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His pierced brow arches. "I have excellent hearing, Allura. I can hear clearly, even through a steel door."
"Does Mable know that?"
"No. Only Reece and Ryder and Rae do. They're the only three who know what I am."
"Oh." I don't know how to process that. He's known this entire time, yet he still helped me down the cliff, ordered Ryder to wrap my hands, and then tried to keep me out of dreamland. "How can you stand to look at me?"
Empathy fills his eyes. "Even if you were one, which I'm still not sure you are, I wouldn't be afraid of you."
"Why not? If I were one, I could hurt you."
"I've had people hurt me before. You're not like that."
I hug my knees against my chest, recollecting the memory I had of dancing in a snowy forest and almost being kissed and then the hunger that rose inside me.
"How can you be so sure?"
He scoots toward me and brushes his fingers along the corner of my eye, a movement so quick I have little time to react. "Because I can see it in here. You're not evil. You're scared and worried and strong and brave. And for whatever reason, you care about Reece and Ryder ... and me." He lowers his hand to his lap. "I saw you, you know. When the shots were fired, you jumped toward me to protect me."
"I didn't want you to get shot."
"I know. So how can I be afraid of you? And besides, how could I be afraid of you when you're not afraid of me?"
"I don't know." I shrug, still not fully understanding his reaction. I might be part Grim, and he hates the Grim, so why doesn't he hate me? "Do Reece and Ryder know? Did you tell them what Mable said about my blood?"
He shakes his head. "No. And we can wait to tell them until you're ready."
"Do you think they'll hate me?" I whisper.
He firmly shakes his head. "No, they won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
He stares at the wall to the side of him. "Because they don't hate me."
I assess him, trying to figure him out. If he's not a hybrid, what is he? I'm about to ask him--maybe now that my secret has come out, he'll share his, too--but he suddenly stiffens, his gaze shooting up to the metal grate.
"Shit, we have company," he says, jumping to his feet.
I stand up and hold my breath as the metal grate is dragged aside, and sunlight spills into the hole. The brightness isn't bothering me as much as it did when I first exited the channels, although my eyes do still burn and water. I rub my eyes and blink a few times, trying to alleviate the burn.
"Glad to see you're up." Wrath appears above us with a wicked grin plastered across his face. "Now it's time to play."
Chapter Twelve
Legend of Hybrids
Blaise moves in front of me and backs me up until I'm trapped between him and the muddy wall.
"You're not touching her," he snarls, spreading his arms out to the side of him.
"Oh, you think so?" Wrath sneers. "And who's going to stop me?"
"Me," Blaise replies without missing a beat.
Wrath's laughter echoes through the hole. "Is that supposed to scare me?"
"It should." Blaise's threatening tone sends goose bumps across my skin.
"Like I'm afraid of you or anyone from the station, for that matter." Wrath laughs. "You guys think you're so much better than us simply because you were trained. Well, here's a reality check. Training and classes don't prepare you for the chaos that comes with real life. You're nowhere near as lethal as us."
"You think I learned how to fight at the station?" Blaise taunts Wrath.
"What? Are you saying you were once a Forsaken?" Wrath snaps. "Because if that's true, then you're a traitor and deserve a traitor's death."
"I wasn't a Forsaken," Blaise says. "I came from a place that taught me how to be much more lethal than you savages."
I can hear Wrath's heavy breathing from all the way down here. While I understand that Blaise may think he's protecting me from Wrath, I'm not sure angering Wrath is going to help the situation.
I lean against Blaise, pressing my chest against his back. "Maybe I should just go with him. I think you might be making him mad," I whisper. "I don't want him to hurt you."
"He can't hurt me," Blaise tells me. "But I'd rather him try than take you anywhere."
"I don't--"
"Sh ... Let me handle this." Blaise lowers his hands to his sides, but he remains standing in front of me as he calls up to Wrath, "Is that fear I smell?"
"Fear," Wrath growls. "I'm not afraid of anything."
"Then prove it," Blaise demands, crossing his arms over his chest. "Challenge me."
He laughs, but this time, the noise sounds more forced. "Challenge you? That'd be disgracing my name."
"Disgracing your name?" Blaise questions. "No, I think you're just scared."
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Wrath seethes. "You're the prisoner. You will respect me."
"I don't respect anyone without a reason," Blaise replies. "And right now, I see nothing to respect."
A loud crash reverberates from above, causing me to shudder.
"Relax," Blaise hisses at me. "I've got this under control."
I want to believe him, but it's difficult when we're the ones trapped in a hole, and Wrath is above, completely free to do whatever he wants.
"Fine," Wrath roars. "If you want to challenge me, challenge accepted. You and I will fight to the death." Satisfaction creeps into his tone. "I'm sure Zinnia can live with one less prisoner."
Fight to the death!
"Blaise, you can't do this."
"Sh ..." is all he says.
Fear hammers through my veins, potent and toxic. I need to find a way to get Blaise out of this. I won't let him die because of me.
"In fact, I think Zinnia might enjoy watching someone from the station die," Wrath adds, trying to provoke Blaise.
"I'm sure she would," Blaise responds calmly. "Sucks to be her, though, since she won't get to see that happen."
"Who's Zinnia?" I whisper, clutching the bottom of Blaise's leather jacket.
"It's this group of Forsaken's leader, I think," Blaise says in a low tone.
This group? Meaning there are more than one?
"Wrath, what are you doing?" A woman's voice drifts from above. "You know you're not supposed to be near the prisoners."
"I was just chatting with them," Wrath snaps. "And besides, I'm supposed to be taking one of them to Zinnia."
"Are you sure that's all you were doing?" the woman questions. "Because someone reported that you were trying to collect the girl for yourself. And I'm pretty sure I just overheard you accept a challenge from the male one."
"He threw a challenge at me," Wrath grumbles. "I had to accept."
"You can't accept without permission from Zinnia," the woman reminds him. "And you won't be taking the female prisoner anywhere. Zinnia requested her presence."
I frown. I have to go and see Zinnia, their leader who--I'm guessing--is the woman who shot me with a dreamland dart?
Fear courses through me. Why does she want to see me? Because she saw my number?
"Blaise, this Zinnia woman saw my number," I sputter, "right before she shot me with the dart."
"It'll be okay. I'll figure something out," Blaise whispers, but he doesn't sound as certain as he did a few minutes ago.
"Why does she want to see her?" Wrath asks.
"I have no idea," the woman answers. "But that's not for you to worry about. Now go speak to Zinnia about the challenge you want to have with the male prisoner and let me follow through with my orders."
Wrath mutters something before stomping away.
"I'm going to throw down the rope," the woman calls down to us. "Have the girl climb up."
"She's not going anywhere," Blaise snaps, stepping forward. "I already told your friend that."
"Wrath isn't my friend." She sighs exhaustedly as she lowers a rope into the hole. "And she will climb up or else I'll be forced to fill up this hole with wat
er and let both of you drown. And I'd rather not have any more death on my hands."
Rage currents through Blaise. "You will not--"
