37: Scorched

Breakfast was spent in my room with Alice who ate three whole plates of eggs, thirteen pancakes, five slices of toast and six glasses of apple juice- all courtesy of my *mate* Sebastian. What would that man not do for me? Oh yes, give me answers.
"Two mates?" She uttered after taking a sip of her juice.
I gulped at the blood in my cup and nodded, for about the fifth time that morning. "Yes, Alice. I have two mates."
"I can't even imagine it. Oh Goddess, the sex must be amazing!" She uttered dreamily. I almost choked on my blood but recovered before the red liquid could be spluttered around on my bed.
"Could we not discuss my sex life please." I asked, more irritated than anything else. At this, she froze and turned towards me with her green eyes wide in shock. "*Sex* life? You have a sex life?"
I really walked into that one, didn't I?
I tried to deny it, multiple times, but Alice could sniff out a lie a mile away. "Fine, fine," I uttered. "Liam."
"Who?" She uttered.
I sighed and then explained further, "Liam. Tall, handsome, dark hair and dark eyes. Yeah, I kind of... you know."
"Oh. My. Moon. Goddess! You slept with someone who *wasn't* your mate!" She yelled out in disbelief. She really did know how to make a person feel better about themself- note the sarcasm.
"Look, I can't help it sometimes. As a half-vampire, I'm a slave to my desires. And Liam has been... good to me." I said, thinking about all of his kind acts.
Alice immediately gasped, catching all of my attention. "Holy shit! Crushing on and sleeping with someone you're not mated to. You really *have* changed Phoenix." Or perhaps this is who I'd always been, and I'd just forgotten, just like how I seemingly forgot Sebastian and Demetri. I kept silent though, letting Alice's praises and disbelief fill the room absently. I let my mind drift back to Diana. I couldn't stop picturing her in my head with her hand outstretched toward me and that pleading, desperate look on her face. Did she want me to save her? And if so, what was I saving her from.
"... Phoenix?" Alice said, frustrated and clicking her fingers in my face. "Where you even listening to me Phoenix?"
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that."
"I was asking what time Sebastian was going to fetch you for training today?"
And then it slowly began to dawn on me, he wasn't fetching me from my room today. I was late... by an hour.
"He's going to *kill* me!" I exclaimed urgently as I got myself off of the bed and began running my lungs out to the pond, where we were supposed to meet.
When I arrived, I was surprised to find both Demetri and Sebastian waiting for me, with Demetri on his phone and Sebastian checking his watch. As soon as I neared them, Sebastian's stern eyes met with mine and he let out a long sigh.
"You're an hour late, Phoenix. An *hour* late. How many times do you expect to make me wait for you?"
I rolled my eyes at him and panted out a quick "sorry", before turning towards Demetri and asking, "What are you doing here, Demetri?"
He smiled at me and then said, "I'm here to watch you train, of course."
My jaw dropped at his statement. As far as I was concerned, he was supposed to be in hiding. Who the hell knew what would have happened if Demetri entered the training hall which was practically filled with hostile bloodsuckers?
"B-but-"
"Come along now, you've already wasted enough time being late." Sebastian said before turning toward the water of the pond, dipping a hand in and uttering "Aperio" once again. And soon, we were in the training room which, as I suspected, was filled with vampires. The second our feet landed on the floor, all eyes were on us... well, Demetri, to be exact. Some peered in fascination- Aaliyah and Felicity- and the rest in complete shock. But Demetri was unphased by the attention on him, instead, he stared excitedly at the training rooms before him.
By watching me train, he probably meant watching me almost die numerous times. I still couldn't quite get the water elemental room out of my mind and how it felt to almost drown for hours. I wondered what torture awaited me today.
"Today," Sebastian began as he walked out in front of us in an effort to lead us to one of the rooms, "you will be training in the fire elemental room. Now, this one should be a little easier for you because werewolves are good at regulating their temperature quite well. Vampires, however, struggle with heat and fire and so you'll have the upper hand here."
"I thought I wasn't supposed to use my werewolf abilities," I said.
Sebastian nodded and then explained further. "Yes, you are not allowed to use your werewolf abilities, but this is a matter of how your body differs from normal vampires and not a matter of ability. Naturally, as a half werewolf, you will be different and so the council cannot stop you from... well from utilising how your body works. Understood?"
I nodded in understanding and then followed him into the massive room. It was filled with hardened lava, amongst which, were flat, shiny pieces of rock designed into steppingstones. In the centre of it, mounted on a large rock was a bright, roughly cut orange gem.
"Stay on the platinum paths and away from the hardened lava. Once this room is switched on, magma will begin to escape from the underground chambers of the room. A wrong step could mean a lost foot. On that note, the entire room will soon also be engulfed in flames, your job is to stay as far away from them as possible... not to mention the fireballs."
"F-fireballs?" I uttered and gulped thereafter. I was definitely going to die today.
"Yes. In the Game of Successio, this round will involve a game of theft. You need to steal an object that will be placed in the centre of the room, much like that orange crystal over there. The paths of platinum steps will not be as nice as these ones. To get to the object, you will need to avoid stepping on any other of the rocky steps and you will need to dodge flaming hot fireballs. Of course, I do not need to remind you that Sanguis will *really* be testing you in particular. Survival means death in the future and death means death in the present. Future death can somewhat be prevented, but present death cannot, so try not to die." Sebastian said.
"Always such a sweet-talker." Demetri said, and then turned towards me. "Don't worry, Phoenix, you are allowed to receive help from me in the games. I won't fail you."
Hearing Demetri say this was just that more comforting than hearing Sebastian telling me not to die and I smiled at him, grateful for his kindness.
"Enough talking. It's time to flip the switch. Demetri and I will be just outside, so if we see that you're really struggling, then the room will be switched off and you'll be taken to get medical attention."
I nodded and put on a brave face. Inside, however, I was terrified out of my mind. A room of fire that I was supposed to battle through... it seemed ludicrous. Goddess, these games were going to be the death of me.
When Sebastian said he was going to "flip the switch", he didn't mention that the second he did, flames would be dancing around me, swarming around dangerously close. In fact, I could swear that they began to close in on me with every dwindling second. And so, I immediately got to work, trying to find, out of all the illuminated rocks, which one was made of platinum. It took a few steps before I caught the glimmer of the step quite a distance away from me. I used all the strength I possibly could to launch myself steadily onto the step and when I landed on it, I was just an inch or so away from the boiling hot stream of lava in front of me. By now I'd already started heating up myself and sweat began dripping from my body. Instinctively my tongue stuck out of my mouth and I began to pant. If only I could use more of my werewolf ability.
I was just about to make a move to jump towards the next flat stone made of platinum, when all of a sudden, I heard the loud rumbling, and the room began to shake before a bright, large, hot ball of fire was hurled right towards me. I ducked down, hearing it fly past me and feeling the scorching hot heat it emitted. Once I was sure it was gone, I turned back and was surprised to see it had disappeared into absolute nothingness. I was now in an even greater sense of urgency, not wanting one of those deadly things to touch me. And so, I quickly leapt to the next steppingstone, more gracefully now than I had before.
"That was excellent Phoenix!" I heard Sebastian say. I looked around for the source of his voice and was surprised to see an intercom in the top corner of the room. I wondered whether he could hear me too.
I tried another step, wanting to get closer to the gem, to snatch it right off that rock. For a moment, I let instinct take over as I leapt from rock to rock, dodging the fireballs as they flew towards me. And then finally, the gem was but a step away, just within my reach. I took a careful step towards it, tired now and ready to end it all just by picking it up. I let out heavy pants as I reached out towards it, but just as I was about to reach out and touch the surface of the glimmering orange gem, I noticed that right in front of me, a bright ball of fire was being hurled towards me. I had just seconds to react and so I accidentally stumbled back and tripped over the rough surface of the ground beneath me. My forearm and my hand immediately touched at the searing hot lava, scorching my skin and flesh. I cried out in agony, and just as I was about to help myself back up, my other hand sunk into the rock which now softened beneath my touch and thus, another hand of mine fell victim to the unrelenting rage of the heat beneath me. My eyes began to water and tear involuntarily as the pain shot through my arms. Finally, after lunging toward the safety of the embankment the rock was on, I managed to get away from the evil clutches of the lava. I didn't dare look at the damage, afraid of what was left behind. Instead, I curled up tightly and fell into a state of unconsciousness as Sebastian and Demetri switched the room off. All I could see before me was darkness, and all I could hear, was "Diana".
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A reminder to check out "Seducing Lucien" which is the sequel to my novel, "The Alpha's Vixen". Seducing Lucien can be read as a stand-alone novel.
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!