[book one]
The game was simple: A contest comprised of three unique challenges, designed to test a human's strength physically and mentally, their personality compatibility, and their chance of survival.
The prize was excruciatingly tempting: The ch...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
SOPHIE'S BODY MOVED of its own accord. A mixture of adrenaline and something else, something dangerous, sizzled within her veins. Her world shifted. Her gaze sharpened. The obstacles moved in slow motion around her.
A log swished out at her, and her body automatically ducked down –just in time to dance around another log aimed at her feet. Her body moved with a grace that Sophie had never experienced before. Her hand gripped a log, and she used the momentum to push herself upward. Then she catapulted over two other logs.
Within seconds, Sophie had danced through most of the second obstacle.
Then the faint scent of rust wafted around her head. It wasn't just rust; it was sweet honeysuckle mixed with milky chocolate. Her mouth watered.
Sophie froze, perched atop of a log. The world continued to revolve slowly around her. Her gaze immediately zeroed in on her roommate, who had scraped her knee. The girl howled and clutched at her knee as blood trickled down her leg.
A sharp pain pierced the inside of her mouth, just above her teeth.
Dazed, Sophie pressed a hand to her mouth. Her heart thudded rapidly inside her chest, like the blades of a helicopter. She blinked, and her fingers twitched. The skin around her fingernails stung, as if she'd been stabbed by a bunch of bees. Sophie struggled to make sense of what was going on.
Her gaze tore away from the girl, and it flickered over toward Eli. His mismatched gaze locked with hers, his expression grim. Aubrey still stood beside him, and looked murderous. She glared at Sophie so coldly that the hairs on her arms stood up straight. A rumble vibrated at the base of her throat. Sophie shifted, the balls of her feet pressed flat against the wood beneath her.
Something else caught her attention, then.
Headmaster had shifted in his chair, leaned forward slightly. His haunted eyes remained trained on Sophie, something akin to wonder shimmering within.
Sophie gritted her teeth.
A blur whooshed past her. It wasn't really a blur; a small voice in the back of her head told her that it should have been a blur, with the speed had been running. It was a girl from the Night Class. Sophie grumbled under her breath and turned, watching as the girl advanced to the last obstacle.
It was a rope, suspended high above the air between two poles.
Sophie danced around the rest of the logs and crossed the distance between the two obstacles within seconds. The dark pit beneath it seemed to stretch on endlessly, a scrawny net shielding it. Sophie scrambled up the ladder that was attached to the first pole. Her gaze remained focused on the girl from the Night Class. She stood on the platform and jumped. Her hands clasped around the rope. It bounced at the sudden addition of her weight.
The girl moved like an incredibly graceful monkey. As one hand grabbed the rope, the other released it, and she used her momentum to propel forward.
