Page 90 of Hell’s Weapon

“It must be here somewhere,” Seffy calls out as we reach opposite sides on our second hunt around. “What did the clue say again?”

Milo slowly signs the words as I say them, both of us having memorised the clue. “My favourite tree is one where you can tuck yourself into and watch the stars. The area of the sky is small but it’s so peaceful you could stay up there forever.”

“Wait, we’ve been looking at it wrong. It’s not the roots, it's the branches.” Rio moves into the middle of the clearing and assesses the circle of trees around it.

He moves off, approaching one with several low branches and starts to climb. The three of us on the ground move to the base and watch his ascent.

“Be careful, it’ll be slippery,” Seffy calls up.

“Aw, you worried about me?” Rio’s voice comes from above, but we can no longer see him.

I listen hard as he climbs, noticing the creaks of the wood and the assured steps of his footholds. I keep braced in case he slips, knowing I could break his fall enough to stop him dying out here.

Luckily, he seems like a decent climber and we are left waiting with growing impatience until he finally calls down again.

“Got it!”

Seffy breaks into a girlish squeal and claps her hands. Milo releases a heavy exhale, a smile stretching his lips. His clear euphoria at solving the task is infectious and I’m grinning widely back at him as we wait for Rio to return to the ground.

Jumping the last section, Rio holds up our prize. It’s a small bottle, round at the base and extending into a thin neck. It’s made of a dark green glass and reminds me of several of the bottles in Khaos’s potions room back at the mansion he shares with Hades.

After we each inspect it, Rio takes it back for safe keeping and we begin the descent feeling a lightness we hadn’t on the way up. We’d done it. Task two was nearly completed and even though I wasn’t really competing, I still feel the win.

And Wyatt and Milo would be getting to the final stage.

A twig snapping ahead halts the happiness buzzing in my veins. The others don’t hear it as they slam into my back and each other.

“Hey,” Seffy exclaims. “Why the sudden stop?”

“Shhh!” I hiss.

“Up here, fellas,” a male voice rings through the night. I hear several sets of footsteps.

Fuck.

“We need to hide,” I snap. “Now!”

But we’re too slow. Five other contestants appear through the trees, surrounding us. They’re all men, all built bigger than us, bar Rio.

My strength will outmatch them, of course, but my immediate instinct is to protect the humans at my back.

I step out, away from our little group and Rio, to his credit, is next to move, coming to my side.

“Ah, look what we’ve stumbled across. Wyatt’s little harem.” I swing my gaze to the speaker. Its number Sixty-Two.

“Let us pass,” Rio calls out.

“Not a chance, gangster. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this.”

“What do you mean?” I try to calculate everything I know about this contestant. His name is Cameron, he’s here because of his investigation skills. He’s on my list as the potential killer, second floor, first building. Should be in Garrick’s cells right now.

Assessing his body more closely, I notice that two of his fingers are strapped up, along with his thumb. The others also have digits in bandages and two are sporting black eyes. They’re all from the second floor. All suspects and all looking pissed.

“You act like you don’t know why I would be hunting you down, princess,” Cameron jeers in response to my question.

Honestly, I’m a bit baffled at his clear anger towards me.

“That dick of a boyfriend of yours dobbed us all in.”