Riona took a deep breath and replayed the Nightwatch's words in her mind.
"...be added to their cumulative scores from previous trials," he had said.
Even though she was anxious, she clung to that sliver of hope like a vampire waiting for night to come. After all, she had been ranked fourth up until the finals, and she had managed to be the last one standing at the end.
With the devious little trap Lisbeth had laid just for her—should Riona be flattered?—she knew she wouldn't be able to clinch the top spot.
Classic Lisbeth. Always trying to play the villain.
But, at least Riona would still be on the Nightwarden list.
And if she played her cards right, maybe Sir Kai would stop looking like he'd swallowed a lemon. Honestly, his frown was so distracting.
It was a good thing Riona didn't have to put in too much effort in this test because why bother when you knew you'd bomb anyway?
Her grand plan was to coast through and let her previous scores do the heavy lifting for her overall evaluation.
Feeling like she was walking on a tightrope made of dental floss, she watched the participants turn into bats one by one.
Within ten seconds, half the participants had gone full bat mode. One minute in, and it was like a bat convention out there, with the remaining participants cut down to half.
This test was beyond ridiculous. The only thing more absurd was that no one seemed to question it.
Were they all so confident in their bat-transformation skills that they didn't see the need to ask, 'Hey, why are we turning into bats again?'
Anyway, the one-hour duration for this test was the cherry on top of Lisbeth's grand humiliation sundae for Riona. No other vampire needed that long to turn into a bat.
For real, an hour? What was she supposed to do, memorize the history of vampires while waiting?
Riona stood in the middle of the arena. All alone. The bats, big and small, buzzed around her like she was the hottest new food truck in town.
The other participants were getting increasingly annoyed, swooping down to smack her in the face and body, trying to make her move.
Apparently, they thought Riona's transformation would happen faster if they just pestered her enough. Spoiler alert: it wouldn't.
Little did they know, their only hope of ending the test was to wait out the full hour. Good luck with that.
Riona ended up shooing the bats from her face and body, flailing her arms and shaking her legs like she was doing some bizarre exorcism.
At one point, Sir Kai looked at her, bewildered. "What are you doing? Why didn't you transform?"
Riona shrugged. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because I enjoy being swarmed by a bunch of bats. It's my new skincare routine."
She swatted another bat away and rolled her eyes. "Or maybe, just maybe, I can't. Did that not cross your mind? Do you think all vampires can turn into bats? Think again, because that's simply not true! Not everything you learned in school is accurate."
"You… can't… turn?" he asked, each word carefully measured, as if speaking too loudly might make it real.
"Duh! Why do you think I'm standing here in my human form instead of flapping around like a bat?" Riona snapped.
Her patience was thinner than a strand of split hair. She glared at Sir Kai, daring him to say something else equally obvious.
When Sir Kai said nothing, Riona threw her hands up in exasperation. "So why don't we do ourselves a favor and end the test already?"
There were still forty minutes left, which was plenty. Sir Kai and the announcer Nightwatch exchanged glances. They agreed with Riona, knowing that waiting out was pointless if she couldn't transform.
"Alright," Sir Kai finally said, ringing the bell to end the session. "We have measured your time, so you can turn back and get some rest before we announce the final result."
***
As Riona relaxed on the black ice with Florian, the Alpha werewolf wouldn't leave their sides. She shot the Alpha a sideways glare. "Why are you still here?"
Thorin pouted dramatically. "That's mean! I looked after your brother for you. While you were busy playing pets with the bats, I was here, keeping Florian company."
"It's not like I asked for your help," she mumbled, refusing to show gratitude because she knew even a simple thank you would inflate this Alpha's ego.
"Pfft! The way I see it, I was the only one who could help you."
"Yeah, yeah." Riona pretended not to hear him.
Thorin's eyes gleamed with mischief. "Come on, Riona. Admit it, you'd miss me if I left. Besides, who else is going to keep you entertained?"
"Entertained? More like irritated," Riona shot back, rolling her eyes. "Don't you have some pack business to attend to? Like, I don't know, herding sheep or howling at the moon?"
Thorin chuckled. "Don't worry about that, the sheep are smart nowadays. They don't need herding anymore. And there's still some time left until the moon shows up. For now, I'm all yours."
"Great, just what I always wanted. A werewolf at my beck and call."
"Hey, I'll have you know I'm very good company," Thorin protested, feigning offense.
Riona raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Tell that to the last person who had to endure your company for more than five minutes."
Thorin gave a mock pout. "But Riona, who else is going to save you from the princess's shady work behind the scenes? I could easily stop the last test for you if you wished it."
"Nobody. I need nobody for that."
He flashed a smile and chose to rub salt on Riona's wounds. "But I heard you flanked the test. I didn't know there was a vampire who couldn't turn into a bat."
"Shut up! It doesn't matter. My previous scores should be enough to make me pass the test. I won the finals. That should count."
"Hm. Yeah, it should. You were fascinating then."
Riona didn't know whether Thorin was teasing her or seriously complimenting her performance in the duel.
And then, the bell rang, and everyone gathered at one particular spot. Riona hurried over there, with Thorin and Florian trailing behind her like lost puppies.
A Nightwatch announced the names of those who passed, and Riona held her breath, hoping her name would be among them, but the Nightwatch did not call her name.
Twenty-three lucky souls passed the trials with Number Two securing first place and earning the title of top Nightwatch novice.
She raised her hand and inquired, "Excuse me! What about me?"
And, Lisbeth being Lisbeth, she strutted in with poise, who must have thought that she owned the world. "You're disqualified because you couldn't complete the last test."