“Ransom?” I turned to look up at my friend, my partner.
“Yeah?”
“I want those.”
His lips turned up at the corners, the light of challenge igniting in his eyes. He motioned to the cheering crowd. “They’re all fighting for second place anyway,” he said, confidence lacing his words.
I grinned up at him, then turned to focus on my father once again, who was about to fire the starting shot into the starry sky. I glanced around at our competition, wariness settling into my stomach. They were all truly mated—no one here had reason to lie about it. And mates…that meant something when it came to effortlessly working together. Could Ransom and I actually stand against them?
A crack broke the air above us, and the crowd raced forward in one giant wave of motion. I blinked once, giving myself only a breath to realign my priorities. I’d never been one to back down from a challenge, and testing my physical strength? I was more than happy to oblige the competition. Not to mention, those cuffs would look damn good on Ransom and me.
All vampires had enhanced strength and speed, but my talent had always rested in my speed, which was a shade faster than anyone I’d ever come into contact with. Even Ransom, though he did keep on my heels as we raced for the first obstacle—the four-hundred-foot ramp.
Some vampires didn’t pause to examine the structure as Ransom and I did. They should have. If they’d taken a second to look, they would’ve noted the cloaked figures atop the tall ramp, almost blending in with the night sky. They would’ve noted the large buckets poised at the top, ready to spill God knew what over the lip.
“Wait,” I whispered to Ransom, who skidded to a halt at my side. He eyed the other pairs launching up the ramp, some sliding a bit only to find purchase and haul ass toward the top.
“I see them,” he said, eyes tracked above like mine.
Once the ramp was nearly covered with vampire couples clawing on all fours toward the top, a hissing sound filled the air, followed by squeals of frustration.
“Bubbles? Seriously?” Ransom laughed, shaking his head.
“Slick,” I responded, watching as the horde slipped down, covered completely in soapy bubbles that glittered in the moonlight. After waiting another breath to make sure there wouldn’t be a second wave of sabotage, I winked at Ransom. “Try and keep up.”
A low growl rumbled from his chest as he chased after me, mirroring my movements as I hopped against the ramp, digging my fingers into the soaked, slippery wood, and climbed. My muscles came to life with the effort it took to reach the top, my blood sizzling with adrenaline as Ransom met me a second later on the ramp’s edge. As the first couple to reach the top, we peered over it and surveyed the rest of the course.
“Fuck me,” he said, eying the southwest portion of the island.
I smirked at him. “You didn’t think my parents would make it easy, did you?” I teased.
“Hell no,” he said. “I just didn’t realize it spanned the entirety of this part of the island.” He interlaced his fingers with mine, stealing my already heaving breath. “Let’s go win you those cuffs, mate.” He emphasized the word, and before I could respond, before I could blink, he stepped off the edge of that ramp, taking me with him.
We landed easily against the ground, our feet and instincts poised for the impact. It took barely a second to gather our bearings, and then we were off, our footsteps mirroring the other as if we were in battle alignments.
More thuds erupted behind us, several of the other teams finally making their way over the giant, slippery ramp and down.
“Move,” Ransom said, his tone a primal tenor of a warrior used to being obeyed.
And I did obey.
I always had. Ever since we’d met, ever since he’d first tested me in the ring all those years ago, I obeyed. Training with the king’s royal combat assassin was the highest honor, in my opinion, and I’d never let my pride get in the way of respecting the hell out of his talents.
So, we ran.
Fast and hard, our bodies slick with sweat and the soap from the ramp.
We glided through the next two obstacles, traps of ropes and fire that we’d had to dance our way through, Ransom’s eyes flickering with delight with each one we put behind us.
The fourth obstacle had us skidding to a halt along the edge of a massive tear in the earth, a split between the islands so vast and so deep the ocean slithered in at the bottom far below. The fifth and final obstacle lay beyond the tear in the world, a teasing beacon in the moonlight taunting us with victory as the other teams fell behind us, but how would we get over there?