Page 21 of Lies That Bleed
Alek tipped his head to me. “Our future empress should have first choice.”
A lion would be amazing and make my father proud, but if I fought with a creature right now, it would take me out of The Wilds and into a week’s worth of healing. I’d be hobbling out of here with my newly bonded, not permitted to stay and keep an eye on Tetra. I needed to make sure she bonded first.
“I’ll pass on the lion,” was all I said.
Alek raised an eyebrow as if surprised by my response, but nodded.
We pressed on and I sidled up to Tetra, noticing her limp was worse today. “How you feeling?” I asked her.
She’d been quiet all morning, kept to herself, didn’t eat much. She was more academic and had aspirations of becoming a physician for the Fleet or something along those lines. She’d never wanted to be a field-rated imperial soldier.
“I’m… adjusting,” she lied.
I let the group go on ahead and pulled back to talk privately with her.
“I never should have invited you to the Lottery to support me,” I confessed.
She chewed her lip, looking down at the ground in shame. “Aisling, about that… I… told the guard to put my name in.”
It was like I’d been punched in the gut. “W-whatdo you mean?” Maybe I wasn’t understanding her correctly?
She swallowed hard, meeting my gaze. “At the Lottery, the guard said he had orders to throw my name out and… I saw everyone walking in, strong and able-bodied, and I suddenly felt like I was just as capable as them!” she snarled. “So I told the bastard to keep it in. But I never thought my name would be chosen.”
“Oh, T.” I pulled her in for a hug.
She squeezed me hard, sniffling a little, and when I moved away she wiped her eyes.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to meet my gaze. “You arejustas capable as them! And that fiery spirit is what will bond you to a creature,” I assured her.
It was true. Physically she was weak yes, but I’d seen her through so much. The death of her father, being bullied at school, daily pain. She was the strongest woman I knew.
She released a steady breath. “I should have taken the fox.”
She should have, but she wasn’t ready then. It would have killed her.
“Guys!” Dev snapped from up ahead, and we rushed to catch up.
There were sounds of snarling and grunting, and by the time I reached the group Anika was locked in battle with a medium-sized lioness.
Holy crap!
That took some serious balls, balls only Anika seemed to have.
The lioness swiped at Anika’s face, dragging three lines across her cheek and causing her to cry out in pain.
“Go for its eyes or paws!” I shouted, trying to help her.
The lion would tear her face off before backing down. If it thought it was going to lose something valuable, it would submit.
At my advice, Anika pivoted, bringing her dagger down and sinking it right into the lion’s paw. It screeched, but the bond started. Beautiful colors began to filter from its body and create a cocoon around them both.
We all whooped and cheered, and that’s when Tetra released a bone-chilling scream from behind me.
I spun, my blade already pulled and ready to cut down whatever had scared her, but I froze when I saw the small black wolf, with green glowing ember marks, had batted at her bad foot.
Fresh streaks of blood filtered down her calf, and I moved to protect her, but Alek grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back. “Blood has been drawn. You know the rules.”
Don’t make me watch her die!I wanted to scream as terror gripped me.
