mercilessly. I battled an army of demons and Dawn Fae and a troll, and I’m still here. Not to brag, but I’m faster and stronger than any of you, even those of you who might have a military background or consider yourself gym rats.” I jerked my chin at a couple of them to acknowledge them putting effort into developing their six packs. Richie was one of them.
Most of the contestants stared at me with distrust, and some muttered among themselves.
“Be quiet,” Pixie-cut said. “I want to hear her offer.”
“The truth you might not want to hear is this: none of you stand a chance against me,” I said. “My bitch sister sent you to fight me as a bad joke, since she wants human blood on my hands. I was raised as a human, and I don’t like to kill humans.”
“You’re lying,” the redhead said. “The only truth is if we kill you, we all go home. One death saves a dozen lives.”
“Shut the fuck up, Tania!” Richie snapped.
“Sure,” Tania said. “I bet you don’t want her to know you cheated on her with me before you two broke up. Actually, you fucked Crystal like a porn star every other night when you were dating Evelina.”
I didn’t give a rat’s ass who Richie slept with, though I had no love for cheaters. He was old news. I didn’t know what true feelings and lust meant until I met my mates. I’d thought sex was supposed to be lukewarm or just scratching an itch until the Night King claimed me. Sex with the Fae kings was gloriously dirty and naughty, all my dark fantasies come alive.
“I’m sorry, Evie,” Richie said, his face reddening. Guilt and humiliation flickered in his eyes. “I was lonely. But those girls meant nothing to me. You’re the only one who matters. I didn’t know how good you were until I lost you. I promise to do better by you after we get out of here. We’ll go exclusive, and I’ll quit smoking weed.”
“I’m not yours, Richie,” I said. “Never have been. There’s no us, but we’ll fight together in the hunt and get the fuck out of here.”
“You won’t get out, Princess.” A shrill voice out of nowhere sent a chill through my body. “No one has ever survived the Wild Hunt.”
While rage kindled in my stomach, fear also pumped into my bloodstream as a Fury’s flaming eyes stared down at me from the open sky.
The contestants shrank back in terror, but there was no place to hide in the arena. At least, no one could run or hide from the Furies.
“What…what the fuck is that?” Pixie-cut asked, trying to put up a brave façade while she cringed like the others.
“But for Princess Ileana,” said the Fury, its lipless face twisting into a lewd smile, “I can bend the rules a little. Fuck your lover from your past now, and I’ll get you out of the Wild Hunt.”
Repulsion nearly made me gag. Richie, however, looked dazed and willing.
“Evie, I…I think we should do it,” he said. “It’s the easiest way out.”
Sure, for him.
“What about the rest of us?” Tania poked her head out from behind a spruce tree. Now that the faceless creature had talked to me, it didn’t seem as scary to her. After a breath of silence, she demanded, “You can’t keep the rest of us here forever!”
“How dare you speak before you’re spoken to, mortal worm?” the Fury shrieked.
Obviously, the otherworldly creature didn’t know most humans acted super entitled. But Tania was making a mistake here. She probably always got what she wanted in the human world with her looks and boobs, but she didn’t realize that she was in a different realm where humans were trampled underfoot like dirt.
And monsters don’t think like humans. They play by their own rules, or they don’t play by any rules at all.
Something flashed across the sky and dove faster than an arrow. Before anyone could see what happened, a black bird swooped toward Tania. Before I could shoot it down, it had plucked out Tania’s left eyeball and swallowed it. As soon as the bird had carried out the task, it returned to the Fury in a blink.
Tania screamed, blood pouring from her empty socket.
The humans were shocked to utter silence, petrified. Richie was shaking hard.
“Go help your friend, Richie,” I said, raising my gun. “I’ll make sure the fuckers don’t come down again.”
Richie gave me a helpless glance and nodded before he staggered