Beside me, Vegar made a grunting noise as inky black lines expanded down his face and the side of his neck. Ink poured off his black fingertips and defied gravity.
The tendrils swarmed together and formed into an impressive broadsword.
Zenith smirked as he brandished the same black weapon.
The lower halves of both their faces were covered in ink like they were wearing creepy masks.
Note to self: don’t piss off the demons.
Across the field, angels smirked as they brandished ice swords, while devils bared their teeth and brandished swords of fire.
Meter-long talons erupted from the hands of the leviathans.
Beside them the assassins punched at their forearms with blank expressions. My jaw dropped as they gouged their skin, then pulled out pieces of cracked bone. The bone shards expanded and shaped into daggers.
They tossed bone weapons back and forth in their hands like their forearms weren’t gaping open, pouring blood.
Did they not feel pain?
Highly unsettling.
On the other side of the field, Jax let out a low growl as he partially shifted and flashed bear claws. Sadie furrowed her brow and hovered a sphere of blood before her eyes. She smiled as the plasma took the shape of a dagger.
Wow.
That was new.
Vegar and Zenith swore violently. I turned back to my teammates to see what the commotion was.
Both demons stared at Luka with frowns.
It took me a second to realize the problem.
Fuck.
The air around Luka glimmered black, but he didn’t have a weapon.
His cheeks tinged pink as the darkness disappeared. He looked down at his hands with defeat, unable to make eye contact with any of us.
My heart pounded harder in my chest.
New plan.
We had three competitors and one liability, so we needed to focus on protecting Luka. Instead of offense, we needed to prioritize defense.
Luka rubbed at the back of his neck.
“It’s fine,” I said and pulled my teammates into a huddle. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
I explained my plan, and the demons nodded in agreement.
Luka frowned. “No,” he spat.
“It’s the only realistic thing we can do to ensure we don’t lose,” I explained slowly.
Luka rubbed at his face. “I don’t—”
He was cut off by a loud horn and Lothaire shouting, “The brandished weapons are accepted. Begin.”
The arena erupted in violence.
Competitors threw themselves at one another.
A few Xs popped up above the heads of people who weren’t quick enough to avoid the attacks.
The demons and I fell back into a protective circle around Luka. He hunched low and made himself small behind us like we’d planned, swearing loudly to make it clear he disagreed.
We shuffled backward as a group.
I held my dagger out in front of me, and the demons pointed their swords forward. We moved swiftly across the field until Luka’s back was pressed against a pillar.
The three of us formed a wall in front of our weaponless teammate.
Salty air stung my wide eyes.
We waited.
It didn’t take long for the conflict to find us.
Across the field, two angels pointed their mammoth ice swords at us. I was grateful the demons also had oversized weapons or we’d be fucked.
Seconds later there was a crash as flaming ice slammed against ink.
Blue locked against black.
With their swords intertwined, I darted forward and slashed my daggers across the angels’ exposed biceps. Unlike when I’d stabbed the shifters in the beast realm, they didn’t disintegrate into dust. Sad.
Blood welled and dripped from the normal-looking wounds, but two black Xs appeared over their heads.
I grinned and darted back in front of Luka protectively.
The angels snarled with frustration, and their eyes darkened. They both disengaged their swords and locked onto a new target. Me.
They had nothing left to lose.
It was pure retribution.
Everything played out in slow motion—I couldn’t move because I had to protect the human behind me.
I stayed in place.
Zenith and Vegar lunged on either side of me and tried to parry the attack, but the angle was awkward. Their swords slowed the descent but didn’t stop it completely.
One ice sword slammed into my stomach, and the other stabbed my thigh.
I bit down on my tongue, and copper flooded my mouth.
A black X appeared over my head.
They shoved forward with all their might to try to get past me.
I didn’t move.
Dug my toes into the dirt and widened my stance.
Luka grabbed my shoulder and started to try to pull me behind him.
I shoved forward out of his grip.
“No!” I shouted. “Stick to the plan. This is the plan.”
Luka released me but let out a trail of creative expletives that would make the most hardened soldiers blush, something about Zeus, a firebolt, and a man’s ass.
Vegar and Zenith slammed their swords at the angels and took a step forward out of position.
I shook my head and yelled, “The plan!”
The demons fell back.
For what felt like forever, the angels tried and failed to draw blood from Vegar and Zenith. Sweat poured off the angels’ faces as they growled with frustration.
The demons grinned through their black ink masks.
They were completely unfazed and fought like their swords were extensions of themselves. It was wicked.
Finally, the angels realized they were wasting their time fighting against men they wouldn’t beat. They swore and ran off.
“The plan is working,” I croaked as I pressed my palm against the wound on my thigh.
My fingers were drenched in blood.
“The plan is idiotic,” Luka growled.
Something rustled behind me. Then he was gripping my thigh with both his hands and wrapping his sock around my wound. I grunted as he tied it tightly and created a tourniquet.
It felt like the air had dropped ten degrees, and I shivered. “Th-Th-Thanks.”
“Shut up,” Luka snarled.
How had I ever thought he was John?
Across the field, a lone leviathan was jogging while scanning competitors, looking for people without Xs.
He locked eyes with Luka and the demons.
He sprinted forward with his wicked talons, which looked more like knives, pointed at us.
The demons and I widened our stances and palmed our weapons.
Sweat dripped into my eye.
I didn’t blink.
A few moments later, Vegar, Zenith, and the leviathan had Xs floating above their heads. The demons and I were bleeding from a dozen scratches.
My cheek stung from where the side of a claw had clipped my face.
When the leviathan’s talons had raked over the sword wound on my thigh, I’d had enough. He’d skirted too far backward for me to hit him with my dagger and protect Luka. I’d snapped my arm in his direction and flung the ice dagger like a throwing star.
The leviathan had staggered backward with an O of surprise on his lips and a crystal dagger in his gut. His tan skin had paled, and his lips had faded to a ghastly shade of blue.
He’d scampered away across the field like a wounded animal and taken my dagger with him.
Vegar high-fived me.
All three of us slumped forward with relief.
“What the fuck!” Luka bellowed in my ear, and he gnashed his teeth. “You. Needed. That. Dagger.”
I shrugged. “He was pissing me off. I still have one.”