She flashed him a quick grin. “Don’t worry,” she said lightly. “Everything will be fine.”
“Famous last words,” he muttered darkly.
They reached the exit easily; after all, she was an old hand at this Tunnel business by now. Through the light streaming in from the exit, they could see the Council waiting for them. Jason looked at it longingly. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. “We could go through now—win this challenge and guarantee ourselves an advantage going into the Third Final.”
But Allyra couldn’t be swayed. She shook her head emphatically. She had to make her way past the mysterious door. She couldn’t explain why, but she couldn’t help feeling the time for it was slipping by, like grains of sand through her fingers. No, it had to be now.
But before she could launch yet another compelling argument, Jason grabbed her arm, a finger held to his lips. She stilled and listened carefully. Yes, there it was—careful footsteps making their way closer. Roan and Luella, their progress slow and hesitant, still hidden within the impenetrable darkness of the Tunnels.
Keeping his gaze fixed down the Tunnel, Jason grabbed her hand and slowly ran three fingers along the back of it. The points of his fingers were spread out where they first touched her hand, near her knuckles. But as he moved, he drew his three fingers together, to a single point, almost as if he were tracing out a three-pointed V.
The only problem was—Allyra had no idea what it was supposed to mean.
She stabbed her finger into his ribs, forcing him to look at her and then gave a small lift of her shoulders, accompanied by a wide-eyed glare.
He shook his head slowly and pointed a finger at her. “Uneducated,” he mouthed silently.
She continued to glare at him. He picked up her hand once more and traced the same sign onto it. “Wait,” he said softly.
A small part of her wanted to tell him off, to tell him that it would’ve been easier just to say it, rather than trace cryptic symbols onto the back of her hand. But now wasn’t the time for it, so she simply nodded her understanding. Together, they waited quietly for Roan and Luella to draw close enough to spring their trap. But the Thirds from the Inferno College were proving their experience by moving carefully and deliberately, not hurrying even when they saw the light of the exit. But no amount of care could save them from an ambush, and when it happened, it was over almost before it had started. Before they even had time to scream, Roan and Luella found themselves subdued and bound tightly to each other. Once they realized who their captors were, Roan and Luella both started to struggle fruitlessly against the restraints.
Jason watched them with one eyebrow lifted dramatically. “Struggling really isn’t going to do you any good. Just accept that you’ve lost the challenge, wait quietly like the good little Finals Competitors that you are, and soon enough, all this will be over.”
“Why are you doing this?” Luella spat at Jason. “You won’t get away with this—we will get you back.”
Jason gave her his signature smirk. “No, I don’t think you will. After all, you’re not going to remember any of this.”
Luella’s struggling became even more frenzied, a spark of madness rising from the depths of her dark eyes. She was so angry she was almost spitting like an angry cat with its claws out. Jason’s smile only grew wider.
Allyra placed her hand on Jason’s arm. “Enough. Stop upsetting the prisoners. We need to go.”
Jason looked at Roan and Luella doubtfully. “I’m not sure we should leave them here alone. They might break the restraints.”
“Fine. Stay with them, while I go to the door.”
“No,” he replied stubbornly. “You don’t know what’s behind that door. I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t want to leave them, but you want to come with me. You can’t have it both ways—so what exactly is your suggestion?”
Jason grinned slowly and then drew a sword from his baldric, the sword coming free with a sharp, metallic clink that seemed to echo in the darkness. Roan’s and Luella’s struggles against their restraints became even more frantic.
Allyra stepped deliberately between Jason and the Inferno College Thirds. “I don’t think killing them is the correct approach,” she said sarcastically.
“Who said anything about killing?” Jason asked, pushing her aside. He twisted the sword around, and with the handle, he delivered two quick blows to the heads of both Roan and Luella, instantly knocking them out.
Allyra gaped at him, words temporarily escaping her.
“What?” he asked with a quick shrug of his shoulders. “Now I don’t have to worry about them getting loose, and I can come with you. Win-win.”
“That was completely unnecessary.”
“How are you still so naïve? The Final Finals is violent, it is brutal. The sooner you accept that, the better it’s going to be.”
She shook her head. “The Five Finals is about survival. Violence is secondary,” she replied, walking away, back up the Tunnel toward the wooden door.
Jason grabbed her arm and spun her around. His eyes searched her face urgently for something elusive. She looked back calmly, meeting his eyes frankly. He seemed to reach some kind of realization and he dropped her arm. “You think you will leave this life behind soon,” he said softly.
“Yes,” she replied simply, thinking of what her father had said in the last memory she’d seen. He’d wished for her to live a life free of violence, and he had given up so much to give that to her. She would do what she could to live the life he had hoped she would. “I lived a life without violence, and one day, when all this is done, I’ll return to that life.”
“When will you realize that you’re not
