Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy, Belle Malory [motivational novels for students .txt] 📗

Her outburst was soon forgotten though, and everyone’s attention refocused on the fights. First up was Hark and the red-tailed griffin. Since the combatants weren’t allowed to fly, his weapon of choice was a bow and arrow. Hark moved lithely, using the boulders to hide behind, ducking between the trees that had been set up in the arena. His arrow caught the griffin between the eyes, just as it had been about to strike. The griffin disappeared into a swirling breeze of smoky ash.

One by one, the gladiators fought off their monsters, each one taking on a more difficult one than the last. So far, the only person to get hurt was Elaina. One of the snake heads bit her in the arm right before she decapitated all nine heads by hurling her axe. Thankfully, the potions master was waiting on site to deliver the antivenom.

When it came time for Xander’s fight, both Ione and I sat on the edge of our seats. She chewed the beds of her nails, something I’d never seen her do. We weren’t the only ones watching in anticipation either. The entire crowd, which had been noisy before, went silent for this particular fight.

The moment the graptor was released, it wasted no time, racing straight for Xander. He ducked behind a boulder, and the graptor’s horn slammed into it. My heart dropped into my stomach as I listened to the boulder crack down the middle.

I couldn’t do this.

I didn’t know what I was thinking, wanting to watch. This was torture. My eyes stung as Xander barely dodged another attack. I rose out of my chair, apologized to Ione, then fled back down the stairs. The dark quiet tunnel enveloped me at the bottom, and I ran into it in a hurry to get away from the sound of those heavy hooves.

Once I was far enough away, I leaned back against the wall, alone in the dark, listening to the sound of my own erratic breath. It was better than listening to Xander’s screams. Better than watching him die a painful death. I couldn’t bear to see him get hurt, and I wondered what that meant. Just how much did I care about that smartass, reckless gladiator? I blinked, shaking my head at myself. First, I choose someone whose heart belonged to my sister, and now someone who swore never to love me. Clearly, I was drawn to unavailable guys.

I drew in another deep breath, knowing I needed to get back out there and face whatever happened. Xander wouldn’t hide in the shadows while I was being chomped to bits. He would watch every moment, cheering me on, even if he couldn’t stand it. And that’s exactly what I was going to do.

My wrist caught against something sharp, and I froze. The temperature seemed to drop out of nowhere. I rubbed the sides of my arms, chills tingling down my spine. There was something there in the tunnel, something not human or mage. It slithered and hissed around me, coming from all angles.

A sliver of sunlight from the entrance called to me—Go! Run! Get the hell out of here.

But as soon as the thought came, my entire body jerked back, and I was slammed up against the wall. The impact knocked the breath out of me. For several seconds, I hung there, suspended and struggling to breathe.

“What do you want?” I choked out, feeling that thing push against my wrists and chest. Cool, wet netting trapped me there, keeping me stuck to the wall. I tried to break free, but I was stuck, in some kind of…web? Chills soared through me.

Oh God.

Please, sweet stars, don’t let that thing be a giant spider. Like a trapped animal, I freaked out. I struggled, twisting and turning, trying desperately to break free from the bindings. But it only made them tighter, and sharper. It stung against my skin, making me wince from the pain. I got one piercing scream out before more of it came around my neck and mouth, knocking my head back against the stone wall.

Voices stirred in the air, like echoes of the real thing. I couldn’t make out any of them, but they all sounded angry.

All of the struggle and fight had gone out of me, and I was pretty sure I was seconds away from losing consciousness. One last thing occurred though, an imprinted fact from a book. Suddenly, I knew what had trapped me—a nightcrawler. I almost laughed at the irony. All I had to do was spell light into the room to kill it, but my mouth was muffled from its webbing. I couldn’t speak if I tried, and it was getting harder to breathe.

My eyelids grew heavy as I lost oxygen. I was fading fast.

Dimly, I heard someone coming. There were shouts. Light flared. I felt my body dropping, almost weightless. A deep voice shouted for help.

When I opened my eyes again, I wondered if I had crossed over. A beautiful angel was there, his brown hair haloed in light, and he was asking me if I was okay.

I blinked several times, and breathed in slow, deep breaths.

Not an angel, just Peter Hallas, but he may as well have been as far as I was concerned. Guess that meant I wasn’t dead. “Sheridan? You with me?” he said, sounding worried.

I blinked, looking around, noticing some of the nightcrawler’s webbing was still stuck to the tunnel’s wall.

“Is the crawler dead?” I croaked out, looking in all the dark corners.

“As soon as the light hit, it flew away. I was worried about getting you down, and there was no time to catch it.” He glanced around, stroking his jaw. “There’s never been one at Arcadia before. I wonder what brought it here.”

Me.

That thing was after me, just like the chimera.

I leaned forward, and Peter moved to help me up. “Oh here,” he said, offering his arm.

“Thank you,” I said, grateful. “If you hadn’t showed up when you did…” I shivered.

“Don’t mention it. I’m