Vengeance (The Prince's Games Book 1) by Rebecca Grey (electric book reader TXT) 📕

find the leverage to get me to the first branch. Before I can pull my leg underneath me, a hand clamps down on my ankle.

"Tricky woman you are." Jefferson spits blood into the dirt.

I glare at the Elf, kicking my leg to get out of his grip. "Where is Marcello? Did you kill him?"

"Hasn't killed me quite yet." Marcello laughs and a dark stain of blood covers his teeth. He appears at Jefferson's side with no weapon in hand. Juilliard yells from above, but none of us make any move to look away. "Let her go, brother!"

Jefferson keeps one hand on my leg and with the other points the sword at Marcello. "Do not call me brother!" Jefferson screams, saliva flying from his lips. "You were told to stay out of this game. The bad that will happen to you because you joined is your own fault. You'll lose the girl yet again, and only you are to blame."

A deep, powerful rumbling noise carries through Marcello's chest and out his throat. Heat tints his warm skin with the kiss of cherry red. Metal clinks against metal. Marcello wraps his fingers around the blade of the sword. The steel dents as sparks fly from his robotic hand. Jefferson's sword bends at an odd angle, thrown from his grip.

The Elves don't make a move on one another now that both their weapons are gone. Jefferson's grip on my ankle disappears and so does he as he throws himself into the tree and begins to climb. Somehow Marcello is already ahead of him off to my other side. They all become darting figures in my peripheral.

The end of this game is nearer than ever before and it's become a race to the top. Branches crack and pop, breaking overhead. I reach and drag myself up branch after branch, ignoring every ache and pain in my body.

Two forms curl into one another as their fists pound against any inch of flesh they can reach as they tumble down from the branches above. Limbs break under their weight, sending them bouncing down. Juilliard and Mavi are a mess of "fuck you" and "I'll kill you". They plummet farther away from the flag, falling below even me as I continue up while they tumble down.

That only leaves Marcello and Jefferson at the top of the tree. The higher I climb, the more I can feel their weight swaying the large trunk that reaches so high into the arena. From where I am, I can see the awed look of spectators as they sit almost silently in their seats.

Marcello's arm stretches out. Jefferson pushes his boot against the limb under him, trying to reach his fullest height with his hand extending. The red flag is within their range. Fingers brush the small banner of The Oasis. I squeeze my eyes shut as the loud horn blares, signaling the end of the challenge.

Everything is still. There is no cheering. There is no sound whatsoever except for the whispered hiss of an exchange between Marcello and Jefferson. The lights grow brighter and cameras swarm around the tree. I lift my attention to the two men, heart trilling inside of my chest. Who had gotten it first? What team had won?

Burgundy fabric is bunched in two fists. Both Marcello and Jefferson have seized the flag. My lashes flutter as I try to make sense of what I see. Both teams can’t win. Someone... someone must take it, but neither of them move. Not since the horn announced the end.

My stomach seems to leap into the clouds and the ground starts to rise to my feet. Trees disappear on my right and left, their images shimmering and fading into nothing, leaving me with a perfect view of the crowd all around us. When my boots actually hit the rocky floor I realized that the tree was dissolving slowly underneath us, carrying Marcello, Jefferson and me safely to the ground.

Juilliard and Mavi push off of one another breathing heavily, but the fight no longer continues. I stumble toward them, my jaw nearly scraping the ground below me as my mouth falls open in shock and confusion.

"What's happening?" I gasp. "Who won?"

Juilliard shakes his head. Every bit of the obstacles that had been set up for us fades until we can see the true bloodshed and bodies of those who lay lifeless on the floor. Challengers still stand at various positions in the arena.

Lachlan, Bullie, and Orchid slowly trudge toward us as well as Hedda. The Orc wears a healthy grin on her face, even as the announcer calls out.

"THE FLAG HAS BEEN CAPTURED!"

The audience claps, though it isn't the eruption of cheers that one would expect. This is a polite applause, as they too wait to see what happens next. Spectators watch the announcer as he steps from the golden platform and hands the microphone to King Caspar.

The King looks down fondly between Marcello and Jefferson. "This game has been called to an end because the Prince's team has seized the flag."

My attention immediately snaps to Marcello. He does not look at me. His robotic hand fists and a spark arches off it and dies in the dirt. I can smell something like singed metal.

"I'd hoped for a clear winner this year, so the crown could more easily be placed." I suck in a breath as does most of the crowd. "As we all know, Elvish children are so very hard to come by. Every king before me was only able to sire one heir with their queen. Our marriage, our rule, has been blessed with not one, but two sons."

Hybrids whisper frantically to themselves. I can do nothing but stare and stare and stare. Not one but two princes. Two deaths to still be had at my hands. How is it possible?

"We have chosen to allow our