“Like I said, this task is easy!”Felditch announced, voice raised over the roar of the ocean.“All you have to do is make it back to shore.It’s that simple.”He clapped his hands again, and rain burst from the sky, lightning and thunder cracking and booming in unison.“On the beach, you will find a golden disk with your emblem on it, these you will find at every event and they must be collected and added to your team’s tally.Once you find yours for today’s event, make your way back to the main room of the manor and add it to the leaderboard.”He clapped again and something huge and black with razor-sharp teeth burst from the water.“Oh, and you must avoid the creatures who reside in the depths of the Tartarean Sea, both those who call it home permanently and those only visiting.”He winked again, that fucked-up smile still on his face.
Us.We were the visitors.Simply put, we were free to murder each other.
Ursula’s gaze met mine, looking as unhappy about this development as I was.
“Like all of you, the beasts are quite persistent.I’m not completely without heart though.Some of you might be lucky enough to discover hidden places to rest and recover along the way.”
The mood on deck shifted and fear rolled from everyone around us, well, almost everyone.I glanced at Nathanial.The bastard was laser focused on me and Urs.I got the feeling he already knew this was coming.The angels had won every tournament, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think it was because they were the most skilled taking part.
Ursula growled under her breath, and when Nathaniel smirked at her, she folded the fingers of one hand into devil horns and flicked out her tongue.The male’s eyes widened in outrage, and despite the task ahead of us, a low laugh escaped me.
“You have twenty-four hours to place your disk on the leaderboard.Have fun, and may the best team be triumphant,” Felditch yelled, then clapped his hands and vanished.
“Ready?”I said to Ursula.
“As I’ll ever?—”
The ship disappeared out from under us, and we plummeted into the dark, churning ocean.
My heavy boots dragged me down, and I kicked them off and yanked my jacket off as well, before bursting up through the surface.Spinning, I wildly searched for Ursula.She popped up gasping, then went back under.I dove for her, hooking my arm around her waist, then holding her to me, I dragged her to the surface.
“You need to take this off.”I shoved her leather jacket down her arms and used my feet to tug off her boots.“Can you swim?”I yelled through the deafening roar of the sea.
Her green eyes were bright in the gloom.“Yes,” she called back.
I searched the ocean through the driving wind and rain and darkness.Lightning flashed and I saw several groups in the distance but couldn’t make out who they were.We couldn’t let any of them get too close.
“Let’s go,” I said.“Swim as hard as you can.”
Ursula nodded, and we started toward land.I tried to search the ocean as I went, but the water looked black and whatever daylight we’d had was long gone.I couldn’t even make out the mountains anymore.At this point I couldn’t even see if we were heading in the right fucking direction.If I still had all my powers, I’d feel it, the pull of the earth, no matter the realm.The angels already had that advantage.
Someone screamed.I stopped and Ursula did as well.We treaded water, searching the ocean around us.Something burst from the sky, enormous wings flashing in the distance.
“Those fuckers are flying,” I growled out.
“That can’t be allowed?”Ursula said.
“Felditch didn’t say we had to swim.”If I’d had my wings, if they hadn’t been stolen from me, I would have picked up Urs and flown like hell for shore.
Lightning flashed again, and in the brief flash of light I saw Nathaniel, a knife in one hand and one of the wolves’ heads in the other, while he scanned the ocean below.Nathaniel’s teammate hovered beside him, searching for the wolf’s teammate no doubt.
Fuck.
Michael wanted me to ensure their win, but Nathaniel didn’t know that.He’d kill us both if he had the chance.“Dive,” I said to Ursula.“And don’t resurface until I do.”
She nodded, a grim expression on her face.
We were immortal, lack of oxygen couldn’t kill us, but it was extremely uncomfortable, at least to start with.
She disappeared beneath the surface, and I followed her into the dark depths, swimming deeper and deeper, where Nathaniel wouldn’t be able to see us.
I grabbed Ursula’s hand.She turned to me and her red hair swayed around her lovely face.She watched as I undid my belt, then slid it through a loop in her jeans so the buckle anchored her to it, to me, and wrapped some of the long strip of leather around my fist.
It would be too easy to lose each other down here, but that wasn’t the only reason for tethering her to me.
Air burst from her nose, and she squeezed her eyes closed.Her chest was burning now, like mine, and she was fighting the urge to swim like hell for the surface to drag in a desperate lungful of air.Her eyes snapped open, and she started to struggle, panicking.It didn’t matter that she couldn’t die like this, the instinct to breathe was automatic, even for immortals.
I gripped the leather tying her to me and dragged her closer.Panic filled her eyes, and she thrashed.Shadows moved above, Nathaniel and Eloa were still circling, searching for us.He saw us as his biggest competitors, and he’d planned to take us out the first day of the tournament.Not fucking happening.Even if their win was a sure thing, I wouldn’t make it easy for him.I wouldn’t give in.Not until the very last moment would I yield.