Behind the Walls. NOVEL By Claire Darcy.

58. Tremble.

ROWAN.

Ace was pinned to the floor, writhing like a snake as Adeline forced her against the dirt. I was watching from the sidelines with some of my old friends, clinging to the wire fence near one of the weapons selections. I grabbed a hold of the fence and pulled myself up.

"What are you doing?" someone asked.

"She's down, I want to get a better look," I called back, grabbing the bar at the top and pulling myself up. I dug my shoes into the gaps so that the bar was under my arms, and I could see clearly over the top. A couple of others did the same.

"She's not getting up," the guy nearest to me murmured.

"That's Ace you're talking about," I said sharply, "She'll get up."

But she still hadn't. Adeline Thomas stomped on Ace's chest, then her neck; rising slowly to her feet with the electric spear tip in hand. Then she looked right in my direction, waving the weapon above her head for all to see.

"She's going to kill the Alpha," someone whispered. I smirked a little, my eyes locked on the sparks of lightning that danced between the two prongs that Adeline paraded so triumphantly.

"No, she's not," I said quietly, watching as Ace's fingers searched desperately for her sword. It was just a few feet out of reach.

"The moment you've all been waiting for!" Adeline screamed. I glanced behind me. Sebastian River was standing down there, a smile on his face. A thin layer of ice covered his hands like gloves. He gave me a small wave to show me, mouthing, 'Just watch.'

I turned back. Adeline plunged the weapon towards Ace's chest. Time slowed down as I watched, practically falling over the fence. The two electric prongs barely touched Ace...

And lightning split the sky.

There was light everywhere; an explosion of white and the sound of a thousand gunshots. A force like a tsunami slammed into me and I fell off the fence, yelling as I hit the floor. I couldn't hear my own scream over the ringing in my ears. I scrambled to my feet, seeing only dust and tendrils of electricity dancing through the cloud of the explosion. I climbed back onto the fence, peering into the thick mess that had filled the Arena.

There was a body lying on the ground, but it wasn't Ace.

It was Adeline. She convulsed about like a fish out of water, shrieking like a madwoman. Ace was walking towards her. Streams of lightning swirled around her like living creatures, blowing her hair and lighting up her eyes. Her dark eyes shone as blue as Sebastian's; fluorescent and bright. All the electricity around her shifted towards her right hand. Her right hand held her sword.

The dust began to settle, still enough to swirl around as Ace walked, and to reflect the lightning that surrounded her. She said nothing, not even taunting Adeline as the girl struggled to get to her knees. I saw Ace's smirk, and it sent a shiver down my spine. The kind you get when you're watching a thriller movie. Ace was walking slowly, dragging her oversized sword like something definitely out of a thriller movie. In all honesty, the squeak I made was not the manliest.

"Told you," I whispered to the guy beside me. He only nodded.

Ace walked up to Adeline, just as the fallen girl made it to her feet. She was determined, that was for sure. Ace looked at her for a moment. Then she held out her sword, for Adeline to take. I nearly laughed out loud from the sheer tension of it all.

Adeline snatched at the hilt, and the moment she touched it, there was a small flash of lightning, connecting her hand to the sword, and she hit the deck. Knocked out by lightning from the hilt of a sword.