“Yep. They obviously heard that we’d snatched the Chosen One. They don’t tend to mix with us at all—they’re arrogant assholes—so we should have realized what they were up to when they approached us.”
“Tell me what happened,” I spat out through clenched teeth.
“A couple of them came into the gym with a new vitamin-loaded protein powder and tricked Todd into letting them look around. They found where we’d stashed Audrina and took her.”
“You ruined our plan, Todd.”
“Yeah, fuck you, Todd.”
“They drugged me!” The giant purple monster in the back, muscles bulging out of a Hawaiian shirt, jumped up and down, shaking the whole room. “They put beta blockers in that goddamn vitamin b formula. I was so chilled out I barely noticed them throwing that kid in a sack and galloping off into the distance.”
The futility of this whole trip crashed into me. They didn’t have Audrina. A whole new group of monsters had her.
“I don’t understand,” I moaned, rubbing my temples. “How could anyone think that she’s the Chosen One? There is no hint of any magic about her.”
“No offense, Susan,” Candice said mildly. “But if you were to hold a photo of you and Audrina up to a crowd and ask them to pick the Chosen One, they’re going to pick the awkward-but-uniquely-pretty teenage girl with the guitar, not the no-nonsense capable middle-aged woman with the FUPA and sensible shoes.”
I grimaced. “Point taken.” I blew out a long, frustrated breath. “So, the centaurs have taken Audrina.”
“Yep.” Candice nodded.
“Right. And centaurs, generally, they’re not evil bastards, are they?”
“Not evil, no. Haughty, pretentious, arrogant assholes, but not necessarily evil.”
This didn’t sound so bad. “So, as soon as they realize Audrina isn’t the Chosen One, they’ll let her go.”
“Well, yes, but unfortunately, their massive egos might ruin everything.”
“Why?”
“They didn’t take her because they wanted her to close their spark stone,” Candice explained, her expression grim. “They don’t want their spark stone closed. Those arrogant fuckers are playing with fire. They took the Chosen One from us and invited the Devourer to their realm for a summit. They had the bright idea to get both of you on stage to state your intentions for the Middle World, like politicians in a town hall debate.” She snorted. “They honestly believe that they get to decide who should win.”
A chill ran through me. The centaurs had invited Connor to their realm? And they had Audrina?
Connor would kill her. He would kill her just to annoy me. “I have to go,” I whispered, my lips bloodless. “I have to find the centaur realm.”
“Wait!” Candice looked alarmed. “You have to close our stone.”
“Fine.” I held out my hand. “Give it to me, I’ll do it quick.”
“It’s not that simple. It’s hidden in a pocket dimension. You won’t be able to see it until you break through the protective wards.”
“She won’t be able to get through the wards,” a voice snorted in the back. I looked—It was Hawaiian shirt Todd. “Look at her.”
“I don’t have time for any of this.” I shook my head. “We have to go. We have to find Audrina. I’m sorry, Candice. I’ll come back.”
“It could be too late,” she said desperately. The logo on her sports bra distorted again as her muscles swelled. “We need it done. We can’t have Connor coming for it and bringing the banwyn with him. Susan… we won’t survive!”
I hesitated.
“She’s a dried-up old cow.” Todd’s mustache bristled. “And the ward is a test of strength, Candy. There’s no way she’ll be able to win. Besides, we’ve only got half an hour before we have to compete.”
“Shut it, Todd,” I ground out. “You know what? Let’s go.”
Chapter
Sixteen
The berserkers led me down a winding corridor, away from the arena, through a breezeway to the smaller exhibition center next door. “The layers of protection on the berserker spark stone can only be broken by someone with berserker blood,” Candice explained, bouncing next to me like a purple rubber ball. “So, in theory, the Devourer wouldn’t be able to get to it, anyway. We’re not arrogant idiots like the centaurs, though. We already know he’s getting into realms he shouldn’t be able to, so we figure he’s found a way around blood wards.”
I nodded grimly, keeping quiet.
“And since you have berserker blood, you should be able to break the protections.”
“So, what are the protections?”
“A challenge. You need to beat one of us in a challenge.”
“Okay.” Maybe I could challenge them to a sudoku puzzle or something. Whatever happened, I needed to get this over quickly.
“A physical challenge,” Candice amended, frowning. “The berserker who breaks the protections on the stone has to be worthy of it.”
My footsteps faltered. “You mean I have to beat you in a strength challenge? And you get to use magic?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. Look, you get to choose which one of us to challenge. Unfortunately, the berserker you challenge has to do their best to beat you. The magical protections will know if your challenger threw the competition, and the stone won’t reveal itself to the winner.”
There had to be some hope here. Maybe there was a weakling among them. “Who should I choose?”
