“Everyone knows more than they let on. Anyone who shows their entire hand is a fool.”
“So help me already, would you? You’ve wasted my time, risked my life, and for what? For something you think I can do?”
He twisted to look at me despite the teams walking into view in the arena, as if the competition had little value to him. “Believe it or not, I don’t want the world to end, either. I rather like the living realm, and my power would be lessened were the barrier between the afterlife and the living world broken.”
“So tell me what I need to know already. Stop playing games.”
A screeching from the arena drew my attention back, and in the center was something I didn’t recognize. A woman creature, sort of, but with elongated arms and legs and pointed nails. White hair flowed around her in an almost ethereal way, as if it defied the laws of gravity despite appearing corporeal.
“What is that?” I asked.
“A banshee.”
I frowned, trying to recall if Gran had ever taught me anything about them.
Nothing.
Lucifer huffed, as if my lack of knowledge were an annoyance to him. “They scream when someone is about to die. Of course, they are often the cause of death. See, that scream? It is something that can be lethal to the living and the dead. Banshees exist in the living world, but their screams cross the barrier into ours.”
When she screeched again, I covered my ears even though I’d bet the barrier filtered some out.
Sure enough, two from blue team collapsed to their knees, and Troy shook his head, stumbling backward.
Grant waved his hand, his lips moving, before walking up to Kase.
Kase nodded, though I couldn’t hear what they said to each other, and opened his mouth. Grant ran his thumb across Kase’s fang, then use his bleeding finger to leave a smudge of red on each of Kase’s ears. He did the same to himself, to Hunter and Troy, and as soon as he did, as soon as he left that blood mark, the screaming didn’t seem to affect them anymore.
“This is why I dislike mages in my games,” Lucifer said, a clear pout to his voice. “They like to ruin my fun.”
Lucifer’s frustration was my gain, and I leaned forward to watch.
I understood the main issue. The teams needed to avoid killing the banshee before taking out the other team, or they would be locked into another round. However, the black team had the advantage here, due to Grant’s trick, which meant the blue team would be smart to try and kill the banshee and hope for a more favorable opponent the next round.
For that reason, the two still on their feet on the blue team rushed forward, toward the screeching woman at the center of the area. They moved slowly, as if the sound waves from her physically pushed them backward.
While Hunter and Troy weren’t harmed by the screaming, they didn’t move much faster. It seemed Grant’s spell could protect them from some of the damaging effect but not free them entirely.
Hunter and Troy went in opposite directions, with Troy headed for the two people on the ground and Hunter for the ones who went for the banshee.
“Agree to submit to me tonight,” Lucifer said.
“Excuse me?” The words startled me enough I turned my gaze from the arena to his.
“You heard me. I need to test something, and for that, I need your complete compliance. No fighting me, no hiding, no lying.”
“Why would I do that? It seems to me my team is doing fine, and if they’re the only survivors, they’re the winners, so they’ll get all the special treatment tonight. What reason would I have to do what you want?”
He lifted one finger, and the banshee’s scream intensified in time, as if he controlled it.
Hunter stumbled as he reached the two, shifting to his dragon form, the smoke spreading out and his scales catching the light. Still, even as he moved, it was clear the sound affected him. He pounced on the two, and I jerked my gaze away so I didn’t have to see what happened to them.
Troy fell to his knees, but his body changed, his back bowing, his bones doing that popping thing when he started to lose control.
Red leaked out of Grant’s ears, his face pulled into tight lines that screamed of pain.
“Do you really think I can’t make this far worse for them?”
Just as I was ready to think it was a coincidence, he lifted that finger higher, raising the pitch of the scream, and this drove even Kase to the ground, his fangs bared.
Even still, Troy had the upper hand with the two members of the blue team. He twisted, his real form much larger and stronger than either. Plus, with the increase of the banshee screams, they were all but useless.
With one swipe, Troy ended both of the team members on the ground so only the black team remained, though not in great condition.
“See, you have nothing to bargain with,” I said. “My team already won.”
“Not yet they didn’t. To end the round, they have to kill the banshee.” He lifted his hand, and the screaming intensifying until a warm trickle down my neck said my ears bled as well.
And in the arena, it was worse. All four men were on the ground, twisting, and none could reach where the banshee stood at the center, her mouth open, that horrible sound making the area around her blurry.
“They won’t be able to survive this long,” Lucifer said. “Even with Grant’s trick, she can overcome it and end them all.”
“Then you won’t have a winner or my help.”
“But without your compliance, you’re useless to me anyway, and what do I care about a winner? I only set this up to give me leverage to use you as I please. Understand that I don’t care about the competition,
