BooksBarbecue
Back Legendborn
Chapters (68)
  1. Dedication
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. THREE MONTHS LATER
  4. PART ONE ORDER
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. PART TWO DISCORD
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. PART THREE ROOTS
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. PART FOUR SPLINTER
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. 52
  60. 53
  61. 54
  62. 55
  63. 56
  64. 57
  65. 58
  66. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I shiver, remembering the sensation of Sel gripping my ankle in the darkness. “Should I be relieved that you didn’t feel his desire to murder me?”

An awkward pause. “Yes…?”

“Wow.”

“Yep.” He takes my hand and tugs me forward.

“Wait, did you say arena?”

It’s abundantly clear that Sydney despises me. As soon as Tor paired us together, she’d shot me a glare searing enough to cause third-degree burns.

Sydney doesn’t seem to care much for Vaughn, so that’s not it. To her credit, she’d turned to me, point-blank, and told me exactly why she doesn’t like me: “I’m here to win this thing and I don’t trust anyone here.” Fair and direct. Can’t fault her.

Unfortunately for her, she’s going to have to trust me tonight. Because the only way either of us moves forward to the second trial is if we do it as a team.

If I fail tonight, so does she, and then she’s out. Eliminated. We both are.

Which is why I’m not going to fail.

Sydney immediately took point at the top of the small ridge and ordered me to stay down in the ditch of our base, standing guard over our three Onceborn “victims.”

“Any signal?” I whisper.

“Nothing yet,” she bites out without looking at me, annoyed before anything has even happened.

I test the weight of the midsize stuffed mannequin. It must be 150 pounds at least. I pull it up over my shoulders, balancing on my heels, and stand up in a squat the way my father taught me. My knees shake and I get the mannequin up in the air without dropping it.

But could I run with it?

The “arena” is a flat strip of land that cuts through the forest behind the Lodge. At some point it’d been cleared to make way for those huge transmission power lines, but now it’s just a grassy, open highway between two dense woods. A football field from one side to the other. There are Pages like us stationed fifty feet apart on either side, hidden by trees and bushes, tucked into ditches. And somewhere on a high ridge sit nine Scions and Squires with a clear view of the trial to come.

Lanterns give us just enough light to navigate the arena, illuminating the starting points for each team and, across the field, where we need to end up if we want to win.