“If only. You have no idea what’s coming.”
Gabby said nothing more. Trumpets sounded again. Ethan sank into a bow, and I copied him, giving a proper curtsey.
Elijah barely dipped his head before he sprang forward, unleashing his weapon. But Ethan had been expecting it, and was waiting for him. Ethan drew his sword and battered Elijah’s away before the blade managed to knick his armor.
Just like her mate, Gabby didn’t finish her curtsey. She’d hardly bent her knees before I saw a flash of red magic zoom by my face. I ducked quickly to the side and let it whizz past.
Those shitheads had attacked before the bows were even over! What dicks. Elijah and Ethan began an assault of swords that was both impressive and deadly. Their blades became a blur, and the sound of clashing steel rang out in the arena as their two weapons engaged again and again.
I hardly had time to glance at them before I noticed Gabby charging at me, her weapon drawn. I drew my sword and brandished it in a wide arc as a last-minute line of defense. It ended up working, and knocked Gabby off balance. She fell to the side, and I slashed forward, but she rolled out of the way and my blade hit nothing but air.
Gabby’s sword was lighter and smaller than mine, but she definitely knew how to use it. Her movements were agile and fierce. She came at me, again and again. I didn’t have time to plan my own offense while dealing with her sharp jabs and precise movements.
Yet as I fought off her sword, I realized that I knew all her tricks. Ethan and I had practiced these maneuvers during Lord Lucien’s class. They were nothing new to me. Gabby’s eyes grew wide with surprise as she realized that I was able to anticipate her every move.
But anticipation wouldn’t be enough to win this fight. Gabby was a skater, like me, so I knew getting her to lose her balance was probably impossible. Instead, I counted her blows, and paid attention to her style. This was all stuff Ethan had taught me how to do. Learn how your enemy fights, then use it against them.
I learned Gabby’s weakness within a short time of sparring with her. She was too impatient. She wanted to kill me now. I got used to her timing, and when I thought I had the rhythm down, thrust forward. My sword scraped against her armor, and she gasped. She lashed out a kick to knock me off my feet, but I sprang away to a safe distance. A few seconds longer and my sword would’ve sliced her artery.
That made her mad. I kept a cool head as Gabby ran at me full speed, her sword raised, a wild scream escaping her mouth. Our swords flashed as we dueled and came within arm’s length. She raised a fist to punch me in the face. I swung aside to avoid it, and purposefully smashed my forehead against hers.
She fell backward, dazed. My head hurt, but a smile of rage spread across my mouth. I charged forward. Gabby rolled out of the way before my blade sank into the grass where her torso had been.
As she sprang to her feet, Gabby’s teeth were clenched with rage. A thrill of exhilaration went through me. She might’ve grown up in this society, but I was a better swords woman. I had a natural talent for it, and I’d been taught to fight by Ethan Nowak, a prince of the Arcanea. She couldn’t best me this way.
And she knew it. Instead of approaching me again, Gabby hung back, her eyes calculating as she tried to decide the next best way to get me down.
A vicious snarling tore away my attention from her. Across the arena, Ethan and Elijah had abandoned their swords. They’d changed into wolvens, and were rolling on the ground attempting to tear each other’s throats out.
Ethan whipped out his paw. His claws caught Elijah in the face and tore. Elijah gave a howl as a long gash ripped across his eye, spurting blood. The injury was so deep that I knew it would scar.
In retaliation, Elijah lunged forward. He sank his teeth into Ethan’s neck and pulled. Ethan yelped. I gasped, but as Elijah pulled his fangs away I saw that he’d bitten into the shoulder more than Ethan’s neck.
It didn’t look like Elijah had damaged anything major, but the blow had done heavy damage to Ethan. He moved slower, and resisted putting weight on the shoulder Elijah had injured. Even worse, Ethan had sustained several injuries already and was bleeding. Red liquid poured heavily from his wounds and stained the ground. He breathed heavily, shaking his head as he backed up from Elijah.
I wanted to run to him, make him safe and put my sword through Elijah’s skull, but I knew that getting in the way of two alphas vying for dominance was a sure way to get myself killed. I hesitated, not knowing what I could do.
Gabby saw that I was distracted and took her shot. She threw her sword to the side. As I jerked my head back toward her I saw that a ball of red magic had formed in her right hand.
She tossed it my way before I could move. Her blast hit me in the chest, sending shockwaves throughout my system. I went flying backward. My sword was knocked out of my hand, and I landed on my back twelve feet away from where I’d been standing.
As I struggled to catch my breath, a horrible truth overcame me. I was a better warrior, but Gabby was a more proficient sorceress. Her magic could easily best mine any day.
Gabby grinned wickedly as she approached. “You’d better run.”
I scrambled to my feet. Another one of Gabby’s magic bombs blasted near my feet. It tripped me up. I fell on my face again. I was hardly able to stand before I had to roll out of the way from another blast.
I couldn’t let myself get hit with another one of those spells again. Her magic had zapped my strength. I sent back a few bolts of blue magic back at her, but without the necklace, they were weak and underpowered. I heard the crowd around me shout in confusion. I’d shown incredible magic in the last two rounds. They were probably wondering why I wasn’t kicking Gabby’s ass right now.
As another one of her spells nicked my heel, I turned around. All right. I was done running. I faced Gabby and began chucking sapphire balls of light her way. They were the size of baseballs, and most fizzled out before they even made their way to her. One of the balls of light hit her, but it hardly left her winded before she shot another spell back at me.
Her magic was stronger than ever. It smacked me in the face and smashed me into the ground. I saw stars, and fought off the urge to pass out as I pushed myself onto my knees.
I tried to gather the magic for another spell. But it didn’t work this time. The ball of blue light in my hand sputtered and crackled before it disappeared completely— before I could even throw it Gabby’s way. She proceeded toward me with hands glowing red, a cackle of malice growing in her throat.
Shit. I was fucked. I wasso fucked.
I did the only thing I could. I abandoned the fight and ran to Ethan. By this time, Elijah had gained the upper hand. He grabbed Ethan by the scruff and tossed him a good ten feet. Ethan went tumbling to the side and came sliding to a stop. The ground where he’d rolled was stained with blood. His legs shook as he attempted to get up. They refused to hold his weight, and he collapsed.
