Dark Heart of Magic
Page 25
“Funny, I remember you moaning and crying,” Devon drawled. “I’m sure you remember too. It was back in the arcade a few weeks ago when Lila put you in that wrist lock.”
Blake glared at Devon, who smirked back. Even worse, Victor stared at me again, his eyes narrowed in thought as he studied me far more closely than he had before.
“Well, please give my regards to your guard and tell her that I hope she feels better soon,” Claudia said.
“Of course,” Victor murmured, still staring at me.
His gaze locked with mine. Once again, his icy hate for Claudia and all the Sinclairs surged through me, along with cold curiosity about who I was and what I’d done to his son. This time, I couldn’t hold back my shiver.
Victor looked at me a moment longer, then turned his attention back to Claudia. “I’ll be interested to see how your guards do in the tournament.”
“And I yours,” she replied. “And my congratulations to Deah for finishing second today. She really gave Katia Volkov a run for her money on the course—before the incident.”
Victor’s mouth flattened out. “Yes, well, second place is really only first loser, isn’t it?”
Deah winced again, but she finally spoke up. “I should have beaten her. It won’t happen again. And I’m still going to win the tournament. Don’t worry about that.”
“We’ll talk about that when we get home,” Victor said, his voice as cold with his daughter as it had been with everyone else.
Hurt flashed in Deah’s eyes, and her shoulders drooped. She fixed her gaze on the grass again, as though that would hide the embarrassed blush in her cheeks.
“Until tomorrow then,” Claudia said.
“Until tomorrow,” Victor replied.
He and Claudia tipped their heads at each other; then Victor turned and headed out of the stadium. Blake glared at Devon and me one more time and followed his father. The guards fell in step behind them.
Deah nodded at Claudia, then turned to go. I don’t know why, but something urged me forward, and I stepped up, reached out, and touched her shoulder.
“You really did do a great job today,” I said. “You flew through all the obstacles like they weren’t even there. I couldn’t have done that. I didn’t do that.”
Deah gave me a cold look. “Don’t be an idiot. I lost to Katia, just like my father said.”
She shook off my hand, whipped around, and hurried after Victor and Blake.
Deah fell in step beside them, but Victor and Blake were talking to each other, and they didn’t so much as glance at her. Her shoulders slumped again, but Deah kept walking right beside them.
I frowned, wondering at the tight, twisting sensation in my own chest. It took me a second to realize that it was pity.
For the first time, it occurred to me that maybe I wasn’t the only one Victor and Blake had hurt.
The officials announced that the obstacle course was closed so they could investigate further. They canceled the other heats for the day and announced that the competitors would be randomly seeded, with the individual matches starting in the morning. The crowd groaned, but everyone packed up their belongings and headed home. We did the same.
Two hours later, I was back in the library, sitting on a white velvet settee by the fireplace, along with Mo. Claudia and Devon were sitting in chairs across from us.
Angelo, Felix, Reginald, and Oscar were watching over Henry, who was in the mansion infirmary. They’d fixed his broken leg with some stitch-sting, and he was resting now. I didn’t envy him. A broken leg was bad enough, but I thought the pain of the liquid stitch-sting seeping into your wound and yanking, pulling, and sewing all your skin, muscles, and bones back together was even worse.
“So you think the ropes were deliberately cut,” Claudia said, scrolling through the photos I’d taken on Mo’s phone.
“I know they were—I could see it.”
“Maybe you could, but the officials didn’t,” she said. “Or they chose to ignore it. Either way, they’ve ruled it an accident. The tournament will proceed as planned in the morning.”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t they admit that someone cut the ropes?”
“Because the Tournament of Blades is one of the biggest events of the summer,” Mo chimed in. “Nobody wants to cancel it. Even if one of the officials did realize that the ropes were cut, they would still declare it an accident. There’s too much pressure from the Families to let the tournament continue for the officials to rock the boat. Too much money from ticket sales and concessions is at stake.”
Claudia handed Mo his phone. “The bigger question is who cut the ropes and why?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was too far down on the ladder—all I saw was the flash of the knife. Devon?”
“Katia and Deah were both on the platform when the ropes started unraveling. So were Poppy, Blake, and a few other folks.” Devon shook his head. “I didn’t see anything either. Then again, I wasn’t really looking.”
I drew in a breath. They wouldn’t like what I was about to say, but the suspicion had been running through my mind for hours now. “What about Vance? He was up there too.”
The three of them stared at me in surprise.
“You think Vance cut the ropes?” Devon asked. “Why?”
“Well, he was right above me when it happened. And he wasn’t exactly thrilled that I was in the tournament.”
I told them how Vance had tried to sabotage me before we’d reached the rope ladder.
“Throwing sand in your eyes, tripping you, shoving you out of the way. Yeah, Vance can be a jerk like that. But actually cutting the ropes?” Devon shook his head again. “That’s pretty hardcore. Besides, Vance and Henry are friends. Vance wouldn’t have wanted to hurt him.”
“Maybe Vance didn’t realize that Henry was on the ladder too,” I said. “Or maybe he just didn’t care.”
Nobody had any answers, and we all fell silent, lost in our own thoughts. Finally, Claudia got to her feet.
“Well, no matter who cut the ropes, I want you two to be careful,” she said, looking at Devon and me. “The tournament is always a bit volatile, with all the Families in one place.”
“What if it happens again?” I asked. “What if someone tries to hurt the other competitors again?”
Blake glared at Devon, who smirked back. Even worse, Victor stared at me again, his eyes narrowed in thought as he studied me far more closely than he had before.
“Well, please give my regards to your guard and tell her that I hope she feels better soon,” Claudia said.
“Of course,” Victor murmured, still staring at me.
His gaze locked with mine. Once again, his icy hate for Claudia and all the Sinclairs surged through me, along with cold curiosity about who I was and what I’d done to his son. This time, I couldn’t hold back my shiver.
Victor looked at me a moment longer, then turned his attention back to Claudia. “I’ll be interested to see how your guards do in the tournament.”
“And I yours,” she replied. “And my congratulations to Deah for finishing second today. She really gave Katia Volkov a run for her money on the course—before the incident.”
Victor’s mouth flattened out. “Yes, well, second place is really only first loser, isn’t it?”
Deah winced again, but she finally spoke up. “I should have beaten her. It won’t happen again. And I’m still going to win the tournament. Don’t worry about that.”
“We’ll talk about that when we get home,” Victor said, his voice as cold with his daughter as it had been with everyone else.
Hurt flashed in Deah’s eyes, and her shoulders drooped. She fixed her gaze on the grass again, as though that would hide the embarrassed blush in her cheeks.
“Until tomorrow then,” Claudia said.
“Until tomorrow,” Victor replied.
He and Claudia tipped their heads at each other; then Victor turned and headed out of the stadium. Blake glared at Devon and me one more time and followed his father. The guards fell in step behind them.
Deah nodded at Claudia, then turned to go. I don’t know why, but something urged me forward, and I stepped up, reached out, and touched her shoulder.
“You really did do a great job today,” I said. “You flew through all the obstacles like they weren’t even there. I couldn’t have done that. I didn’t do that.”
Deah gave me a cold look. “Don’t be an idiot. I lost to Katia, just like my father said.”
She shook off my hand, whipped around, and hurried after Victor and Blake.
Deah fell in step beside them, but Victor and Blake were talking to each other, and they didn’t so much as glance at her. Her shoulders slumped again, but Deah kept walking right beside them.
I frowned, wondering at the tight, twisting sensation in my own chest. It took me a second to realize that it was pity.
For the first time, it occurred to me that maybe I wasn’t the only one Victor and Blake had hurt.
The officials announced that the obstacle course was closed so they could investigate further. They canceled the other heats for the day and announced that the competitors would be randomly seeded, with the individual matches starting in the morning. The crowd groaned, but everyone packed up their belongings and headed home. We did the same.
Two hours later, I was back in the library, sitting on a white velvet settee by the fireplace, along with Mo. Claudia and Devon were sitting in chairs across from us.
Angelo, Felix, Reginald, and Oscar were watching over Henry, who was in the mansion infirmary. They’d fixed his broken leg with some stitch-sting, and he was resting now. I didn’t envy him. A broken leg was bad enough, but I thought the pain of the liquid stitch-sting seeping into your wound and yanking, pulling, and sewing all your skin, muscles, and bones back together was even worse.
“So you think the ropes were deliberately cut,” Claudia said, scrolling through the photos I’d taken on Mo’s phone.
“I know they were—I could see it.”
“Maybe you could, but the officials didn’t,” she said. “Or they chose to ignore it. Either way, they’ve ruled it an accident. The tournament will proceed as planned in the morning.”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t they admit that someone cut the ropes?”
“Because the Tournament of Blades is one of the biggest events of the summer,” Mo chimed in. “Nobody wants to cancel it. Even if one of the officials did realize that the ropes were cut, they would still declare it an accident. There’s too much pressure from the Families to let the tournament continue for the officials to rock the boat. Too much money from ticket sales and concessions is at stake.”
Claudia handed Mo his phone. “The bigger question is who cut the ropes and why?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was too far down on the ladder—all I saw was the flash of the knife. Devon?”
“Katia and Deah were both on the platform when the ropes started unraveling. So were Poppy, Blake, and a few other folks.” Devon shook his head. “I didn’t see anything either. Then again, I wasn’t really looking.”
I drew in a breath. They wouldn’t like what I was about to say, but the suspicion had been running through my mind for hours now. “What about Vance? He was up there too.”
The three of them stared at me in surprise.
“You think Vance cut the ropes?” Devon asked. “Why?”
“Well, he was right above me when it happened. And he wasn’t exactly thrilled that I was in the tournament.”
I told them how Vance had tried to sabotage me before we’d reached the rope ladder.
“Throwing sand in your eyes, tripping you, shoving you out of the way. Yeah, Vance can be a jerk like that. But actually cutting the ropes?” Devon shook his head again. “That’s pretty hardcore. Besides, Vance and Henry are friends. Vance wouldn’t have wanted to hurt him.”
“Maybe Vance didn’t realize that Henry was on the ladder too,” I said. “Or maybe he just didn’t care.”
Nobody had any answers, and we all fell silent, lost in our own thoughts. Finally, Claudia got to her feet.
“Well, no matter who cut the ropes, I want you two to be careful,” she said, looking at Devon and me. “The tournament is always a bit volatile, with all the Families in one place.”
“What if it happens again?” I asked. “What if someone tries to hurt the other competitors again?”
