Read Online Goddess Rising by Alexi Lawless - Free Book Online

fingers gliding uselessly from the slippery wet of the mud. She couldn’t gain purchase. She was dazed and sloppy now, probably half-concussed, unable to fight him off.
    “You will disqualify from the competition today,” Alejandro continued, close to her ear. “Or I’ll make sure you’re disqualified permanently. You get me?”
    Sam’s only response was another round of hacking coughs as she expelled the leftover water in her lungs. Satisfied, Alejandro released her just as Rita waded over.
    “My God, is that Sam?” Rita called out. “Alejo, is she okay?”
    “Nearly drowned,” he replied, false concern coloring his tone. “I pulled her out just in time, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to finish.”
    “Talk to me, mija .” Rita dropped beside her, pushing her friend’s hair out of her eyes as Sam climbed slowly to her hands and knees. “Are you all right?”
    Sam coughed again, spitting up more dirty water. Her eyes were tearing now more from anger than anything else as she sat back on her haunches.
    Satisfied that he’d gotten his message across, Alejandro jumped back into the water to finish the course.
    Rita slapped her back a couple more times, worry in her dark eyes. “What happened?”
    “Just go,” Sam wheezed out, pushing her muddy hair back. “You need to make up the time—don’t worry about me.”
    “Bullshit, don’t worry about you,” Rita argued. “I only joined this goddamn Challenge because you need me. You think I don’t know I’ll never make the final team?”
    “I don’t need you, Rita.” Sam shook her head. “You’re good enough to be here, and you’re plenty good enough to make the final cut—” She coughed hard one last time and wiped a hand down her face. “I don’t want to bring you down.” Sam saw a herd of cadets launch over the barricade, each falling into the water to begin the swim across the channel toward the next set of obstacles.
    Rita jutted her chin out. “I’ll go when you’re ready.”
    Sam glanced down at her watch. “Shit, Rita, I’ve already lost a few minutes. I don’t know if I can make it up.”
    Rita shrugged. “So then let’s sit here and watch everyone else kick our asses.”
    Sam glared at her.
    “Look, jaina —you were at the head of the pack, and now you’re closer to the back,” Rita told her frankly. “You can sit here and mope like a little bitch, or you can get your ass back in that disgusting mud hole and finish the course with your head held high.”
    “This from the girl who nearly puked in my car this weekend?” Sam muttered, standing.
    “The very same,” Rita replied unapologetically. She moved to wipe some of the mud off Sam’s fatigues but quickly gave up, instead just pushing her down the shallow bank and back into the water. “ Orale! 6 Let’s do this!”
    The rest of the course was a long, painful drudge, but they made it to the finish just under the cut-off time. Sam was fueled with rage, imagining all the ways she was going to get her revenge when her time came. When Sam and Rita crossed the finish line, she saw Alejandro watching her, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
    Sam walked passed him, head high, just like Rita had suggested. Gauntlet thrown, asshole . She wasn’t going to take any of his shit lying down. And she definitely wasn’t going to step aside for him just because he was used to getting his way. They stared each other down for a handful of seconds. Sam felt a slow smirk develop, despite the pain she was in and the embarrassment she felt at having been nearly bested by him.
    “Thanks for the ‘help’ earlier, De Soto.” Sam told him meaningfully, loud enough for the cadets around them to hear. “If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have been able to finish,” her tone just this side of sarcastic.
    Rita glanced back and forth between the two of them. She knew all about the tension between Sam and her cousin, and the chill just dropped another several