten every other missing fey.”
It was ironic. The fey’s reluctance to integrate into the unnatural world ultimately led to their downfall. Now they were enslaved by the hundreds and no one cared enough to search for them. They had no one.
They have me.
“You made it out alive. It’s possible she could have as well.” The uncertainty in his voice was far too easy to detect. He didn’t even believe what he was saying.
Sophia only survived because she befriended someonedifferent.She befriended an elf. Based on what she knew of thisGisellegirl - a fey who feared Antonio because of what he was - Sophia knew Giselle was no different from every other fey out there, and she would’ve been forgotten just the same.
“No, Antonio, it’s not.” When Sophia saw the torn expression in Antonio’s eyes, her heart deflated. He might’ve told Sophia he had chosen her, but she was finding that hard to believe at the moment. “You should probably stop trying to figure out away for both of us to make it out of this tournament alive. It’s a pointless endeavor.”
“There’s nothing pointless about it.” His eyes began flickering again, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.
“I’m certain it’ll be nothing but pointless for you, because once these team matches come to an end, I wantnothingto do with you.”
Before he had the chance to respond she turned on her heel and marched away. It wasn’t until she was confident she had created enough distance between herself and them that she allowed herself to cry.
Chapter Forty-One
