I’d been force-fed that draught myself.
Woken up hours later, covered in blood and gore, with no memory of what had happened except… to know I’d killed.Violently.
“Nico, please. Please don’t do this.”
Emberline pivoted, using the broken sword more like a shield than a weapon, deflecting blow after blow, her already bruised arms and shoulders taking the full force of Nico’s strikes. She moved with that quick, lethal grace I’d seen before—sharp, efficient, controlled.
But grace didn’t count against pure aggression.
Against a fighter trained in these pits for five long years, honed to perfection by ten-hour days of grueling matches against opponents bigger and faster and meaner.
Nico’s blade came down, again and again, each strike meant to end her. Emberline parried, the cracked sword shuddering. She ducked, rolled under his arm, came up, and tried to land a cut across his ribs?—
She stopped herself before the blow connected.
Even in the middle of the ring, even with death coming straight at her, she hesitated.
Because she couldn’t hurt him.
I swallowed, focusing on her face, the emotions warring there, hopelessness mixed with despair, the same helpless fear I was feeling right now, and realization slammed into place, sure and heavy.
Emberline couldn’t hurt Nico because she cared too much about him.
And if she didn’t defend herself, she was going to die. Fear ripped a hole wide open in my chest—nothingmattered except preventing my best friend from killing my wife.
“Nico,” I screamed, my voice breaking on his name. “Nico,stop.It’s Emberline—you can’t hurt her. You swore toprotecther.”
His head snapped toward the platform for a fraction of a second, and he paused, logic fighting the draught’s compulsion, sword raised up over her head, gripped in his white-knuckled hand as his eyes found mine.
Black drained from his eyes, a flash of brown showing through.
Yes, that’s it, fight it.
Hope flared in Emberline’s face, and she braced her hand on his chest. “Nico, please… please, it’s me.” Her pleas faintly carried to where I stood. “It’s Emberline. Youknowme. Youknowme, Nico.”
Nico’s gaze returned to her. His mouth twisted.
He surged forward, bringing the sword down hard enough, she had no option but to throw herself sideways to keep from being split in half. Ember came up to her feet, spitting out sand, but Nico was already there. A machine with no mercy.
I screamed when he kicked her legs out from under her.
She hit the sand with a groan I felt through my bones.
The crowd went insane, stomping bare feet on the floor in their frenzy. Dust rose in the air, my vision narrowed on the only thing in the world that mattered.
Emberline pushed up on one elbow, barely managing to get her weapon between them. Nico’s sword slashed downward, and she brought the broken blade up in a desperate block.
The crack in the metal widened.
One more hit, and her only protection would snap.
The Overseer leaned close to my ear. “I have half a mind to call it off,” he murmured, as if he was sharing a secret between old friends. “She’s tougher than she looks. I think I’ll keep her, long after you’re gone. I doubt her uncle would come looking, given he thinks she’s dead.”
My throat closed as bile swept up, hot and sour. “You're fucking dead. Before the sun sets. That’s a fucking promise.”
“Your killing days are over.” His voice turned thoughtful. “I had plans for you, and I resent Giovanni denying me my revenge. But let’s see what we can wring out of these next few hours. I expect hurting her…andyour brother will do more damage than my fists ever did. Watching someone you love suffer… nowthat’sthe purest kind of despair.”
I braced myself to attack…
