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“I think Blaise has it,” Kas whispered in my ear, nodding to where Jillian had begun to grit her teeth. She screamed and shoved another crackling burst of magic at Blaise, but my friend held strong. The mist had begun to creep up the walls of the pit, almost forming a hazy barrier over the opening. Without that precaution, it would have been easy for someone to cheat, sending extra magic down onto one of the competitors.
Several minutes later, Jillian’s hands crawled up to her temples, clawing at the skin there, and I knew Blaise was taking apart her mental walls, bit by bit. Then I heard Blaise murmuring to Jillian as she edged closer a few steps.
“She’s skimming Jillian’s thoughts,” I whispered to Kas, proud of the power she was wielding. Vampire magic was part strength and part strategic psychological warfare, and it was immensely satisfying to watch Jillian losing at both. Jillian sank to one knee, then the other, and still Blaise advanced toward her, softly taunting her.
Stopping merely a foot away to show she wasn’t touching Jillian, Blaise spread her arms wide and poured on the magic.With a pitiful moan, Jillian toppled onto her side, burying her head beneath her arms like a child afraid of a blow.
“Stop... make it stop...” she wailed, and the mist swirled toward them.
Blaise glanced up at Merden in triumph, and the woman huffed, stalling another moment before calling the match. The mist had swirled down between Blaise and Jillian, and Jilly was edging away from it, a panicked look on her face.
“Well, there goes her favorite,” Kas murmured, not sounding the least bit sad.
“She could still choose sacrifice,” I reminded him, although I doubted Jillian had enough love for anyone besides Janus for it to count.
“Jillian, do you surrender? Or do you choose sacrifice?” Merden called down to her as the guards stepped in and herded Blaise to the side.
“Or elimination works, too,” I grumbled, annoyed that Jillian might still be allowed to live through this.
“Sacrifice!” Jillian called out, her voice thin and shaky. She turned to her left, scanning the crowd. A girl’s shriek echoed through the hall, and I gasped as two guards dragged a struggling young vampire in noble dress through the crowd.
“She’s not even grown,” I said, watching in horror as Jillian grabbed the girl.
“I will sacrifice my only sister to the mist, to prove my loyalty to Saori Sang and my deserving to wear the crown that rules it,” Jillian cried, her voice stronger as she forced the young girl to stand still before her.
The crowd was absolutely wild with the idea of spilling blood, and their horror was coated with a gruesome kind of enjoyment. Even though I knew this was the vampire way - that this had always been the vampire way - I still shifted my eyes away whenJillian hunched over the girl and tore into her throat with a vicious bite.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
KANA
The girl’s blood was drained in moments, her lifeless body slumping over onto the blood-spattered floor of the pit. The mist claimed her body before retreating, and the crowd was nearly uncontrollable with the scent of blood in the air.
“The mist has accepted the sacrifice,” Merden screamed triumphantly over the noise.
“I know it’s tradition or whatever, but it all seems pretty fucking unfair to me,” Kas growled in my ear. “She lost twice, then killed someone, and now she gets to fight again?”
I didn’t answer, intent on examining how the infusion of blood had strengthened Jillian. I’d always assumed that choosing to sacrifice a loved one would cripple a competitor with grief and guilt, and that might justify it as a fair option.
I hadn’t taken into account the level of psychopathy present in some of the competitors. Why would the mist allow this?
Merden finally got the crowd under control with the use of her guards and a wrenching flourish of her own blood magic snapping through the minds of the spectators like a bolt of lightning. “The third and final round! If Blaise wins again, Jillian must be eliminated or surrender, but if Jillian wins, then both competitors will have two points, and both will move forward!”
Kas was still muttering about the rules being unfair, and I was beginning to agree. It wasn’t my place to argue with the Original Sisters’ plan or the mist enforcing it, but from where I stood it already seemed pretty obvious that Blaise was the better competitor and deserved to win.
“All weapons and all magic are allowed in this round - you may begin!” Merden cried, standing up and pressing a gilded scope to her face to get the best possible view without leaving her ostentatious throne.
I chewed my lower lip as Blaise struck out at Jillian with her swords. The blood had given Jillian more agility and speed, though.
“Blaise needs to save her strength,” I murmured to Kas, knowing she would never hear me over the roars of the crowd. But she didn’t seem interested in saving anything. She attacked Jillian brutally again and again, wearing her down with solid blows from multiple angles. Jillian fought back with increased magic, sending Blaise stumbling several times as the air chilled.
Then Blaise hurled a knife, hitting Jillian in the shoulder and knocking her backward. Blood stained the torn bodice of her dress, and Jillian roared something up at the crowd. There was a rustling and shouting as someone forced their way to the front.
“Fuck me,” Kas snarled, pointing my attention to the edge of the pit as he pressed against the chains.
“Oh, come the fuck on. Blaise, stay strong,” I yelled, hoping to lend her fortitude. Because of course, Jillian was going to fucking cheat. One of her minions had a vise grip around a snarling Valentina, dangling Blaise’s not-so-secret lover too close to the edge of the pit for her to miss. There was a slim glitter of wire around her neck, and I realized with disgust it was a garrote.
Blackmail in the middle of battle was fucking low, but nothing I shouldn’t have expected from Jillian.
