AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You didn’t even ask me what happened,” she said.
Constantine’s shoulders drooped. “I don’t have to. It should have never come to this.”
But it always would have and they both knew it.
Kerrigan lifted her chin and walked from the room. She heard sniffling at the other end of the hall, but Evander was already there, blocking her path to Danae.
She should have done what Constantine said—cleaned up and gotten ready. There were still hours until dawn, but she was no longer tired. Adrenaline would get her through the tournament tomorrow. So, instead of curling up in a corner for a few hours of shut-eye, Kerrigan walked the perimeter of the house like a ghost, trying to wrangle her thoughts back into a sense of peace.
But no peace came that night.
And tomorrow … the tournament would begin.
25
The Audience
Kerrigan’s face was almost unidentifiable the next morning.
Even Theo did a double take when he saw her at dawn. She didn’t blame him or anyone for the looks. Her face was puffy, and she had two black eyes from her broken nose, which likely needed to be reset. Her neck and chest were still covered in blood. She was a fast healer, always had been. Even still, she looked like a mess.
“What the hell happened to you?” Theo asked while they waited for Constantine to show.
“You should see the other guy.”
It was a somber statement. Not a boastful one.
Constantine strode out of the front door in blue Andine silk. His dark hair was pulled back off of his face, and he wore a determined expression. Evander followed on his heels, but there was no sign of Danae.
“Myron is dead,” he announced without ceremony.
The gladiators were battle-toughened enough not to make a sound. They just glanced between each other. Theo caught her blackened eyes. Then, he glanced down at her ravaged neck and chest. His eyes widened as he pieced together what must have happened.
“He dishonored himself, and no rights will be held.”
Expressions were grim at that. But he had tried to kill her after all. In cold blood. For the slight of her taking his place.
“To the coliseum. Form up.”
Kerrigan fell into step beside Evander, but neither spoke a word. Constantine took the helm and guided them like a marching army through the already-bustling streets of Carithian. The excitement around the main event was contagious. People were hustling to get their work done early enough to still make the fights. They passed the crush of people hoping to get better seats by coming early and entered the coliseum through a side door. Constantine sent his men to their reserved seats with a warning to Evander to mind their behavior.
A Domaran woman with dark hair and a curvy figure bowed slightly at their approach. “This way.”
Constantine and Kerrigan followed her beneath the coliseum to a waiting area with separate rooms for each of the competitors. They saw no one as they entered their room. The space was barely bigger than a cell with a jug of wine and some cheese and bread on a platter.
Kerrigan released a breath as she sat down in an empty chair. “What now?”
“Now, we wait.”
She didn’t bother asking for how long. Constantine wasn’t in the sharing kind of mood. And truthfully, she wasn’t either. She was both jittery and exhausted. Not a good combination when going into a life-threatening match. So, Kerrigan decided to burn off some of that energy by warming her muscles up. She couldn’t sit around and psyche herself out.
Evander had sketched out the way the tournament was set up. They’d ended up with sixteen competitors in the final, after four more had dropped out, and split them into two brackets. Eight opponents on one side and eight on the other. She was in the first bracket, which meant four matches today for her side and four matches tomorrow for the other side. Then two matches a day for each side of the bracket. A semi-final fight for the winner of each side of the bracket. Then, the winners of each side would compete against each other in a fight to the death.
No names had been announced. She had no idea who her competition could be. At least after she won the first round, they could watch whoever was left and get information about who she was up against. Evander was taking notes in the crowd about each person for them to go over when she got back to the estate.
Just as she’d begun to work up a sweat, the same woman appeared in their room.
“Time for us already?” Constantine asked in disbelief.
“No,” she said with a head nod in his direction. “An audience has been requested with the competitor, Red.”
“An audience?” Constantine arched an eyebrow. “With whom?”
“Doma Vulsan.”
Constantine blinked. Kerrigan shivered. Well, that wasn’t good.
“The Doma wants to meet her?” Constantine asked.
