The Deal with the Demon Prince

*Chapter Thirteen*

*Chapter Thirteen*

For the past entire week, the entire school bustled with fear and excitement. Today was different. Today would be the day everyone awaited for a whole week. No one seemed to care about the danger accompanied the ‘tournament’. Everyone was eager because this was the first time Artemis was allowing its students to enter the forest and shift into their real form.

Aurora, although barely slept the previous night, was wide awake. Gabriella stood at one end of the court. Her human partner was a man even more muscular than Cade. Aurora saw her smile and nod politely every once in a while, but beneath that, she had eyes that showed absolutely no life. Cade stood on the other end by the fountain. Aurora recognized his partner as an angel in her English class. She was beautiful. Her curly blonde hair hung till her waist, and her large doe-like eyes made her seemed like life-sized doll. Aurora tapped her fingers against her elbow as she crossed her arms, waiting for Mr. Popular.

“Hello,” the said person chirped, suddenly materializing next to her causing her to jump away in alarm. He laughed. It was a deep chuckle, much like that of Adrian’s except it lacked the daunting edge Adrian always had in his voice.

“You scared me,” Aurora confessed, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Don’t be. I’ll protect you.”

Aurora choked on her own spit, earning herself another fresh round of laughter from Avary.

“You’re too cute,” he laughed as he patted her back.

Aurora straightened, her cheeks flushed. She hoped he would understand that it was not from his comment but from the violent coughs she just had. Of course, anyone else would have thought otherwise just by looking at the two as the facts were clearly not in her favor. Avary was still snickering, his hand around her as she turned bright pink.

Feeling a stare on her, Aurora glanced up.

And…

She looked right into Adrian who was glaring at the two from across the court.

Great, Aurora thought sarcastically, just what I need at the moment.

“Attention!” Valin spoke from up the stage. “The paired partners will be given a number. There will be no time limit, but the longer this drags on, the more dangerous it will become. There will be no clear danger on the first three days, but after that, it will change. Do not procrastinate. Find the five parts of a mysterious object hidden in the forest and assemble them. Of course, the team that brings the assembled object back to us wins! There is only one way to end this tournament: bring the assembled object back. Yes, you are allowed to kill.”

At the last sentence, there was so much screaming amongst the crowd that it was almost chaotic. Valin simply smiled as the furious faces yelled at him from beneath the stage. He had never told them that the ‘tournament’ would be life threatening.

“Of course, you have the freedom of choice. There is, however, a catch. If you refuse to participate, I can’t promise you that there will be no penalty.”

The screams got louder. Valin snapped his finger.

“Silence! This order was given by him! Now tell me! Who’s still willing to oppose me?”

A hushed silence fell over the crowd.

“As I thought,” Valin said loudly. “Each one of you will also be given one chance to forfeit in the middle of the tournament. If you do, both you and your partner will be considered as forfeiters, but your life will not be endangered. Who’s not participating?”