My heart sped up. Had they started the Games already? Had I missed them?

Before I could move, I felt something being lifted from my head. I looked up and saw Professor Wispwood standing over me. The blonde, halfborn professor looked down at me with sympathy in her eyes, then murmured, “Good luck.”

She walked across the room carrying something in her hands and placed it in a wooden box. A white circlet. Why had it been on my head?

The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in my own bed.

No, the last thing I remembered was dreaming. I’d been dreaming of Florence and Naveen. We’d been talking and laughing together in the Common Room. It’d felt so real.

I sat up groggily, then groaned. The cloth. I remembered the sickeningly sweet scent of it pressed to my mouth and nose. I'd been drugged. Had I been affected worse than the other consorts? Was that why everyone else was gone?

I glanced down at myself. I was in my underthings. There was a small table beside the cot. On it sat a neatly folded pile of clothes. A plain tunic and trousers of a dark, sturdy material sat beneath a leather vest, lined with pockets. On the floor next to the cot was a pair of familiar leather boots.

I pulled on the clothes, unable to shake the sense of panic. Everyone else was gone. They had a head start.

It was stupid but I supposed some part of me had held out the faint hope that Regan might have changed her mind.

But no, here I was–all alone.

I started to pull on my boots. My fingers brushed against something cold. Coregon's dagger.

Stay calm, Orcades voice rang in my head. Don’t draw attention. Professor Wispwood was still organizing instruments on the far side of the room. Get up. You need to get moving.

I pulled on the boots the rest of the way, carefully keeping the knife tucked alongside my right calf. I’d been hoping to bring the dagger in with me. That had been my plan all along. But I hadn’t exactly been given a chance to pack.

Had the other consorts been given weapons? Or only me?

The soul-imbued dagger gave me a slight advantage. But considering I’d been left here alone and was the last one out, it might not be enough of one.

I walked out of the cavern and into the light. It looked to be about mid-morning. I raised a hand to my eyes, squinting. The daylight was almost blinding after the darkness of the underground dorm. My legs felt wobbly, as if they belonged to someone else. What the fuck had they given me? Whatever it was, I hoped Regan had gotten it, too.

My boots sank slightly into the damp earth as I scanned my surroundings. The air was thick with a humid heat. A stark contrast to the cool spring we were experiencing back at Bloodwing. This was another world altogether. I stood on the edge of an island–lush, almost jungle-like, with towering trees draped in vines that created a dense canopy overhead.

The foliage around me was rich with the smell of wet bark, damp moss, and flowers.

I walked forward through the trees and reached a dead end. A gorge lay in front of me, separating the underground dormitory from the main part of the island. Below, a thin mist rose up from the depths of the gorge.

My stomach dropped as I spotted the only way across. A stone platform, barely wide enough for two people, jutted up out of the mist, perched on top of a high stone pillar.

But there was only one. It was close to me. I could jump onto it if I tried. But leaping onto it would only get me part way across the gorge.

I moved towards the cliff’s edge and caught sight of two figures standing on the other side.

Visha Vaidya looked back at me, her hands on her hips. The last time we’d crossed paths the girl had tried to beat me to a pulp.

Behind her stood a tall, slender boy with silver hair. He looked less than pleased. They’d clearly been arguing. Visha seemed to have won the debate.

Evander, I thought, remembering the male consort’s name. Florence had been telling me about some of the recently formed triads. Visha had been paired with an arrogant, sulky-looking highblood named Lucian and another consort named Evander.

“Pendragon!” Visha called across the gap. “Wait. You’ll never make it across alone.”

I ignored her and stepped to the edge of the cliff, gauging the space between the cliff and the platform.

I jumped.

I wobbled as I landed, flinging my arms out to steady myself. Damn that drug they’d given me. There was no way the other consorts were suffering these after effects, considering I was the last one here.

I stood on the platform, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. I’d expected the next platform to rise, providing me with a way across. Shit.

“You need a partner to get across,” Visha called, sounding annoyingly smug. “It won't work otherwise.”

She stepped towards the edge of the cliff, her violet eyes gleaming. “Did Professor Wispwood mention you're being timed? The platforms will all disappear in a few minutes. Including the one you're standing on. You’re the last one to emerge.”

“Thanks for the helpful information,” I called back, sarcastically. “And you’re both doing what? Just waiting on the other side to watch me fail?”

To my surprise, she shook her head. “I'm going to help you across. I need you to promise not to attack me when I come towards you.”

My heart pounded. “Why the hell would you do that?” I shook my head stubbornly. “I’m not an idiot. There's no way I’m trusting you.”

Visha moved a little closer to the edge. “You have no choice. The clock’s ticking. You're the last one. And maybe you’ve failed to notice this but Regan is long gone.”

“Why would you help me?” I demanded. “You hate me. You tried to kill me.”

“Kill you?” Visha rolled her eyes. “So melodramatic, you blightborns. If I’d wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. I was testing you.” She shrugged. “So I got a little carried away.”

“Regan sent you after me,” I accused. “Why the hell would I trust you now?”

Visha smirked. “Regan wasn’t the one who sent me to fight you that day. Though, of course, she was thrilled that I did.”

I stared at her. “Then who did?”

“I’m sure you can figure it out on your own.”

I felt a lump in my throat, but savagely pushed it down. “Blake.”

She nodded. “Turned out you weren’t as weak as we thought. Way to prove me wrong. Now are you going to just stand there or are you going to let me help you across?”

“I don't understand,” I said. “Blake sent you after me then. But now he’s what? Told you to help me survive this?”

“That basically sums it up.” Visha nudged her fellow consort. “Right, Evander?”

Evander frowned but said nothing.

“Evander isn’t thrilled with any of this, so if you could decide what the hell you’re doing soon, that would be great,” Visha explained. “We need to get going.”

“Why would Blake want you to help me now?” I demanded.

Visha threw up her hands. “Look, you and Blake can figure all of this out and talk about it once you’ve survived the Games. Sound good? It’s none of my business. He’s the House Leader. I’m just doing what I’m told.”

She leaned forward slightly and to my surprise, a pillar began to rise up out of the mist, just a few feet in front of her.

“There,” she said with satisfaction. “Thought so.”

She jumped onto the first pillar, then leaned forward again and the next one rose.

“If you’ve already crossed once with your consort,” she explained, slightly out of breath as she leaped to the next platform, drawing nearer and nearer to me. “Then the platforms will let you go backwards. But you can’t go forward the first time alone.”

She jumped to a pillar as it rose across from the one I was standing on. One more to go.

I spread my legs a little more, willing myself to keep my balance. I still felt woozy. I tried not to look down at the rolling sea of mist below us.