“Of course,” Emma said with a smile. “Wasps. Ally. Of course, I remember.”
“I’ll never forget that day,” Jamie said quietly, sinking back into the memory. “You had run for help, and I was sitting there next to her. Her face was so swollen that I could barely recognize her, and she was making these gurgling sounds like she couldn’t draw breath into her lungs. I was sure she was dying.
“I took her hand and I started praying. To every deity I could dream of. I begged and bargained. I would do anything to keep her safe, anything to keep her alive. I would trade anything, give anything. Because in that moment, I was sure that I couldn’t live without her.”
Emma nodded sympathetically. “Ally lived. She survived the wasps, and she survived the Elemental Trials. She’ll survive The Five Finals and come back to you, and you’ll live out your fairytale story.”
Jamie let out a small burst of laughter. “I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing since that day. Like my prayer was answered, and all I’ve tried to do ever since is try to keep her safe. Perhaps I was so focused on that one thing that I lost sight of the fact that we were slowly drifting apart.”
Emma raised her eyebrows in a silent question.
“Maybe I was never meant to be her fairytale ending,” Jamie said. “And maybe I’m okay with that.”
With the admission, a weight seemed to lift from his shoulders. Everything seemed brighter with Emma. The whole world lighter and more colorful. He felt whole once again.
Emma stared at him, and then her eyes widened in false surprise. “Look at that,” she said, “my baby brother growing up right in front of my eyes.”
Jamie laughed, and Emma joined him, and it felt like old times, like they didn’t have a care in the world. Jamie lingered in the moment, but all too soon, reality reasserted itself.
“I know you want to stay, but I think—”
Emma cut him off again. “No, Jamie, you’re not going to talk me out of it. This is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for. What our parents and Sam believed in, and what they gave their lives for.”
“I know, but it’s dangerous, Ems, is it worth your life?”
“Yes,” she replied emphatically.
“Is it worth my life and Allyra’s life too?” The question was a low blow, but now that he had Emma back, he just wanted to be done with all this. He was tired of lying, of constantly looking over his shoulder, and constantly worrying about the people he loved.
“Yes,” Emma said without hesitation and with a hardness that Jamie struggled to recognize.
“How can you say that? Ally is in The Five Finals—people die in there. And the Cleaners, I’ve already been beaten within an inch of my life, and I’m pretty sure that if I fail here, the price is going to be my life.”
“I know,” Emma replied, and her blue eyes turned to ice, sending an unexpected shiver down Jamie’s spine.
Emma started him down, utterly unyielding, but she took in his shocked and anguished expression, and she relented, her eyes softening a little. She sighed. “Don’t you think I know—that you’re here and Allyra’s there, both risking your lives for me? I wish I could’ve stopped you, but I couldn’t, and now it’s too late. We’ve all chosen our paths, and we’re too far down to turn back now.”
“Don’t I get a say in all this?” Jamie asked.
“You can run if you want. Convince Ally if you can. But I’m staying.”
“Ems…”
“No, Jamie, I’ve made my decision. I want my life to mean something, and doing this? I know it will.”
Chapter 25 – Allyra
Six pairs. Two Finals in and that was all that was left from the twenty-five pairs who had started The Five Finals.
The Third Final was one of combat. The rules were simple enough. Each combat round would involve two pairs facing off. One pair would be declared the winners when the other could no longer continue or when both members had conceded. The only unknown had been what weapon would be chosen for the Third Final. It was this question mark that had Allyra and Jason practicing with every weapon possible. But now, even that final question had found an answer—the chosen weapon was no weapon at all. The Third Final would be fought with nothing but fists and knuckles.
It promised to be a showcase of pain and brutality.
If Allyra survived it, she would surpass her own father’s exploits within The Five Finals. A glance though the history books had shown that Samuel Warden had conceded during his first round in the Third Final when his second, Juliette Thiessen, had suffered a wound serious enough to jeopardize her life. Knowing her father, he had probably conceded because he couldn’t bear to see Juliette suffer and because her life was worth more to him than any win.
That type of feeling was rare amongst Five Finals Competitors, and her father’s choice had earned him nothing but derision among the Gifted who valued winning over life. Who embraced brutality over empathy. Allyra knew well enough that concessions would be few and far between.
Six pairs.
There were none left from the Terra College and only one pair left from each of the Atmospheric, Inferno, and Oceanic Colleges. The Elemental
