It burned fast. Vicious. I didn’t scream—I refused to. But the pain staggered me, and my knees buckled. Slade caught myarm, steadying me with one hand as smoke curled from my shoulder.
Then Slade let go.
“I’m not using fire,” he said. “Or a knife.”
He extended his palm, fingers spreading wide.
Metal shimmered from his skin, drawn from the traces in the stone around us. It curled and spun, whirling into a thin-edged disc—humming with deadly intent.
“No more brands.”
And without hesitation, Slade pressed the spinning blade into his own shoulder.
The sound of slicing flesh was sharp and clean. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t look away.
He carved the brand from his skin with exacting control, the blade cutting deep and perfect.
When it was done, he let the metal fall away with a breath, blood running down his arm like a silent oath.
Thorne looked at all three of us like he didn’t recognize us anymore.
“You just signed your death warrants,” he said.
Leo stepped closer, wiping blood from his fingers. “So what? At least we signed themfor something that mattered. Can you say the same?”
And for the first time, Thorne didn’t argue.
He just stepped back and let us go.
Chapter 36
Elira
There was a woman in the crowd who looked familiar.
I didn’t know why I kept noticing her—why her face kept surfacing again and again—but there she was. Always watching. She looked harmless, with kind eyes and a soft smile. Almost like she wastoogentle for this place.
That was it, wasn’t it?
She didn’t belong.
Maybe that was it. Maybe it was the simple fact that she looked out of place.
I pushed the thought aside as I stepped up to my second match, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck. I needed to focus. I couldn’t afford any distractions.
My sleep last night had been fleeting at most and full of nightmares. When they woke me to tell me my next fight was about to begin, I was almost glad.
Fighting was a welcome reprieve from the thoughts that threatened to devour me.
Adrenalin powered me as I got to the arena. I was allowed to pick from a selection of weapons on the ground before me, all still bloody and stained from former battle. I missed my blades, but at least the steel was sharp. It was just as well.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with powers that shouldn’t exist—judging by the hulking wolf shifter pacing the arena floor in front of me. Shifters were always big—I knew that. But this one was a monster. Towering at least two feet above me,muscle stacked on muscle, he looked like he’d been bred for carnage. All I had were my shadows and my speed. So, I used them.
I ducked low, blades flashing in bursts. Shadows lashed and coiled around his limbs, forcing him off balance. Every strike was calculated. Swift. Precise.
But then—I saw her again.
In the crowd. Closer now. Staring at me like sheknewme.
