Chapter 36 · Crown of the Hunter

"Get away from him, Jace!" Vera shouted as Hector Vane raised both hands.

The Pit answered first.

Black ribs of stone punched up through the floor. Chains snapped out of the dust and wrapped around my legs, my throat, my arms. Vera fired twice. The bullets hit the chains and flattened with bright sparks.

Vane smiled from the center of the broken arena.

"You really thought the crown would choose you?" he asked.

I pulled against the chains. They tightened until the metal cut into my hide.

"I do not need a crown," I said.

"No. You need an audience. Every starving beast does."

Vera moved in front of me, rifle aimed at Vane's chest. Her shoulder was bleeding through her jacket. She kept her stance steady anyway.

"Drop the field, Vane. Now."

"You still give orders?" Vane tilted his head. "After I showed you what sits under this farm?"

"I saw enough."

"You saw a door. I showed Jace the hand behind it."

The chains jerked me forward. My claws scraped lines through the stone.

Vane's eyes flashed silver. Not the pale glow of the Pit's lesser seers. His light was sharper. Cleaner.