“Get up,” I screamed as I unsheathed my sword. “Get the fuck up, Kai.” My feet worked to circle him—a predator trapping its prey.
He sluggishly pulled himself to his feet as his breathing turned heavy. Kai then drew his sword and pointed it at me. “You wish to die, don’t you?”
“No, actually. Killing you would be no fun if it was easy.” I shot him a grin. “So, let’s see what all that royal training gave you, little prince.”
I lunged at him, and he lifted his blade as it clashed with mine. We swiped at each other over and over, each blocked by our own swinging blows.
He dove toward me, and I lowered my blade to kick him directly in the chest, sending his body flying backward.
Kai turned to face me once more, desperately trying to catch his breath. “What’s it like to be kept a secret because of theoneperson who was supposed to love you?” he spat at me with venom.
I roared into the air as I swung once more. Our swords met, and we held them there in a struggle for power, just as we had figuratively for our entire lives.
“What is it like to abandon your own race and betray your kind and kingdom, all for some patheticmortal?” he hissed as his amber eyes bore into my own.
I slashed my sword down his blade and moved to strike, but he managed to block it as he took three massive steps backward.
“You knownothingof love and peace. Your soul was forged of pure poison, just as your mother’s was. You arenotfit to rule, and that is by both blood and temperament,” I bellowed at him as we moved to circle each other.
Any hint of amusement on his face dropped, and his eyes flared in confusion at what I had just declared. I took the distraction as an opportunity to strike. My blade sliced down his arm, but to my surprise, he was almost completely unphased and struck right back, using the adrenaline from his rage to push him forward.
Our swords met again, and we held them together in a struggle once more. I looked deep into his eyes as a scowl formed on my face. “King Jameson wasn’t even your sire. You are no more fit to rule than the peasants you look down upon within the streets of the slums. You’re not even a proper prince. Your dearest mother decided to fuck thehelp,” I spat the words I knew would strike him the hardest. “Callius is your true sire and blood. Not the king. You. Are.Nothing.”
He stared at me as if he were frozen in disbelief, unsure of how to proceed before his face morphed into a creature ofwrath. “You lie!” he finally screeched as he moved to strike again, but his eyes said everything his lips wouldn’t. He believed it. “And at least I have a fucking mother, Solus!” he shouted at me between blows.
I screamed in frustration as my amusement at toying with him had abruptly ended. “I’m going to kill you, Kai.” I paused for a moment as our stares latched onto each other intensely. “And it’sValderreto you!” I bellowed as I felt the fire within me rise to the very surface.
My feet moved, and I twirled around to strike him down, but he took offrunning. The coward was now sprinting away from me.
I bolted after him as he moved as fast as his body would allow with a limp now straining his left leg. He moved further away from the camp and toward the forest that was a mile back in the distance.
“Lia!” My name echoed through the air as it was called out in desperation from behind me by my mate.
I refused to halt, though. No, I couldn’t stop. Not when Kai was within my grasp. My neck pivoted, and I glanced back at Jace and watched him as he took off in a run after me, but I moved to face forward once more. If I stopped my chase now, we would risk losing everything we’ve worked for in this battle. If Kai and Kellan survived, this was all fornothing. And that was unacceptable.
Even just that split second of turning around cost me as I lost sight of Kai, who had been fleeing in front of me only a moment ago. I came to a skidding halt a mile from the forest’s edge, where clusters of enormous boulders littered the terrain.
I sniffed the air, and through the metallic scent of blood and iron, the aroma of the prince’s fear clogged my nostrils. He was near.
I silently crept around the boulders, moving with the blade of my sword stretched out in front of me. As I jumped around a boulder, movement caught my attention near one of the largest rocks in the landmark’s center.
A smirk twisted my features. “Caught you,” I whispered.
I sprinted to the rock and plastered my body to be flushed with its jagged edges. My neck craned as I searched for him.
I leisurely moved around until I fully circled it, ending exactly where I began beneath a slightly roofed covering formed from the granite itself.
My lungs let out a breath of annoyance, and then I noticed that Jace, Gage, and Zaela were nearly caught up to me.
My arm was throbbing with a lingering burn from Jace’s wound, and blinding anger clouded my vision as I realized that Kai had escaped.
He must’ve made it into the forest. I was cursing myself from within as I went to step out to search for Kellan again when a subtle noise caught my attention.
Before I had time to react, Kai leapt out from the side of the boulder that I was pressed up against and sent his fist flying into the side of my face. My head bounced off the jagged rock, and I felt the flesh of my cheek tear open at the violent contact of it. The hilt of my sword slipped from my grasp and fell to the terrain.
My head pounded with a sharp, aching throb as my blurry gaze fixated on Kai, who stood before me with the tip of his blade pressed against my sternum.
I let out a breathy laugh. “Well played, little prince.”
