7
The suffocating weight of inevitability
ZARA
The air blasts from my lungs as my back slams into the jagged wall. Pain erupts along my spine, and my vision blurs for a moment. The taste of blood fills my mouth, sharp and metallic, as I struggle to push off the stone. My knees wobble, but I refuse to fall. Not in front of him.
I won’t show him weakness. Not now. Not ever.
Kade’s magic presses against mine, suffocating, relentless, a dark weight that fills the cave. He doesn’t even look winded. His black eyes glint like shards of obsidian, cutting through the smoke-filled air as he stalks toward me.
“Stay down,” he growls, voice low and commanding, but I won’t make this easy for him.
I spit blood onto the floor as I stand, meeting his gaze with all the defiance I can muster. “Make me.”
His answering smirk is sharp, humorless, and infuriating. “You’re going to regret that.”
His fist slams into my ribs and I double over, the breath knocked clean from my lungs. His strikes are calculated, precise and methodical, meant to hurt and wound but not kill.
I hate him for it.
The ground tilts beneath me as I stumble back, barely dodging his next blow. I try to summon my magic, but it’s weak, fizzling uselessly against my fingertips. It’s wild and unfocused, and it’s been ebbing away from me since he attacked me in the clearing, and I’m drifting like a rudderless boat in its absence.
“You’re pathetic,” Kade sneers, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind my back.
I scream, more from frustration than pain, and kick back, my heel connecting with his shin. It’s enough to make him loosen his grip, and I wrench free, stumbling a few steps away. My head spins, and I feel the bruises already blooming under my skin, but I force myself to stand tall.
Kade circles me like a predator. His eyes gleam with dark amusement as if he’s enjoying this—no, as if he’s waiting for me to break, and I decide that no matter how bad this gets, I won’t give him that satisfaction. I won’t let him have that victory, and my breath comes in short, ragged bursts, my chest aching as I pour my fury into my glare.
“You’ll have to do better than that, darling,” he taunts. “Those pretty little eyes of yours won’t save you from my wrath.”
“You’re all mouth and no fucking trousers,” I snap back.
Kade’s grin widens, a flash of teeth that sends a shiver down my spine. “Bold, for someone who can’t even land a hit.”
I don’t wait for him to attack again. Instead, I lunge,aiming a wild punch at his jaw. He sidesteps effortlessly, his hand snapping out to grab my wrist. Before I can react, he twists, pulling me off balance and shoving me to the ground. The stone bites into my palms as I catch myself, and my knees scrape painfully against the rough surface. I scramble to get up, but Kade’s boot presses against my back, pinning me down.
“Stay down, bitch,” he growls, his voice colder, the amusement draining away. “You’re outmatched. Out-fucking-classed. You know it. I know it. You’re wasting my goddamn time.”
“Go to hell,” I spit, twisting underneath him.
His boot lifts just enough for me to roll away, but he’s on me before I can stand. I throw my arm up in defense as his fist comes down, its impact jarring my entire body. Pain radiates through my forearm, but I force myself to block his next strike, and then the next. Kade’s weight is too much for me to lift and he delivers blow after blow as I’m trapped beneath him, forced to take a beating no one should endure.
Each blow feels like a hammer against stone, and I’m the one cracking.
I lash out with my legs, trying to create distance. I kick again and again, and finally my heel connects with his knee. He grunts, rolling back and although it’s barely a reprieve, I take it, dragging myself to my feet.
My vision blurs, blood dripping from a cut above my eye. My magic stirs weakly in my chest, but when I try to pull it forward, it slips through my fingers like water.
“You’re not even trying,” Kade says, his tone sharper now, tinged with frustration.
“I am,” I snap, my voice shaking.
“No, you’re fighting,” he counters, stepping closer. “There’s a difference.”
I don’t know what he means, and I don’t have time to care. He moves again, faster than I can track. His shoulder slams into mine, sending me sprawling to the ground. I scramble, but I can’t keep up. Every move he makes is deliberate and calculated. Every blow is designed to punish, to remind me how outclassed I am. I try to push myself up, trembling, my arms barely able to hold my weight. He grabs the front of my shirt and hauls me upright, his grip like iron.
“Fucking surrender to me,” he demands, his face inches from mine.
