The Last Wildcard

CHAPTER FOUR

You Can’t Protect Yourself

Birds exploded from the canopy. 

Something massive tore through the brush to Riven’s right. Then the horn sounded, low, ancient, vibrating through bone instead of air.

Riven jolted awake near the dying fire. Around her, bodies snapped upright. Wolves were already on their feet. Witches reached for magic that sputtered like broken wiring. Above the clearing, the cameras surged closer, red lenses blinking alive in the dark.

The horn sounded again. The ground trembled. A voice rolled through the jungle.

“Trial Two begins.”

Panic erupted.

“What kind of trial…”

“There were no rules…”

“This is insane…”

“You will hunt,” the voice continued calmly. “You will be hunted.”

The earth split open. The campsite collapsed inward. Tables tipped. Fire scattered. Contestants screamed as the ground caved into a jagged pit lined with stone and writhing roots. Riven barely leapt aside before the soil gave way beneath her.

A hand grabbed her arm. She reacted on instinct, elbow slamming back. The grip loosened. A witch stumbled past her and vanished into the pit, her scream cutting off too fast.

Riven ran.

The jungle closed around her. Branches lashed her skin. Roots snagged her boots. The horn boomed again, closer now. Something fast was moving behind her.

She veered downhill, slid in mud, and crashed hard into a tree. Pain flared through her shoulder. Her breath knocked out of her lungs.

Get up.

She pushed to her feet just as something burst through the brush.

A creature stood there, once a man. Bone warped beneath gray skin. Its mouth split too wide, teeth jagged, eyes burning with the same carved symbols she’d seen on the pillars.

A rejected contestant? The realization hit cold. She grabbed a broken branch and swung. The wood cracked against its jaw. It barely staggered. Claws tore across her side.

She screamed. Blood soaked her clothes. Her knees buckled and the jungle answered. The ground beneath the creature softened, sucking at its feet. Vines lashed up, coiling around its limbs and throat. It thrashed, roaring as the earth swallowed it whole.

Silence fell. Riven collapsed to her knees, shaking. The pain burned. The island had intervened, for her.

Above the treetops, the cameras jittered, static flared, feeds flickered.

***

[Live Stream Comment Section – Cam 03: Jungle Basin]

wolfwatcher: DID YOU SEE THAT?! The plants just… moved for her??

shipstorm: Why is the human girl always in the middle of insane stuff, omg.

midnightfang: That creature was a CONTESTANT. This show is sick.

kaelstan: Wait—who’s the guy who keeps showing up near her?

romancelover: HELLO?? Tall dark wolf-man protecting the fragile human?? I SHIP IT.

***

A howl tore through the trees. Another scream followed. Magic detonated somewhere, lighting the canopy blue before dying out.

People were dying.

Riven forced herself up, stumbling forward. The jungle parted for her, branches pulling back, roots easing just enough to let her through. She burst into a clearing.

Wolves circled a lone witch. Her spell rebounded, burning symbols into her own skin before the ground swallowed her whole. Nearby, a siren lay broken, throat torn out. A shifter sobbed, trying to crawl with crushed legs.

The cameras hovered, unblinking. Riven staggered back and slammed into stone.

“Riven!”

Jace caught her arm, hauling her upright. His face was smeared with blood. His eyes burned gold, wild and feral.

“You’re bleeding,” he said.

“I know,” she snapped, though her voice shook.

The horn blasted again, closer.

“Move.”

He dragged her through the trees as something massive crashed after them. Then he shoved her behind him and shifted.

Bone cracked. Flesh tore. The wolf burst free in a blur of muscle and fury. Riven stared, breath caught, as Jace tore into the creature pursuing them, jaws locking around its throat until it went still.

Silence returned. Jace shifted back, chest heaving. Blood dripped from his hands.

“That thing was a contestant,” Riven whispered.

“Yes.”

“They’re turning people into monsters.”

“Punishments,” he said quietly. “Warnings.”

Her knees trembled. “Why didn’t it attack me first? Why did the jungle help me?”

Jace looked at her like the answer frightened him. “Maybe because you’re the wildcard. No powers. No protection.”

“But I have nothing,” she said hoarsely. “You have fans. People rooting for you. I have no one.”

For a moment, he didn’t speak. Then his hand tightened around hers.

“You have me right now,” he said.

Her breath hitched. The voice rolled through the trees again.

“Some hunt to dominate.

Some hunt to survive.

Some hunt to belong.

And some hunt without knowing what they are becoming.”

Riven swayed. The world dimmed. Jace caught her as she collapsed against him.

The last thing she felt before darkness took her was the ground humming beneath her, like the island itself was waking up for her.