Eight of Hearts: The Vision - Book 2

Chapter 15

Jonas lay flat on his back, trying not to pass out as his vision still spun from when Tavros had struck him. The blow had also knocked his glasses off, making it even harder to see what was going on around him. Had he succeeded in taking down Tavros? Or had he only managed to alert Tavros to James's presence?

"Jonas!" he heard James yell. "What did you do?!"

Jonas sat up and turned to look for Tavros, but couldn't make out more than a blur of his enemy. Judging from James's tone, however, he could guess that his surprise attack had worked. And if it had worked how he hoped, Tavros would be out for the remainder of the tournament. Jonas might be too, judging from how that single attack had left him. He tasted blood, and turned to spit it onto the ground. Judging from the pain, his lip was split, but it didn't feel like he was missing any teeth.

Jonas heard Tavros collapse, and he felt a surge of pride; he had taken down the biggest threat to them with minimal injury. James would get over it soon enough, he was certain.

He could hear James as he rushed past him to where Tavros had fallen. "Don't bother," Jonas muttered, "let Circé's doctors fix him up."

James didn't answer, though Jonas could only guess as to why since he was blind as a bat. He felt around on his hands and knees for his glasses, finding them several feet away from where he'd fallen. Once he had put them back on, he stood carefully and turned to face James, gingerly touching his swollen cheek with his hand.

He froze when he realized Tavros was gone. Had he messed up? Was Tavros so quick that he had managed to escape before his rune could take effect?

"The Chosen One has killed Gilberto Tavros!" Circé shouted over the loudspeaker. "The first death in five years and the strongest warrior has been slain by a rookie!"

The air around them was suddenly filled with drones as they swooped in to get a close-up shot of James. Jonas was confused; why were they giving James the credit? And Tavros shouldn't have died from that, at least not so quickly. He stepped forward, intending to speak up and take the credit.

Then one of the drones fired a dart, hitting James in the side of the neck. James staggered from the blow, but didn't seem surprised by it. He turned to Jonas and held the rift blade out for him to take, but the drug was already taking effect as he swayed on the spot.

Before Jonas could take the blade, Chad's chain whipped out, catching the rift blade and yanking it from James's hands before he collapsed. "You have some nerve, barging in and interrupting my fight like that," Chad growled. His expression was bitter, and his eyes were hard as he glared daggers at Jonas. "You'd better be grateful your friend here took the fall for you, or it would all be over for you already."

"The remainder of this round is called off," Circé said over the speaker. "The Chosen One has killed another contestant, and so his service contract will take immediate effect! There will be no winner announced for this round, but the third and final round will proceed tomorrow for the remaining contestants."

Jonas tried to go to James, but the drones swooped in close, cutting him off. Chad Rayner stepped over and lifted the unconscious boy by his shirt and slung him over his shoulder, never once taking his eyes off Jonas.

"That was a neat trick you pulled back there," Chad said. "Too bad that cost you your chance at freedom." Then he turned and headed for the closest tunnel leading back underground with James and the rift blade in tow.

"This is bad," Tobias muttered, wringing his hands anxiously.

"Relax, there's no way James would have actually killed anyone," Bryce said, though his incessant foot-tapping betrayed his own nervousness. "I'm sure this was all just a misunderstanding. Right Jonas?"