I leaned towards her. “I have to admit something, Regan. I have a secret that might make that more difficult than you’re expecting.”

Regan froze. “What?”

I smiled slowly. “Can’t you tell just from looking at me? I can feel him inside me. I would have thought it was written all over my face.” I put my lips to her ear and whispered, “Blake gave me a little taste of something special.”

“You’re lying.” Her eyes widened with fury and disbelief. “You're fucking lying. He wouldn’t.”

I’d hit my mark. For a moment, I wondered if I’d done the right thing. Then my heart hardened.

My strength surged, fueled by the vampire blood coursing through my veins. Blake’s power was amplifying everything–the thrill of the fight, the sight of Regan beneath me, suddenly vulnerable and exposed. The power was intoxicating.

Regan thrashed and let out a scream of rage.

“Believe what you want,” I murmured. “But we both know it’s true.”

A flash of silver. Before I could react, the sharp bite of steel sliced into my shoulder. Pain flared. But the wound didn’t paralyze me as it should have. My vision sharpened as I turned and saw Gretchen, her hand still outstretched.

The rage inside of me was rising, burning hotter by the second, the pull in my blood urging me onwards to kill, kill, kill the ones who were trying to hurt me.

Don’t lose yourself, Medra. Focus. My mother’s voice. All you need is to get out of here.

I shut it down, ignoring her.

Bloodlust coursed through me. Urging me to end this, to finish it once and for all. These girls wanted me dead. They were here to kill me.

Why shouldn’t I return the favor?

I yanked the knife from my shoulder, my eyes narrowing with fury, and threw it back at Gretchen with all my strength. The blade hit the highblood girl square in the face, slicing her cheek open. She screamed, clutching at the flap of skin as she stumbled backwards, blood pouring from between her fingers.

“Bitch,” Regan screamed. “You think you’re better at us just because you’ve been sipping from Blake’s cup? You lying little cheat.”

“Cheat?” I glared down at her. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you.”

I grabbed Regan’s wrist, twisting unmercifully and the rapier fell to the ground. I grabbed it and held it over her face. It would be so easy. So easy to let go and finish it. To never have to look at Regan again.

Unbidden, Florence’s face came to my mind. Her calm steady gaze. The kindness of her smile.

I took a deep breath and tossed the rapier far into the trees.

Just as I began to relax, the arrow whistled through the air, striking me in the other shoulder.

I gasped, the force of it knocking me off Regan and onto the ground. My vision blurred for a moment from the pain. But through the haze, I could already feel the wound beginning to heal.

“Not... like... this...” I growled, the blood pounding in my ears.

I yanked the arrow out of my shoulder, ignoring the pain as I cast it aside. Regan was already coming towards me. I moved faster, catching her by the ankle and tossing her to the ground, then leaping atop her. I pulled the dagger from my boot, throwing the sheath onto the ground and held it poised over her face.

I saw the look of terror in her eyes, the raw fear.

You might need her. Think carefully, Orcades’ voice warned.

For a moment, I didn’t care. I wanted to let the bloodlust take me over completely. This rush felt good. I could bury Coregon's dagger in Regan’s evil little heart and be done with it. After all, she deserved it after everything she’d done to me.

I pulled my arm back, then lifted my hand and struck Regan directly under the chin with the heel of my palm. For a moment, her head rocked back and forth. Then her body went limp.

Breathing heavily, I stood up and turned my gaze to Quinn, who still sat up in the tree, her bow drawn.

“I don’t want to kill you,” I called up to her. “But I will if I have to.”

Quinn let the arrow fly.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 52 - BLAKE

Theo turned towards me. “What did you do?” he hissed.

We could see everything the consorts were experiencing. We couldn’t hear them though.

Still, it wasn’t too hard to figure out what was going on between Pendragon and Regan.

Or to see that something in Pendragon had changed.

She’d started off slow. I’d been terrified for her. Regan had clearly paid someone off because the drugs they gave the consorts weren’t supposed to linger in their systems for that long. Pendragon had nearly missed the first challenge altogether.

When she’d made it across the gorge, I’d breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the fucking Bloodmaiden for Visha. She’d lingered far longer than I thought she would, ignoring Evander’s clear pleas to get going. The girl had a backbone of steel and some serious potential.

I glanced at Theo. He didn’t trust me and while I understood that, it also didn’t make him great right hand material.

Theo was still looking at me expectantly.

I shrugged him off. “I did what I had to.”

“You’re insane,” he whispered. “This could ruin everything. You put her at risk.”

“At risk? I saved her. Regan was going to cheat anyway,” I hissed. My gaze lingered on the images up on the veil, on Pendragon and the way she moved–stronger, faster than she’d ever been before.

Theo’s jaw tightened. “Still, you know this isn’t how it’s supposed to go. They’re supposed to work together. Not...” He gestured helplessly at the projection just as Pendragon pulled the knife out of her boot. Regan might have managed to arrange for a little extra drugging but I’d snuck a surprise in for Pendragon, too. Good thing I had since Regan and her friends had brought their own surprises with them. “Whatever the fuck this is. It’s all falling apart. If Viktor catches wind of it...”

“I’ll handle it, Theo,” I interrupted, forcing myself to remain calm. “Don’t worry about it.”

Consorts weren’t meant to destroy each other like this and the whole thing didn’t exactly reflect well on House Drakharrow. But Regan had set the whole thing in motion as soon as she’d pulled Gretchen and Quinn into her scheming. She’d tried to stack the odds, to sabotage Pendragon from the start. I was just leveling the playing field. Or at least, that’s what I was telling myself.

I risked a glance at where Headmaster Kim was sitting further down the tiers. His eyes were glued to the veil, his face impassive. As far as I could tell, he didn’t look as if he were about to jump up from his seat and call the whole thing off. I doubted he’d interfere.

But as for what came after the Games were over? That was a toss up.

All I knew was, I’d protect Pendragon. No matter what.

Regan was on her own now. It was only a matter of how long it would take her to realize she was out in the cold.

I watched Pendragon deal with Quinn, then stand over Regan.

She wasn’t going to kill her. I knew that. But it took her a moment to come to that realization. My blood was flowing through her, making the urge to violence stronger than it would normally be. It was actually incredible how well she was resisting its pull.

“How goes it, little brother?”

My head jerked up. My brother Marcus stood there, pale blue eyes looking down at me coldly. His mouth curved up in an arrogant smile.

Looking at my older brother was like looking in a mirror in some ways. Standing a few inches shorter than me–something that never failed to drive him crazy, Marcus was stockier and broader, with a physique built for raw strength rather than finesse. His pale, silvery-blond hair was cropped shorter than my own. His jawline had more of a square cut to it, too.

He was an intimidating bastard, I’d give him that. The scars that littered his arms and neck were reminders of his ruthless exploits. I wondered whether the consort he’d murdered had left any marks behind on my brother. I hoped so. She’d certainly earned it.