Blade for blade.
With each sturdy sweep, the glimmer of the rising moon shines against my magic until my daggers become nearly translucent. Cut from the stars like a piece of my heart that I feel brightening in the night.
I stop holding back and let my magic flood throughmy veins, sweeping into every corner until it fills my bones and spills from my fingertips.
The rage of the fight turns to something fiercer. Greer grins, and I smile back. Anger is shed, and we unleash what little power we have in this moment. The entire realm could fall apart. There is so little in our control. But this, our blades in our hands, is something we can cling to.
This we can mold to our will.
Greer and I move in circles as the city blurs around us. In the back of my mind, I feel Wilder and Callum watching, but they don’t try to intervene.
They can’t. I’m fighting Greer like I’m battling myself, and I sense she’s doing the same. For all the things that we’ve lost and all that’s out of our grasp. It’s infuriating to be a pawn. A piece that gets played.
Her sword clashes with my daggers, and I spin, stripping it from her hands. But she doesn’t hesitate, pulling out daggers of her own.
We circle, holding our weapons ready between us. Her magic tangles with mine. Or maybe she’s manipulating it like she can. Seeing through the white light and picking at the threads.
“You aren’t going to win this.”Greer’s tone is sharp, and I realize she didn’t say it out loud. Like Wilder, she’s in my mind.
Or am I in hers?
All around me, threads are open, and I’m clinging to one of them.
“Neither are you.”I fight to catch my breath.“None of us are.”
It’s the bitter truth. Even if Lyrichia prevails, there will be losses on both sides. In life. In morals.
“He’s not who you’re mad at,”I say, still circling.
“You’re right. You are.”Her eyes narrow. “What he did to my family?—”
“It wasn’t him.”
“He’s one of them, Elorie. He isn’t good.”
“Is there any good left? We’ve all made hard choices. Some bad ones. What I’ve seen King Malachi do is no better than the rumors about Wilder. Besides, what I did with Wilder doesn’t change a gods damn thing. I’m still going to kill him and his people.”
And hate myself for it.
This time, when I lunge forward, it isn’t to fight Greer. It’s to release this knot in my chest. The rage brewing in her eyes turns to pity, so I focus on her hands. Metal glistening in the night.
The sun has fully set as we do this dance, and we don’t stop until I can’t physically move. My arms ache, and I’m drenched in sweat. Greer and I shove apart with our daggers at our sides, breathing hard.
“Promise me you’re going to choose Lyrichia.”She glances at Wilder.“No matter what.”
With a knot in my chest, I nod.“You know I will. For Alyssium.”
She nods, turning her back on me and bracing herself against the wall.
Only then do I meet Wilder’s stare, and I know he couldn’t have heard what I thought when I was focused on Greer, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand.
He relaxes against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. And when I reach out for him through the thread, he has me closed off from his thoughts.
Callum stops beside me, holding out a glass of water. But when I look up, his eyes are on Wilder.
“Thank you,” I say, taking a large swallow.
He nods, not meeting my gaze as he turns away. I’m about to call after him when something shakes beneath my feet.
