Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

in my face and I barely had enough time to throw out a defensive kick before the pain flared. I felt it then I ignored it.
    No time.
    Don’t quit, Vi. Don’t back down!
    I saw Decima lunge towards me. It was perfect, nothing for me to work with. I knew as I saw her coming that she’d beat me. But I couldn’t let her have this one – this was the decider.
    I could do only one thing. I switched my katana to my other hand and as she spun in mid-air, perfectly aligned with my upper chest, my left arm came up and my blade skimmed her extended forearm, drawing blood.
    The room fell silent. We hadstruck, almost simultaneously.
    Decima paused to look at the insignificant wound on her forearm. I didn’t bother looking at my chest. I could feel the blood soaking into the fabric of my top. It didn’t matter right now.
    It had been a low blow, taking the blade to her arm like that. Defensively, it achieved nothing. If we’d been in real battle she would probably have taken me out with her strike, but this wasn’t a real battle and drawing blood was drawing blood.
    Three all.
    I kept a grip on my katana, not ready to relinquish it until I knew I was safe.
    What now?
    Decima took it upon herself to answer that question, giving the audience another reason to gasp as she bowed her head and held her arms out, her katana resting flat across them in an offering to me.
    Unsure, I glanced at Rainer who nodded at me, so I stepped forward to take the sword from Decima’s hands. She lifted her gaze to meet mine and tilted her head. This time her eyes truly saw me.
    ‘Warrior,’ she said.
    I nodded.
    Drenson stood, abruptly. ‘Decima, there should be a tiebreaker.’
    She shook her head, not even glancing at him. ‘No need. Her blade touched my skin before mine touched hers. She won.’
    I replayed the fight in my head. It had all happened so fast, but she was right – by a margin, I’d touched her first. She was honourable to admit it.
    ‘With a superficialwound,’ Drenson scoffed. ‘Hardly impressive.’
    Decima gave me one last inquisitive look before returning to her seat. Seth passed an assessing gaze over her, as if checking her for any serious injury.
    ‘You made the rules, Drenson. The girl played by them and won.’ If I wasn’t mistaken, Decima seemed slightly entertained.
    I felt Lincoln’s power again at my back, supporting me. Proud.
    And then …
    The silent crowd erupted into cheers. Spence and Zoe wolf-whistling from the balcony.
    It was overwhelming, but I kept my composure after a quick look around.
    Maybe I’ll make it through this after all.
    Josephine’s smirk was well and truly gone.

    The mental elements of the testing went on for hours. Different Grigori presenting their powers to me – glamours, perceptions, barriers – all for me to break down and overcome. Some were easier than others and a couple, that Griffin had warned me about earlier, I chose not to even try. Josephine had deliberately included them to test whether I was of a superior rank or not. But I didn’t have to be able to do everything and my continued protection was more important than acing every challenge.
    As the testing dragged on, I felt myself growing weary. I hoped it was nearing an end but then I saw Josephine lean over and whisper in Drenson’s ear. He nodded, whispered a reply and stood up.
    ‘Your finalchallenge will be a test of solidarity with your fellow Grigori. Are you ready?’ he asked.
    Rainer and I hadn’t discussed what this test would be, but it wasn’t the first attempt to unnerve me.
    I nodded. ‘I’m ready.’
    ‘Griffin Moore, if you could join us?’
    Once again, the crowd fell silent as the assembled Grigori watched Griffin move into the arena. From the look on his face, this was a surprise to him, too. He took up position beside me and faced Drenson.
    ‘We are going to ask Violet three questions. They will be answered in full and Griffin will read the sincerity in her response and in turn, deliver its truth to the Assembly.’
    This was not good. Griffin could see truth if it was there and could only deliver it in full if it was in fact truth. There was no way around this and depending on what questions they asked we were now in trouble.
    ‘Do you both understand?’
    ‘I do,’ Griffin said.
    ‘Yes,’ I said.
    ‘Violet Eden, are you aware of the ranking of your angel maker?’
    I looked between Drenson and Josephine. Both carried that arrogant air of superiority. The rest of the