Chapter 21: Erin

Our landing was far from pretty. Fortunately, with our added weight, we didn’t soar high enough in the air for Lucy to break her legs upon landing, but her aim could have been better. We fell through a canopy of trees, closest to the arena where I first spotted Lucy.

Thickets of branches and leaves pelted us, adding to my collection of cuts and bruises, as we fell to the forest floor. Lucy cushioned my fall as we landed with a thump. She cried out in pain, but aside from a few scrapes on her hand and the wind temporarily knocked out of her, she seemed relatively okay. Better than me, who grew more and more lightheaded from blood loss.

Lucy noticed and panicked. I gave her the silver coin and, using the rest of my energy, told her how to get us back to Dez’s house before I passed out.

Voices buzzed around me, but I was too tired to open my eyes. At least I was on something soft, and the pain had blissfully gone away. Maybe I had died.

“What the fuck happened?” It sounded like Dez, but exhaustion tugged at me, making my thoughts sluggish.

Someone was crying, loud and shrill. Another voice, softer but distinctly feminine, consoled the one crying.

“I was gone for just a moment, and now I have the Council, Tatianna, and Cal on my ass. What. Did. She. Do?”

“I told you, I don’t know!” A hiccup. “But she saved my life. You ... you should’ve been there!”

The softer voice hushed the crying woman, sending her a quiet warning.

The room went silent to where I thought I’d drifted off again.

“You’re right,” the deep voice finally said. “I forgot you didn’t have the same protection. I should’ve been more careful with you.”

“I almost died!”

“I told you it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine here, Lucille. I hope you learned your lesson from tonight’s disaster.” He sighed. “Leave us. I’ll piece together this mess before the Council shows up.”

A shuffling of feet echoed before a door gently shut.

I fell back asleep.

Light flickered in front of my eyelids, and I stirred. Someone held my arm, dressing it with what felt like gauze. I still didn’t feel any pain, but I knew that was the arm the lion’s fang had gouged.

I licked my lips; my mouth felt so dry.

“Here, some water.”

I opened my eyes to Saya sitting at my bedside, a glass of water in hand. She brought it to my lips, and I drank as if I hadn’t in weeks.

“What ... what happened?” We were in a different bedroom, but it didn’t belong to Dez or the girls. Blood-stained towels covered the white marble floor, the walls a plain gray with no notable artwork. From my angle on the bed, I couldn’t see much except the starry night sky outside the windows.