Rev
My head throbs, everymuscle aching when I open my eyes. Flashes of memory bombard me—two fae helping me to run through the sand and into shadows below the Winding Mountain range. At first, I assumed it was Brielle and Rook—my allies. But the next flashes don’t make any sense.
Brielle and Rook standing beside Drake and Kari and Caelynn.
Caelynn facing me, that stupid obsidian dagger in her hands, poised to kill.
Caelynn turning to face Drake and instructing me to run.
A massive blast of shadow power knocking me out cold.
I groan, more from confusion than pain—though the pain is certainly immense. I touch my abdomen softly, and my hand comes away slick. That’s not good.
There’s a bandage wrapped sloppily around my middle, but I’ve already bled through it. I close my eyes and focus my magic to my core. Clearly, I’ve been unconscious for some time not to have begun the healing process already.
The world around me is dark. It’s night. Above me is solid black stone. No stars in sight.
My stomach sinks. I didn’t complete the task yet... so if it’s night...
Someone stirs beside me. A form sits up, rubbing sleep from their eyes. “Rev?” a soft female voice asks. Not Brielle.
I clench my jaw.
“Where am I?” I ask, my voice barely audible.
“A cave just inside the Winding Mountains.”
I close my eyes, every ounce of my body burning with pain and rage and terror. Her eyes give off a soft golden glow. “You saved me. Why the hell would you save me?”
Caelynn sighs. “I just... I couldn’t do it. And Drake pissed me off so much... I reacted. I made an instant decision.” She lifts her hands in an exaggerated shrug. “Now, here we are.”
My mind spins, and I force down my panicked thoughts to stop my body from reacting and retching all over our close quarters. “It’s night time,” I say, staring out through what I can now register as the cave mouth. Only darkness greets me, but outside there is a blue tinge that hints at sky, a soft glow of starlight.
“Yes.”
“Then, why wasn’t I pulled from the trials already?”
“Because you completed the task,” another voice says. His large silhouette sits up, blocking what little starlight streams through the opening.
I swallow. “How? What was it?”
“Drink from the Ruby Well and make a wish using a single word.”
My stomach drops. Those wishes aren’t a game. Whatever I wished for might affect me long after the trials are over. “What did I wish for?”
“Truth.” Her voice sends a shiver down my spine.
Well, I suppose that could be worse. “Did you tell me to wish for that?” I ask her.
Her face is still shadowed enough I can’t see her expression, but those eyes... those eyes are very different than I’ve seen them before. How had she hid the glow of power so thoroughly?
“No,” she says softly. “You chose.”
