Rage (Scarlet Dawson Book 3) Read online

  When we reach camp, I notice the set-up is the same as the day before but there are trees interspersed throughout the tents. We skirt around the side of the tents and head straight for the communal tent. We all file in silently and stand around the table which we were allocated for breakfast, on the far left. A wooden board is hung by a chain at the back of the tent, its surface shining like glass.

  Names begin to appear on the board as the other teams scramble over each other to get inside the tent.

  The first names to appear are Kin and Kai. Two males from the Unseelie team begin to cheer and run out of the tent. The second names to appear are Jewls and Kenya, I look up to see Jewls and her friend with the orange hair glare at the board. Kenya must be the other woman Jackson knocked out. Neither looks happy they’ve been chosen to fight today.

  Ours are the final names to appear at the bottom of the board. I turn around in shock when I see that they want Silas and Adam to fight the first round. Silas has already suffered a head injury today, anything more could potentially kill her.

  Adam growls low in his throat a sound I’d never ever heard come from him before. He grabs Silas by the arm and begins to propel her out of the tent.

  “Wait!” I shout.

  I run over to Silas and thrust the hilt of my sword in her hand. She doesn’t thank me, just stares at me in confusion as Adam drags her away.

  I rush out of the tent and around its side following the rush of the other teams as we all make our way to watch our teams potentially fight to the death. Only, if our team had one death, it was game over for Silas’s sisters.

  Everyone is inside the sand arena already and I can see that Trenton and Jackson have already seated themselves on the only sofa. I run over to them and, at the last minute, turn, letting momentum take me, so I land perfectly in the middle of the seat and the brothers.

  “Where did you get this?” I ask.

  “From our tent,” Jackson replies a little too dismissively. I narrow my eyes at him then turn to Trenton as he passes a bowl of popcorn to his brother.

  “You know what, I’m not even going to ask,” I say, wondering where they’d managed to get that from.

  I turn my attention to the arena and see Silas pacing impatiently at Adam’s side, Adam watches her, frowning. Zeke enters the sand arena and his deep voice booms out above the chit chat. “There’s only one rule. Last man standing wins. You can use any weapon you have at your disposal including your magic.” He takes a breath then shouts, “Let the games begin.”

  As soon as he says those words one of the males from the Unseelie team turns to Silas and sends a blast of some kind her way knocking her from her feet and sending her sailing across the arena.

  I don’t even get time to comprehend what type of power he has because Adam lets out an almighty roar and instantly sprouts giant black leathery wings.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The entire crowd goes silent as my mouth drops open in shock. I look around to see a lot of other faces show similar shocked expressions. The Seelie team all look horrified and the Unseelie team are all looking at another member of their team as if he can explain what just happened.

  As I watch, Adam stalks across the arena towards the male that struck Silas, I hear Bastian say, “I didn’t think the Fae had wings?”

  When I thought about wings, I didn’t conjure up an image of the vast black wings that Adam had. They rose above his head and reached to the floor as they tensed and flexed behind him.

  Lykos answers him. “The Unseelie royal line has wings, it’s how they pick their true heir from all the bastards they birth.”

  I tear my gaze from the fighting and turn to Lykos. “Are you saying Adam’s a Fae prince?”

  Lykos just shrugs and stares over my head at the fighting.

  I turn back to watch Adam face off against either Kin or Kai, I’m not sure which is which. Adam tears into the guy and he drops to the floor, unmoving, he turns and quickly faces the other male and Kenya as Silas stands, a little disoriented. I turn my attention fully to Silas.

  “This is better than TV, brother,” Trenton says to Jackson, high-fiving him over my head.

  “Almost better than all the drama back home.”

  Phoenix plants himself at the side of Jackson, on the arm of the chair and glares at the brothers silently.

  Silas shakes her head then grabs it in what I can only assume is pain. She stumbles back a step as Jewls advances on her. Jewls holds out her hand and a small sword materialises in her hand, a dagger in her other hand. I wasn’t quite sure what kind of magic that was, it was either one she could conjure up whatever she wanted, or she had weaponry like my sword.

  Silas stumbles again as she moves to pick up my sword. I move to the edge of the seat, the tension making me want to run out into the arena to help. Bastian plants a hand on my shoulder and tugs me back into place, keeping me there. I don’t shrug his hand off like I would normally, instead I watch as Jewls arcs her sword up and down at Silas’s throat.

  I start to shout out to her, but my voice is drowned out by the shouting around me. Silas picks the sword up and quickly moves to deflect the blow. She straightens and begins to gracefully arc the sword while dancing around Jewls, deflecting all her blows. Every time Silas arcs the sword it slices a different part of Jewls.

  Silas has Jewls backing towards a small rock low on the ground. I watch her as she swings in with her sword and sweeps one of her legs around the back of Jewls, tripping her so she falls backwards. Jewls falls backward, her arms flailing, dropping her sword, and trying to grasp at Silas as she moves back. Jewls’s head connects with the rock and within a second her body goes limp.

  Silas stands over her, sword pointing at her throat, her chest heaving. I hear Adam shout her name just as I see why. Behind her is the other male, his fist raised. As she turns, he strikes out with his fist and she crumples to the floor.

  I quickly swing my gaze to Adam to see him watching Silas. He doesn’t even see Kenya as she strikes out. Blue and white lightning hits Adam in the back of his wings and he twitches as he falls to the floor.

  I stand again, finding it hard not to go to them. Both Trenton and Jackson wrap a hand around my wrists and pull me back down to the sofa.

  “They’re going to be fine, Scarlet,” Phoenix says, “It’ll all be over in a minute and we can go fetch our injured,” he tells me calmly while I feel like screaming for someone to end it now.

  I hear the Unseelie team chanting Kai’s name and finally gain perspective that Kin is the one Adam knocked out and Kai is the male left to stand off against Kenya. As much as I wanted neither team to win, I was rooting for the Unseelie, I’d rather Vex and Bryn not gain the advantage in tomorrow’s trek across Luin.

  Kai bends forward and holds out his hand like he’s about to strike out with whatever magic he possesses but Kenya’s quicker and her blue and white lightning hits him square in the chest. He crumples to the ground as Zeke enters the arena after watching silently from the sideline.

  “I don’t know whether I’m impressed or disappointed that we’ve had no deaths yet,” he says as he reaches Kenya. “Our winner, Kenya, gains the first clue of the games. The clue will be in your teams’ tent. Now, the rest of you can fetch your injured,” he says with a final sweep of his hand.

  As he moves away from Kenya, I can see that while she won, she’s also bleeding profusely. I ignore her and race over to Silas as she’s the closest and the one most likely to need medical attention. Aylesbury and the twins follow me. I bend over and check her pulse, thankful when I feel the beat throbbing slowly against my fingertips.

  I nod to Aylesbury and he scoops her up against his chest cradling her gently. I turn to see Bastian and Phoenix heave Adam up, they have each taken an arm and pulled it over their shoulders. Adam’s head hangs down and his feet drag along the floor as they half carry his heavy body.

  Silas and Adam are carried into our team tent where two beds have been laid out along with medic
al instruments. I look at the others, wondering who’d set this all out.

  Jared turns to me and says, “It looks like they do this after every fight. Turn your tent into a medical centre. I slipped past the Seelie tent and theirs is the same.”

  I stand back with Jared and Lykos as Silas and Adam are placed on the beds. Phoenix checks Adam over and gives him one of the injections Gerry had sent, then he moves over to help Aylesbury with Silas. They check over her whole body before starting a thorough check of her head. Phoenix uses his hands to feel around her scalp at the back while Aylesbury checks her eyes with a small torch.

  I inch forward as Adam sits bolt upright on the bed, inhaling loudly. He looks around and sees Silas then jumps off the bed and starts towards her.

  I take a few steps forward and grab his wrist, stopping him from getting closer.

  “Let them work, Adam,” I say, pulling him back.

  Aylesbury turns to us and says, “She’s suffered two major head injuries in one day. We can’t give her another shot and until she wakes up, we can’t assess any damage that might have been caused.”

  “Give her my blood,” Adam says, taking a step forward.

  My eyes reach Bastian’s on the other side of the room. His widen in disbelief. I quickly place myself between Adam and Silas, placing a hand on his chest.

  “Adam, if you do that right now you know you’ll be starting a mating bond with her don’t you?”

  He wouldn’t have even suggested it if he didn’t find something in her attractive. He looks at me, but I can tell he isn’t really listening. I can hear Bastian growl as I put my other hand on his face and pull his head down so he’s looking at me.

  “Adam, I know you like her, I can tell. You have to trust that she’s going to be fine because if you start a mating bond, I can assure you it won’t go very well.”

  He growls at me and pushes me aside; his black leathery wings materialise at his back, blocking Silas from view. I send a pleading look to Bastian. I rush around Adam’s wings as he bends over Silas. He savagely tears into his wrists with fangs I hadn’t seen descend. Bastian and Phoenix both reach out to stop him, but I watch as his blood pours into Silas’s open mouth. Adam fights to keep his wrist at her mouth as both Phoenix and Bastian pull him away.

  Silas moans and reaches out to grab Adam’s arms clutching it to her mouth. Bastian and Phoenix stop moving.

  Bastian looks at me and says, “Fuck!”

  Chapter Twenty

  Silas has now dropped Adam’s arm and looks to be either be unconscious or asleep on the bed. The others in the tent are all staring at them, both not saying a word.

  What in the hell just happened?

  I ignore all the others staring in silence and walk over to Adam. I wedge myself into his side until I can push him away from the bed. He looks at me and blinks a few times like he has finally noticed where he is.

  “What the hell did you just do?” I shout at him.

  He narrows his eyes at me, turns, and stalks out of the tent, his wings disappearing back into his back as he walks.

  “Seriously people!” I exclaim.

  I start to walk towards the tent opening when Lykos steps in front of me.

  “Let me through,” I say to him.

  “No, you need to leave him alone for a while.”

  “Why?” I ask him. He doesn’t answer though and just stands there in front of me like he knows something about Adam that I don’t and he’s protecting him.

  I narrow my eyes at him and turn around to Aylesbury who’s now frowning at Silas.

  “Is she okay?” I ask.

  “Until she wakes up, we won’t know for sure,” Aylesbury says as Phoenix begins to pack away the equipment.

  “Speaking from experience,” Bastian says, avoiding eye contact with me. “We won’t know for a few hours if he’s started bonding with her and we’ll only know because her scent will change slightly. Until then all we can do is keep an eye on her.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Jared says.

  “The rest of you get cleaned up, we’ll meet for food then figure out this mess,” Bastian tells everyone.

  “But—

  “Scarlet, just leave it for now,” Bastian says, grabbing a hold of my hand and dragging me from the tent.

  He lets go of my hand when we’re outside but presses a hand to my back to guide me to our tent. I enter the tent and suddenly tense, a part of me really didn’t want to be alone with Bastian when he knew I was keeping something from him. He walks past me and smirks like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

  I scowl at him and stalk past him into the bathroom, the copper bathtub is full, and steam is rolling off it. I quickly strip and step into the hot water, as I sit, the water reaches my shoulders and I sigh at how good my aching legs feel in the water.

  I sit for a few minutes and mull over everything that has happened. Adam is holding something back, and I am pretty sure Lykos knows what it is. I wasn’t even going to start thinking about what Adam had done with Silas. I am just going to ignore that for now. My main goals are to access the power in the stone, find out exactly what Vex is up to, and take him out. For now, everything else can wait.

  I wash and jump out of the tub, wrapping a towel around me before I move out of the bathroom. I frown when I see that Bastian isn’t in here. I grab clean clothes and wonder what I’m meant to do with the ones in the bathroom that are now caked in dirt and dust. I notice a basket marked laundry, so I go and fetch my laundry and shove it in the basket. I turn around for a second to pick up my bra which has fallen to the floor and when I turn back to the basket, I see my clothes are clean and neatly folded at the bottom of the basket.

  The Fae certainly had it easy.

  I dress in another pair of combat trousers and a black top with short sleeves. Once I’m dressed, I leave the tent and venture over to the communal tent for some food. As I walk through the Seelie tents, Vex falls into step at the side of me.

  “What do you want?” I say to him in a low voice, conscious that others could easily listen in.

  He ignores me and extends a hand. “I’m Dom and you are?” he says loud enough for the other Fae that are standing around to hear.

  “Scarlet,” I say, playing along, but I don’t grab his hand and shake it.

  Once we are out of range of the others, he grabs my wrist and pulls me to a stop.

  “I hope my precious Silence is okay. I’d really hate to see your friends die just because she’s too weak to survive,” he says to me, his face twisted and bitter, showing the real Vex underneath.

  “If you’re just here to taunt me, Dom, then you’re wasting your time,” I say, snatching my hand away.

  “I suggest you start paying attention to me, my dear, I wouldn’t want one of your friends to have an accident that ends in tragedy tomorrow,” he says, stepping closer to me.

  I scowl at him until I see Bastian walk around the corner and stop, watching me, then I plaster on a fake smile.

  “That’s better, I know he’s watching you because I’ve been watching him. I’d like you to do me a favour. Bryn needs to die, he’s asking far too many questions and he’s getting in the way.”

  I wasn’t opposed to the idea but if Vex wanted it done there was more to it than he was letting on.

  “Exactly how am I meant to do that?” I ask him.

  “You’ll find a way. If you don’t, I’ll start with your brother, the Human one. Smile, dear,” he says before walking off.

  I smile automatically, doing exactly what he is telling me to do. Well, I did get one thing from that conversation, he wasn’t aware that Aylesbury was Lycan yet, so he doesn’t know everything like he always makes out. I look at Bastian who begins to walk towards me and my heart beats louder in my ears. I try to calm it all the while thinking I was in way over my head and should just tell him, but then I was playing a dangerous game.

  “Who was that?” Bastian asks as he reaches my side.

  “Appar
ently his name is Dom.” I pause then say, “He wanted to introduce himself.”

  “He is the same Fae that was in Jared’s tent yesterday,” Bastian says. I can tell he’s interrogating me.

  “Yeah, he is, that’s why he wanted to introduce himself. He didn’t want to appear rude yesterday.” I watch his face then say, “If you don’t believe me ask the other Seelie that were around, they heard him introduce himself.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I turn towards the main tent and walk off, leaving Bastian to trail behind me. The entire time I am willing myself to be calm and my mind to stop racing a mile a minute.

  I walk into the tent and see that a male Fae from the Unseelie team is standing at our table. His hair is dark and short for a Fae’s, brushing the top of his ears and falling over his right eye. He is tall and quite muscular but that could have been the leather armour he wore over his clothing. He wears traditional Fae clothing in the same style that Bryn and Bronwyn favoured.

  “What does he want?” I say to Trenton as I squeeze onto the bench between him and Jackson.

  “He wishes to speak to our male Fae,” Jackson says, trying to impersonate his accent.

  “You can speak to him in the morning, he’s not available tonight,” Bastian says, claiming the seat at the side of Phoenix, opposite me.

  The Unseelie male leaves, clearly displeased with the answer by the look of the sneer on his face. Aylesbury walks behind me holding two plates then reaches over my head and places one in front of me.

  “I’ve got you whatever vegetables they were serving and some bread,” Aylesbury says, passing Bastian a plate laden with meat and veg.

  I look at my plate in disdain. It was going to be a long trip without pizza, hell I’d even go for a plate of macaroni right now.

  “And I’ve got you a can of cola,” says Jackson, placing a can in front of me.

  “And I’ve got you a bar of chocolate,” says Trenton, placing it at the side of my plate.

  I know they’d somehow stolen them from my own stash in my backpack but the look on Bastian’s face was brilliant; he looked like his head was about to explode.