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    Chapter 0708


    M''s ruby eyes shed with momentary annoyance. "If your champion prevails, I will... consider releasing them," she hissed coldly. "But she must remain here, bound, for the duration of the fight. I can''t have her scurrying away like a rat."


    Enzo''s eyes narrowed. "How can I trust you?" he growled. "You''ll only consider letting her go home?"


    Annoyance flickered over M''s perfect features before they smoothed over again. "Fine. I vow that if you win, no harm wille to your mate or her... mongrel offspring. But attempting to flee before the battle''s end will instantly forfeit my mercy. Do we have an ord?"


    Enzo paused, his eyes flickering over to me. I felt like a fly caught in a web, unsure which way to p my wings in an attempt to escape. And the spider was right beside me, knowing fully well that my attempts to flee her web were pointless.


    "Fine," Enzo finally muttered. "We have a deal."


    Before I could react, M''s guards suddenly looped coarse silver ropes around my wrists, searing pain coursing through me. I gasped as my eyes began to water, the silver instantly sapping my strength.


    Enzo cursed, but didn''t resist as we were hauled outside toward the diatorial arena at the heart of this macabre underground pce.


    My bound hands shook as the guards forced us forward. Since I couldn''t run now, all I could hope for was that Enzo had a real n hidden beneath the surface; something better than sending me packing off to Mountainview without him and without Luke.


    But what could he and Luke possibly do against M''s magic, and the countless armed guards surrounding every possible exit?


    My apprehension must have shown on my face. Enzo''s eyes met mine, his voice coursing through my mind once more. "Just trust me, Nina. I''ve got a n."


    But I knew better; I could hear the slight waver underneath his determination, the way his blistered hands trembled. His n wasn''t concrete.


    Too soon, the guards dragged me to a tform overlooking the arena''s edge, just behind M''s ck throne, and forced me down onto a crude wooden bench. They surrounded me so I couldn''t move.


    Across the packed dirt ring, crimson banners snapped up above, the jeering crowd thirsty for violence.


    And beside me sat M on her obsidian throne, her wine-red gown spilling like blood to the arena floor.


    The ng of gates drew my gaze to two tunnel openings at opposite ends of the oval. Enzo emerged from one gate, his silver ropes removed. He held his blistered palms up, ying to the crowd.


    Roars and boos echoed from the circr benches at this show of defiance.


    At M''s subtle gesture, the opposite gate rose upward. Luke stepped out a momentter.


    My heart stuttered at how small he looked. He was always the smallest man in our group, always relying more on his smarts and powers of electricity over his strength. His soft eyes searched the crowd until he found me.


    I tried to give him a bolstering smile, but it felt ghastly on my face. How could I smile at a moment like this? How could I smile when my friend was about to die?


    Trumpets red as M rose, her arms uplifted. Her amplified voice echoed off the ck stones. "My people! On this day, we cull the weak to make way for the strong! A champion has been chosen!"


    The mob erupted into raucous apuse. Across the arena, Enzo tensed into a fighting stance. His strength had returned quickly after the silver had been removed. Luke hesitated, then did the same.


    Their eyes met and something unspoken passed between them. What was Enzo nning? "You know the stakes. Let us see whichbatant fate deems worthy!" M concluded.


    She swept her arms down and screamed, "Let the battle begin!"