Chapter 13

With a horrible crunch, yet Bronte, maybe from adrenaline or fright, manages to knock Cynthia off balance and bite her hard in the flank; Cynthia yells and takes another swing, knocking them both to the pit's dirt floor. It's nasty and gory, and eventually Bronte loses too much blood from her neck wound and falls to the ground, saying," I give up! She lets out a feeble rasp before two doctors charge into the arena and drive numerous moonstone splinters into the corpse of the Ounsli girl. Cynthia spins around, grinning covered in blood, and I start to feel a little queasy as the crowd erupted in applause, declaring the victor of round one to be in stone.

The next two girls are announced, but I'm not really paying attention to them; my eyes are locked on the Ounsli girl, her chest heaving as she struggles for air, and I find myself touching my own neck with a shaking hand—that could have easily been me. Cynthia retreats back under the arch, while Bronte is taken away on a stretcher.

The next two girls are set to fight when an odd thing happens, which I can't quite believe when I see it. First, one of the guards lining the pit's walls separates from the others, then he transforms into a large grey wolf and bites directly into one of the girls' flanks, causing chaos and yelling as the guard starts to physically attack the girl. Several more guards arrive to break them apart, but some of those guards turn against the other guards, and chaos ensues.

Screams erupt all around us as guards, some seemingly on our side and others seemingly determined to pour blood, randomly start attacking inside the crowd. Macy and I stand in the middle of the mayhem, and just as I'm about to grab her hand, the throng of people snatches her away.

"Hey, Macy!I yell as I watch her go under a sea of bodies. I turn to look at the royals, but the king's personal guard is escorting them away. I then turn to look at the females, who appear to have eschewed the friendly soldiers and are now being led away as the mayhem erupts.

I turn around when someone takes my arm, and my eyes widen in dread as I see the black flash of a guard's uniform, but they soon calm when I see Alex's startled green eyes.

He pulls me toward him and whispers, "We have to go. Stay close to me." We'll leave here, I promise."

We weave through the crowd, tripping and staggering as fights break out left, right, and center; some have even turned into their wolves, and I find myself stepping on furry bodies as we make our way between the seats and into the palace itself. All I can do is nod as Alex pulls me away.

Alex and I enter the building and proceed further inside the palace with the throng behind us.

We're jogging now, and my muscles are starting to hurt. "Maids and guards as supposed to retreat to the kitchens during an attack," he explains in between breaths. "We have to make it before they shut the doors." 

My sisters suddenly worry about me. What about the women of Queenstrial?"

"They'll head deeper underground with the royal family," he says, sliding his eyes to mine. Somewhere in the lower levels is a steel bunker. Instead of worrying about them, focus on taking care of yourself." I swallow and nod, running towards the kitchens with the panicked crowd, but as I run, my heart starts racing and my breathing gets labored, but I'm slowing down, and Alex is starting to notice.

We pass a girl whose hair is bleached white, and that's when I identify her as the Nirnsich girl competing in the Queenstrial. For an instant, I wonder why she's not with the other girls in the Queenstrial. 

She fell behind, but then I hear her wheezing gasps, and that's when it all makes sense.

As the final group of people walks past us, it dawns on me that we have all fallen behind.

I keep trying to run, ignoring my heart's irregular beat, but I can only run so far before a muscle in my legs gives out and I land face-first on the ground, gasping incessantly. Alex pulls me up while cursing.

Standing up straight, glancing left and right before snatching the Nirnsich girl and me in separate hands, and pulling us out of the throng. 

With a hurried and terrified voice, he says, "We're not going to make it in time. I'm going to find us a safe room." It may be our only chance, but I'm not sure where they are.

I od, but my eyes sting with tears when I register what this means. We may not survive this.

The gasps of me and the Nirnsich girl fill the halls as we run through them. Screams and yells continue to echo in the distance, but I can barely hear them through the rapid thudding in my ears. We are about to make it to the end of the hall when two bulky wolves turn a corner, their eyes dark and cold. They lock onto us and snarl, and all three of us pull up to a stop. My head spins, and I try to focus on the enemy wolves approaching us.

Alex draws his broadsword, standing in front of us to protect us. If it was just one of us, he could probably use his wolf to take them down. But there's two of us, and he needs to remain human if he wants to protect us both at once.

We're screwed. 

The wolves continue to snarl and growl, prowling closer with every passing second.

"Why are you doing this?" Alex yells, raising his sword. The wolves don't seem to respond; it's as though they didn't even hear him.

"Answer me!" Alex asks again, more panicked this time. The wolves are less than a few feet away, and they're going to pounce at any moment.

Alex raises his broadsword, and I brace myself. This is it. It's either life or death for us now, and the odds are not looking in our favor.

Just as I believe my life is over, a flash of black flies by my right, crashing into the two wolves. I watch in astonishment as the large, black wolf tears into the two beasts, ripping and tearing flesh. At first, the two snarl and bark in warning, but are quickly left whimpering and screeching as the black wolf tears them apart. Blood splashes on the walls. Chunks of flesh and fur fall to the floor as the beast makes absolute ribbons out of the wolves. Before long, all that is left of them are two gory mounds of fur, the black wolf panting above them.

Finally, the wolf turns to us, and when I see his furious golden eyes, I know who it is immediately.

"Come on," Prince Kohl says with a snarl. "The safe room is this way." 

Without a word, the three of us follow Kohl down several halls until he stops in front of a tall bookshelf. He then presses his body against it, and the shelf creaks as it swings back into an empty space.

We all tumble into the concrete room, and the steel door falls shut behind us. For a couple seconds, only shuffling and rapid breathing can be heard until our eyes adjust to the darkness. I spy Prince Kohl walking towards the corner to a pile of clothes, and I look away as he transitions into his human form to put them on. In the other corner, a small hole that must be a toilet sits in the floor, and beside that are a bundle of blankets. I shiver at the chill of the space until two big hands grab my shoulders, and I look up to find Alex.

"Are you all right?" he asks, turning my left wrist in his hands. That's when I notice there's a cut, and I am bleeding. A lot.

I nod and gently pull it away. "I'm fine – it doesn't hurt." That's when I see an equally large gash on his temple. "You look hurt, though."

Alex breaths a chuckle. "Nothing I can't handle." I nod and glance towards the Nirnsich girl, who is now sitting in the further corner with her legs tucked to her chest, looking at the wall but not seeming to see anything.