Chapter Forty-Nine

 

The wraithhawk mask refused to give up its secrets no matter how long she stared at it, so she shoved it into her bag along with the curved blades that she'd learned to use at Drops Academy. A contingent of Alliance guards waited outside the Night House to escort her to the arena without being mobbed.

The crowd shouted obscenities at her, calling her a "gray-faced bitch" or a "pale sorceress." The most inventive one she heard was a "statue fucker," which almost made her crack a grin. A few yelled encouragement, but they were the minority and quickly drowned out.

They'd just started letting the fans into the arena. People were climbing over the rows and hurrying across the paths to reach the seats closest to the floor. She was brought in through a separate entrance. Her eyes fell upon the platform at the center. They'd removed the entirety of the obstacles from the previous fight, and replaced it with a circular stage twenty feet above the sands. The spikes that had been a worrisome feature of the last two battles were no longer present. She wondered what her grandfather had in store for her this final round.

The competitor area was already full. She was almost the last of the final eight and received quite a few nods from the others upon her arrival. Valor had not yet arrived, clearly choosing to delay until the arena was filled. She settled into her area after shoving her bag under the chair. Getting the blades onto her person before the ceremony might be difficult, but she hoped there would be ample distractions.

"I need to talk to you."

Pandora was startled to find Sophia Botez glowering at her side. The dark-haired twin looked like she'd swallowed a bug.

"So talk," she replied menacingly.

"Privately."

Pandora nearly told her to leave but the intensity of Sophia's expression had her curious. She walked to the corner of the competitor area as Sophia leaned into her ear.

"Valor cheated."

"A little late now."

Sophia checked over her shoulder. "He's taking a whole bunch of elixirs—"

Pandora held up her hand. "This is not news. While your kind is not as clever with their cheating, I expected as much."

"Not just that," said Sophia, clearly distraught. "He poisoned me. During the fight. I don't know how it happened, but towards the end, I didn't feel myself. I was dizzy and had double vision. That's when he got me."

Pandora hadn't been watching because she'd been talking with Noctus, but she had no reason to think that Sophia was lying.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I hate that man. He knocked out my twin and he's an arrogant twit masquerading as the man of the people." Sophia screwed up her mouth. "Look, I'm no fan of you city fae, but at least you don't hide that you're a stone-cold bitch."

"Your warning has been noted."

Sophia blinked before sensing she'd overstayed her welcome. She returned to the others, glancing over her shoulder. Poison wasn't a surprise. Pandora should have guessed some of the competitors would have tried it. It was ironic that the full human half of the match was the one competing in the maetrie way. Given that the fight would be hand to hand, the likely method of administering the poison would be through fingernails, or as a contact liquid.

A raucous cheer went up, interrupting her thoughts. Valor Drux had entered the arena. He waved to the crowd and shook their hands. The crassness angered Pandora. The Undercity had been a place of honor; now it was a gaudy sideshow. She wanted to beat Valor not only for the chance to kill her grandfather, but to show the world he was a pretender.

When he reached the competitor area, he marched up, towering over her by half a foot. The crowd ate up his posturing display. He jabbed a forefinger in her face.

"I'm going to break you over my knee."

He winked as he brushed past as if to let her in on the joke. The lack of respect for what the Undercity once was burned in her veins. While she hadn't been born here, it'd been the first place since her father's death that had truly felt like home.

The opposite gate opened as flags bearing the Alliance sigil were waved furiously. Cheers grew in crescendo. Pandora stared at the empty space, waiting for her grandfather to arrive.