Page 41 of Vicious Knight
“I put them there. The river has been sectioned off, so the crocodiles won’t escape. But you have to deal with them.”
“And all we get is a flashlight?” He stares at me wide-eyed.
I answer with my trademark smile.
This is hazing like no other. But I expect some of these guys will be so terrified they won’t get in the water. The others with common sense will actually seek out the danger first and eliminate it.
“How many?” Kade asks, glancing at Dmitri.
“Five. One for each group. Any more questions?”
They’re quiet. What more can they ask me though?
Either they accept the trial or they don’t.
I divide the pledges into groups, choose their leaders, and hand them their numbers from one to five. Even though Kade deserves punishment for last night I chose him to lead his pack for group four.
“Ready, set, go.” I wave my hand and they all rush to the riverbank.
“You are one crazy motherfucker.” Caspian nudges my side. “Crocs?”
“This is a walk in the park. Remember our Reaping?” That stops him in his tracks from saying anything more.
To this day, I don’t know how we survived. His asshole father set things up, so it was like the fucking Hunger Games meets hell. We were thrown into a deathtrap in the forest and pitted against the Bratva assassins, men trained to kill on sight.
“My Reaping wasn’t that much different, nor my trials here last year.” Lucian smirks with a nod. “I know why you added the crocs.”
“I knew you’d appreciate my stroke of genius.” I grin back at him.
The three of us watch the chaos unfold.
Team Three is the first to find their number on the riverbank, but one of the crocs surfaces and none of the guys get in. They stand there, waiting, wondering, then accepting defeat when they walk back to us and keep going, eliminating themselves.
The same thing happens with Team One, leaving Teams Two, Four and Five, who are now in the water.
Here’s where things get interesting, and as Teams Two and Five look like they’re already failing I focus on Kade and his group.
They understood the assignment.
Logan and Alek lure the crocs away while Kade and Dmitri dive in beneath the dark depths of the river.
They’re all good swimmers, so that’s a plus. And they’re all clever. Another plus.
Moments later Kade and Dmitri surface with the wooden coffin I left for their group at the bottom of the riverbed.
Each group has one. A symbol of the death of their old lives.
They swim to the riverbank and pull out the coffin, free of the crocodiles.
The whole diversion gives Team Two the chance to get their coffin and follow suit.
Logan and Alek split up, swimming separate ways, and so do the crocodiles. That messes with Team Five’s chance, and they end up swimming back toward the riverbank empty-handed.
The chaos they cause creates a stir among the crocodiles, something they hate, but that gives Logan and Alek a chance to escape and swim back to land.
They join Kade and Dmitri, and the four bring their coffin to me.
The rest of the guys try to make it back in a state of panic. They’re nearly back when one smooth-swimming croc catches up to Blakeley, the slowest swimmer.