Underworld Bride Trials 1 Playboy King - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,18

shoulder with a quirked brow.

“I’d hate to disappoint the king if you perish in the first trial.” She gave me a once-over. I knew I appeared quiet and elegant compared to the demonesses, vampires, and shifters. And I didn’t look like a fierce fighter despite my lean muscles hidden under my disguised armor.

The Demon King must’ve sent her here.

I smiled. “Thank you for your vote of confidence, Lady Esme, but I signed the contract, and I want to follow through. I’d disappoint more people by being a quitter. And I haven’t violated any rules, so no one, not even your king, can force me out.”

“You want to be his queen that desperately?” she asked.

I blinked as something clicked.

I’d been her intended target for this talk, but she hadn’t singled me out in front of everyone. She’d picked a handful of other random women, using the media interview as a smokescreen. If she’d wanted me dead, she’d have brought the demon guards or struck me down on the spot.

But she’d thought I wouldn’t last in the trials, and her king had sent her to get me out of the deal. I’d seen Loki’s dismayed face when he’d watched me fall.

He didn’t want me dead. Somehow, I’d captured his fancy, so he’d sent his gamekeeper to drive me out of the Bride Trials.

“Isn’t that every girl’s dream here?” I asked softly. “To be the Queen of the Underworld?”

“Dreams get people killed,” she said in the same soft tone. “Only one candidate will be the queen, and if you don’t walk away now or during the first trial, your window will be closed forever.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Lady Esme,” I said, pulling the handle again. This time it turned.

“What’s your name?” she asked behind me and sniffed subtly to discern my species.

I doubted she or anyone else could discern my complicated heritage. I was even unique in my Ice Kingdom. I wondered if that was the main reason my ex-mate was obsessed with me.

“Tessa,” I said.

“And your last name?”

Fortunately, the magical contract didn’t require a last name, though it demanded I sign with my true name.

“Just Tessa.”

I walked out.

CHAPTER 8

Tessa

I was the last one to arrive at the arena.

“One second longer and we would’ve shut the gate on your lazy, bony ass,” a demon assistant barked at me.

“No shit,” I offered and hurried past them to avoid an argument while I examined where I’d spend the next hour or so fighting to stay alive.

I spotted the Demon King watching from up above, but I didn’t let my gaze linger. I had my life to protect.

It was a rudimentary arena, more like an enormous, bloody pit. Demons had no sense of finesse. Only base brutality and violence ran in their demonic blood. If I lived through this, I might mention this to their king. Some upscale worlds treated gladiator arenas with care and respect and regarded the battles between the gladiators as the art of violence.

I’d fought in another arena for gold and for my kingdom for two years until the bloodhounds caught up to me and killed one of my team members.

The sand beneath my feet burned hot. Every patch of land in this realm bled heat, and the air was hot and humid, like the hottest summer one could imagine.

In the center of the arena, combatants had gathered in groups. They all had their own gangs and probably alliances. The main battle would break out from the center, and slaughter would unfold soon. Only loners or pairs drifted toward the edge. But the stronger contestants wouldn’t want to be perceived as weak, especially with the king, his dukes, and his honored guests watching.

I surveyed the corners. A few had gathered into small cliques, except for the north corner.

A blue-haired girl crouched next to a fifty-foot barbed-wired fence surrounding the pit. She was murmuring, and I recognized a repellent spell. No wonder the north corner was empty, but it was illegal to use magic in the first trial. She’d get into a lot of trouble if anyone paid her any attention, but then the rules didn’t say she couldn’t do that before the trial officially began.

Any second now, a horn would blow to signal the start of the first trial.

Tension, fear, anxiety, and bloodlust blended together, charging the air.

The corner the blue-haired girl occupied would be my best defense. In this first game, I didn’t want to show my hand too much.

I jogged quickly toward her but refrained from running. Predators