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“She’s praying.” Realisation lightens Atlas’s voice. If he explains further, then I don’t hear it, too deep in my meditation.
Praying aloud would make more of an impact, but I won’t make a pantomime out of praying to the goddess. She deserves respect, and I sincerely mean every thought I weave into my prayer. However, knowing that I’m being watched is only going to help send the message that I’m serious about this to the watching witches. Atlas vocalising what I’m doing only helps me. Many within Haven already believe I’m a saintly figure who has been sent by the goddess to carry out her work, so if this adds to that and gains their support, then that can only be a good thing.
Mighty goddess,I begin, reaching out to the comforting presence I’ve always known.Guide me. Help me use the magic you’ve blessed me with and complete this gruesome task. Please, look over us and keep us safe.
Immediately, I feel the goddess surround me with her love and warmth.
Always, little moon,she whispers into my mind.Trust your instincts. I am with you always.
With a smile on my lips, I open my eyes and see that only a handful of seconds have passed. Atlas is still instructing Nicolai in a low voice, and Star is with my three wolves, dancing around the minotaur and keeping it busy. All I have to do now is trust that I’ll know what to do at the right moment.
Standing, I brace myself and start walking out across the open space, closing the distance between the creature and me. The closer I get, the more the ground shakes, and I’m not sure if that’s because of the creature itself as it stamps around or the quaking of my knees. At this point, I still don’t know what I’m going to do.
The creature sees me coming and stills, locking its eyes on me. Completely ignoring the attacking wolves, it focuses entirely on me as if it knows I’m its target. With huge steps, it pushes past the wolves, somehow gaining traction on the ice, and picks up its pace as it lowers its head, ready to charge at me with its razor-sharp horns.
The darkness rises up inside me, and my fear evaporates. Trusting in my power and the fact that the dark presence hasn’t ever let me down, I start to jog towards the creature, picking up momentum. I still don’t know what the plan is, but I keep being given the same message.Trust your instincts.That’s exactly what I plan to do.
Power tingles through my body, making me come alive. I feel like I’mmadeof magic, every cell in me buzzing with energy. The creature is practically upon me now, and when the horns are within touching distance, I follow my gut and grab onto them, using my momentum to swing around and straddle the back of the minotaur’s neck. My whole body screams out in pain as I use muscles I’ve not used before. I know I’m going to hurt tomorrow, but in the meantime, I focus on keeping my seat as the creature bucks, trying to throw me off. Tightening my thighs around its neck, I hold out my right hand, my magic congregating there. It only needs a tentative thought, and it materialises into a blade of starlight. It’s a marvel, but I don’t have time to admire it as the meaty hands of the minotaur try to grab me. With both hands, I raise the blade high before plunging it into the side of its neck. It’s quick and bloody, but it does the trick.
The creature stumbles, and for a moment, I feel powerful and goddess-like, but then reality hits me, and the creature collapses, taking me with it to the ground.
ChapterTwo
Being pinned under the minotaur’s bleeding body wasn’t how I expected to win my first challenge, but beggars can’t be choosers. My plan seemed so good while I was in the middle of enacting it, but what I didn’t take into consideration was that the creature might turn and stumble onto its back as it died. As a result, I’m stuck under the huge head of the corpse, the blood from its neck pouring straight onto me before sinking into the ground.
Thankfully, I didn’t hurt myself in the process, but I’m now trapped, and no matter how I wiggle, I can’t extract myself.
I can hear my mates calling to me, and after a few seconds, I start to wonder why they’ve not come over to help me. Usually, they would rush to my side. Has something happened to them? Sudden, uncontrollable fear overwhelms me, and I start to thrash more, turning my head both ways to try and catch sight of them.
My vision starts to waver, and that panic only increases. What is happening? It’s only as I fall completely into darkness that I feel magic encasing me.
* * *
Applause is the first thing I register, polite clapping filled with the occasional shout of my name. Slowly, I blink my eyes open, banishing away the darkness that stole my vision. My foggy brain is slow to put everything together, and looking dumbly around the room, I sluggishly realise that I’m back in Haven. The magic must have pulled us back here.
I feel hundreds of sets of eyes on me, and I twist to look up at the tiered seating, packed full of witches. Many watch me with interest, and some still watch me with disgust, but what disturbs me the most is the number of witches who are looking at me with something akin to adoration. The witches’ support is key to me surviving here, especially if the queen decides that I’ve outlived my usefulness. However, what I see in their eyes scares me.
A groan beside me reminds me of why we’re here—the challenge. Whipping my head around, I see all five guys slowly waking up from whatever magic knocked us out. I have no idea how much time has passed since we killed the minotaur, but we’re all still caked in dirt from the fight. My clothes make a squelching noise, and I glance down, wincing as I find I’m still covered in the creature’s blood. It’s still wet, so I don’t think much time has passed.
Movement catches my eye, and I follow it to find Kano, my half-brother, walking towards me. His expression is a mask of dull amusement, but as he holds out his hand to help me stand, he leans in close. “Are you okay?”
My whole body aches, and I know I’m going to be covered in bruises thanks to the minotaur landing on me as it died, but in the grand scheme of things, I came out of the challenge quite well. Killing the beast wasn’t the hard part, but facing my failures in the archway of truths was. Honestly, I still feel a little broken from what I witnessed, but I’ll deal with that later.
My lips quirk at Kano’s question, and I dip my head slightly in answer, not trusting my voice right now. The hall has quieted, and everyone seems to be waiting for something. Beside me, Scott and my mates begin to stand. I want to go to them, check them all over, and make sure they are okay, but I won’t do that here—not in front of the queen. She’ll use any weakness she believes I have in her favour, so instead, I put on a confident mask and squeeze Kano’s hand in thanks.
He gives me a final once-over then spins on his heel and strides across the open space until he’s back at the queen’s side. Luna is standing on the other side of the dais, a wide, proud smile stretching her lips. My smile becomes genuine for a moment.
Ivar is behind the throne, his black eyes watching me closely. Finally, unable to ignore her any longer, I move my attention to the queen. She sits upright in her throne, a pleasant smile gracing her lips. It’s all a lie. I can see her annoyance over the fact that not only did I survive, but I passed all of her little tests within the challenge.
Although I’m aching, dirty, and groggy from the magic, I feel a smug sense of pride, but I don’t let my smile show on my face. I wait for whatever she has planned next. However, her eyes narrow on me, and I realise I must not have hidden my satisfaction at beating her very well. Goading her is a bad idea, especially when she has an audience and is forced to hide her true nature.
The clapping has died down now, anticipation building in the room as I sketch a shaky curtsy in her direction. My mates do the same, although Syn’s barely concealed snarl and dip of his head is hardly following protocol. The queen must decide it’s not worth her time to address his behaviour, because she keeps her eyes locked on me. In fact, I’ve noticed how she’s hardly even looked at my mates. No, that’s not true, I’ve seen her watching Atlas, and she even sent a curious look towards Nicolai. It’s my werewolf mates she’s refusing to acknowledge. Disgust rides me hard, and it takes effort to keep it from my expression. It seems she will only deal with werewolves when it will gain her something. Why I’m surprised, I don’t know.
Sitting forward in her throne, she smiles demurely, resting her hands on her lap. “Laelia, congratulations on completing your first challenge.” Clapping fills the hall once more, echoing around us thanks to the acoustics, making it seem as though far more people are here than there really are. The queen preens like the applause is all for her, glancing around the room and meeting the smiles of the people. Once it dies down, she finally returns her gaze to me. “I think that I speak for everyone when I say your methods were creative and… unexpected.”
I want to smirk at this comment, but I force myself to keep a neutral expression. A couple of smothered laughs sound from behind me, quickly covered by coughs. The urge to turn around and see who laughed is strong and almost causes me to break my mask. Taking a deep breath, I stay strong and wait for the queen to continue, wanting to get out of here as quickly as I can.
“You passed the challenge,” she continues, pretending as though she didn’t hear the laughs. “Now, you and your team may go and clean up, rest, and get ready for the party.”
