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What I would do to keep a constant blush on her face.
Raven’s nails dig into my thigh through my shorts as we all watch Eldon enter the pit. “I can’t breathe,” she whispers, fear swirling in her eyes.
“He’s got this, Raven. Don’t worry. I swear,” I soothe.
“Asking me not to worry is like asking a bird not to fly or the sun not to shine.”
I have nothing that will work as a response to that, so I clutch her hand and bring her knuckles to my lips instead. Brax’s hand finds her shoulder and Creed reaches his hand behind him to find her leg, each of us touching her. I’m not sure if it’s for her comfort or ours. Likely the latter.
Eldon remains on the sandy ground between the boulders and rocks, following the same idea that all of the survivors have. My leg starts to bounce with nerves as Eldon presses against a rock to check the water and, sure enough, as if sensing his glance, it starts to rise.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Raven chants, nails forever marking my flesh as she grips my thigh in fear.
The water level stops at Eldon’s knees before the telltale melody drifts around us. Lifting my hands to my ears, Raven does the same, giving my leg some much-needed relief as a flash of red hair floats through the water.
Brax’s hand remains on her shoulder and I instantly hate that he doesn’t have to cover his ears like the rest of us. Asshole.
I spot the moment Eldon sees the flash of hair too, locating the siren as she starts to drift toward him. He flicks a fireball in his hands, once, twice, and on the third time, his whole body turns red. The water starts to bubble around him, his body heat quickly increasing the water temperature, and an almighty cry reverberates from the siren as she leaps from the water.
Rows and rows of teeth contort her face, attack mode activated, and as she launches through the air at Eldon, he aims the fireball in her direction. In one clean throw, she’s a roaring inferno of flames as they lick across her skin and draw pain from her soul.
The siren evaporates into nothing as the water level lowers once more and Eldon throws his hands up in triumph.
“Ah, shit,” Raven gripes, wiping a hand down her face. “I was so worried about his safety. I didn’t actually consider how much of an obnoxious winner he would be.”
Students cheer around the colosseum, celebrating the first first-year to successfully make it through the gauntlet. I either succeed too and have to listen to his rambling about how awesome he is, or I let the siren take me instead.
I can’t decide which might be worse. But the fact that there’s hope for us all is the only thing that matters.
* * *
Student after student steps into the pit as it continues to claim lives. Sixteen people have entered since Eldon succeeded, or “slayed that bitch” if we’re using his words, and five didn’t make it out. I do not like those odds, especially when the woman sitting beside me, who has officially captured every inch of my attention, has no magical abilities to protect her.
Many of those who aren’t making it out have psychic or divination magic, which puts Raven at bad odds, and it messes with my head.
Genie surprised us all with her nature-based telekinesis abilities, though. It did take a few attempts but, much to my dismay, she managed to dislodge a boulder and successfully aim it at the siren.
Lunch passed far too quickly and now we’re reseated as the professor runs her pointed nails over the script of names again.
“Next up will be Leila Fitch.”
She squeezes Raven’s hand as she stands. Her nerves are so shot that I can practically feel it in the air. The worry from Raven increases again and she nibbles on her bottom lip as she watches her friend head down the stairs.
Professor Fitch meets her at the bottom, draping his arm around her shoulders as he walks her to the waiting professor. She wrings her hands out as she nods at whatever they’re saying to her and, just like that, she steps through the protective barrier.
Eldon shuffles closer to Raven and I offer her my hand. The four of us silently try to give her the support she needs.
It feels like time moves in slow motion as I will the siren to appear and get this shit show over with. This time, her hair is brown when she appears in the rising water, and Leila stiffens in her spot in the sand.
Gaping in horror with her mouth wide, she doesn’t move, losing the opportunity to react quickly and catch the siren off guard.
“Move, Leila. Fucking move,” Raven hisses under her breath, but, as expected, it does nothing and the siren’s melody dances through the air. Once again, my hands lift to my ears, but the tune becomes stilted as the water rises to Leila’s knees.
The tune gets quieter and quieter until it stops altogether. “What’s happening?” Brax murmurs from behind, and I shrug, just as bewildered as he is.
“Look at the water,” Creed points out, briefly glancing back at us before returning his attention to the pit.
It takes a second for me to understand what he means but, ever so slowly, the water begins to cloud. “She’s freezing it,” I murmur. “The siren along with it.”
