Page 15 of Chasing the Night

I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that this was Isabella’s husband. The kind beautiful woman I had admired was married to this troll? I blinked repetitively and tried to take it all in.

The sound of metal being slid from its sheath caused my shoulders to scrunch toward my neck. My body recognized the sound, but without the notice of the war horn, I hadn’t immediately placed it.

Something rough and heavy was being shoved against my arm. The insistent manner had me grabbing the shield before I could really identify the circular shape. A shield?

“Best get on with it,” Demetri called from the abyss. I whipped toward the sound and was gifted a sword. Confusion sprawled over my features and I glanced back toward Messiah.

“On your feet. Stay. On. Your. Feet,” he advised in a humored tone before throwing one of his dreadlocks over his shoulder.

“Chalice,” Ender boomed behind me.

A glare caught the corner of my eye. I twisted around and instinctively held the shield up to cower behind it. A sword landed with a thunk that almost made me drop the damn shield.

“You don’t seem like a Krypt to me,” Atticus drawled between fits of laughter. Beside him, Aella’s exhaustive scoffs were becoming more dramatic.

Everything in me turned to ice. Were they going to fight me? Was this a set up?

What the fuck was wrong with these people?

I danced in a circle while cold doses of electricity sparked up my spine. Luck alone absorbed the blows. One by one, they were caught against the thick wooden shield.

A boot shot out and connected with my thigh. Pain rippled through me, and I was forced to limp for a few moments. Each round stirred more insults from Atticus, low and almost inaudible. It was the disgusted edge to his tone that caused my explosion.

Another sword landed forcefully against my shield, but rather than run, I lunged forward. Our bodies collided, and Ender went stumbling in the direction he had come.

“Chaaaaalice,” Messiah sang. I turned toward the sound and felt a gush of wind. I nearly threw myself after Ender, but even that wasn’t enough. The staff clipped me across the shoulder. It was a heavy blow that left me stumbling around and hovering behind the shield once again.

It is a prank. It will stop soon, and we’ll all laugh, I kept telling myself, but Demetri and Ender were now both on me. I swished my sword wildly and caught Demetri in the thigh. He cried out from the shadows, distracting me long enough that his twin grazed my upper arm with his sword.

“Stop,” I cried out.

The panic was coming in waves that I couldn’t handle. I wasn’t sure who would join in next, nor where the attack would come from. Atticus’ dark emotionless eyes followed me in the dance of self-preservation, but he made no efforts to call his sons off me.

“Ender, stop!” I repeated, growing louder. I hated the quiver in my voice, but what I hated even more was the pity that flashed in Messiah’s eyes.

I didn’t want his pity, I didn’t want anything but an opportunity. A chance at life and stability within the safety of a city. To have a community and belong. So how the fuck did I end up in this mess? It all boiled over. I struck for Ender like a madwoman, slashing and lunging blindly. Our swords kissed loudly before his blade scraped down the length of mine and tried to disarm me.

I jabbed a little late and caught him in the side.

“Enough!” Atticus barked. He sounded disgusted and his gaze lingered on Ender as if he were a disgrace. Without another word, Atticus stormed over, grabbed my upper arms and hurled me into the nothingness. I sucked in air so deep and hard it burned. My legs cycled in the wind and I screamed violently, certain I had been tossed over the bridge.

The muddy bank caught me with enough force to jar the breath from me all over again. I curled into a ball, immersed in pain and uncaring who heard the strangled manic gasps that were coming from me.

I could hear voices in the distance, some lower with an edge of concern, but none of them ventured out to check on me.

“She lives,” Messiah playfully announced. His tone never wavered from that low, hazy way that people spoke when they were on the Root. Only I didn’t think he was; his eyes held no such cloudiness.

For a moment I froze, unsure if he meant to call them back to finish me off or what. We stared across at each other for several moments, before his mouth twitched to a smile and he held out his hand to assist me.

I hesitantly took it while staring up the hill. Ender lingered with Reverie, but the others had left.

“It is a test. Do not let him win,” Messiah gently began. “Atticus is a bastard. He just wants to see if you’re capable of finding your feet after a fall. You have to be able to roll with the punches in this family. It is a necessity. If you couldn’t… you would not have been safe amongst us. Carrying the name is an honor, but it’s also a risk.”

I smoothed my half-saturated dress, and he helped me up the slippery bank.

“Wow, Chali! You were amazing up there,” Reverie congratulated.

I wasn’t sure what to say to her, and I really didn’t trust myself to speak without cursing her and every last one of the Krypt. My gown was ruined, and I had likely failed whatever fucked up test that old goat had thrust me into.

“You should concern yourself with the evening to come. Why aren’t you in the bath and being pampered?” Messiah lectured Reverie. It only served to cement the feeling of being an outsider. “And you… our newest sister. You should be getting ready as well.”

“Ready for what?” I hesitantly asked, but the way Reverie had soured so suddenly left me wondering if I even wanted to know.

“My wedding,” Reverie whispered almost inaudibly.