Chapter 12 · Voidbound - Chapter 12: The Champion's Prey

"Field's up." Rook snapped his fingers and the air went dead.

I felt it before I saw it—the Hatchling's presence cutting out like someone yanked the plug. The bond went silent. Not severed. Muted.

"What—" I started.

"Suppression ward." Rook circled me, boots crunching on broken concrete. "Guild tech. Blocks anything Below from manifesting inside a twenty-foot radius." He grinned. "Your little pet can't hear you in here."

The crowd pressed tighter. Someone shoved a betting tablet in my face. Three-to-one odds against me. Fair.

"Kael." Mira's voice barely made it past her teeth. She was still on the ground where I'd left her, one hand pressed against the plasma burn. "Don't—"

"Shut her up," Rook said, and two of his guys moved in.

I stepped between them and Mira before I thought about it. "She's out. This is you and me."

"You and me." Rook stopped circling. "Right. Except you just lost your only advantage, and I've got three Pacts running hot." He rolled his shoulders and something rippled under his coat—scales, maybe, or chitin. Hard to tell in the Pit's bad light. "Tell you what. I'll make it interesting."

He whistled. Two more guys dragged something forward.