Page 76 of Rejected By a Wolf
“Yeah, less than twenty minutes ago. Antonio, if you want to get her out of this mess you’ll have to give up on your quest for The Heart of Aphrodite. It’s the amulet or her freedom - it can’t be both.”
Give up on Giselle?
“Why the sacrifice?” Antonio asked, his focus wavering, most of his attention drawn to Sophia.
“Because her bind to this tournament can’t break unless that amulet breaks. Destroy the The Heart of Aphrodite, win her freedom.”
Am I willing to forget about Giselle if it means winning Sophia’s freedom?Antonio asked himself as he watched Sophia, noticing her subtle hints - calculating eyes and a cunning smile - that told him she was going to be okay.
She was about to prove every naysayer wrong, and she was going to do so with a smile on her face.
A smile crept upon Antonio’s face. Without question.
Chapter Forty-Five
Sophia Brenning
Sophia was both optimistic and nervous as she walked into the same nausea inducing pit she had been fighting in for days. She convinced herself she would win this match, knowing she had trained all her life for something like this.
She’d be damned if she failed now.
She didn’t know what sort of immortal she’d be up against, but she was confident in her ability to take on anyone, no matter their species. Worst-case-scenario she’d face an elf. With their ability to split wherever and whenever they pleased, elves were undoubtedly her greatest competition.
Thankfully, she spent the last forty years of her life training with elves, mastering the art of outwitting them whenever they tried using splitting tactics against her.
If she could best an elf’s ability to split, she could best anything.
Bring. It. On. She unsheathed the small swords hooked onto her back, her grin impenetrable.
But that confidence holding her together quickly sizzled into nothing when she caught a glimpse of her opponent. The onefloatinginto the ring.
A banshee.
Shit.She began to panic, dread consuming her, though she hid her fear well. There was no need to give anyone a reason to worry about her more than they already did. Especially Casper and Antonio.
Those two looked like deadened shells of themselves, all signs of life seeming to have been drained from them. There wasn’t a chance in hell she’d let them see how terrified she truly was.
Sucking in a breath and expanding her chest, she searched the crowd for Antonio, shooting him an assured wink when she found him, hoping it said,don’t worry, I totally got this.
She totallydidn’t,but he didn’t need to know that.
Sophia might’ve mastered the art of defeating asplittingimmortal, but she definitely didn’t master the art of defeating anintangibleone. Sophia could knife that banshee all she wanted and it wouldn’t matter. That banshee would be untouchable while in its ghostly form. In other words, that creature was about to be invincible.
How did one destroy what couldn’t be destroyed?
Unfortunately, intangibility wasn’t a banshee’s only power. Their deafening wails could immobilize anyone of their choosing, providing them with enough time to inflict some serious damage on their opponents.
Sophia didn’t even want tobeginthinking about their telekinetic powers.
I’m so screwed,Sophia thought, realizing her physical abilities weren’t going to get her far in a fight against this banshee. She needed a plan B.
Too bad she didn’t have a damn plan B. Enhancing her physical abilities was the sole focus of her existence the last forty years of her life. She knew almost nothing else - she didn’t even know how tokissuntil the other day!
But before Trim fell she had life, didn’t she?
Yes she did. She had one filled with parties, laughter, and hobbies. A life where she took the time to do things she enjoyed, like sitting by a campfire every night while listening to tales of a barbaric world filled with deadly unnatural beings.
Beings like banshees.