Myrtha wrung her hands. Fiona didn’t look surprised. Cara seemed interested. Others shook their heads.
Darius stood next to me. “Graves is thinking of his own gain. He holds a grudge against Knight and seeks revenge. That’s all.”
Graves raised his fists. “I have the right to challenge an unstable duke.”
Darius waved his hands, and a glimmering light formed a shield around me. “You aren’t doing anything.”
No, I couldn’t hide behind my friend. Not this time. I’d managed to hide the real reason behind my disgust for touching for too long. No one had ever witnessed my crises, aside from Irene and Darius. The dark courtiers had no idea how deep my condition was. I wouldn’t hide anymore.
“Darius.” I waved him away. “Graves has the right to challenge me, and I’ll fight him and end this pointless conversation.”
Besides, Graves was doing what I would do, and he was right. My infirmity was a liability to the court. Irene had nearly faded because of me.
I stepped outside, glad the sun was lowering on the horizon. Graves followed me. The others gathered around, forming a wide circle.
Graves cracked his knuckles, his muscles growing. I released my power. My sight, smell, and hearing sharpened. I heard Irene’s quickening heartbeat and sensed the pungent fear in her blood. Dozens of heartbeats drummed, and thirst scratched my throat. Graves’s blood smelt of worn leather and strong spices. He was unleashing his inner wolf.
He stood in front of me, his fangs, claws, and fur coming out, too. His face changed into a wolf’s face.
We didn’t speak but moved at the same time.
He hit me with a combination of punches that made me grit my teeth. If he believed my reaction to punches would be the same as to a hug, he was sorely mistaken. The pain of the blows kept my disgust down, not completely gone but manageable.
When I sank my teeth into his neck, his fur filled my mouth, but my fangs reached his vein. He cried out, either in pain or pleasure, kneeling in front of me.
His shove pushed me backwards. Digging my heels into the ground, I slowed down my momentum before lunging. Graves was bleeding from the neck and panting. Another advantage of being undead was that my heartbeat didn’t change much when I was stressed, while his was in a frenzy.
He was a strong sod though and took the brunt of the impact without flinching. When I was about to bite him, he tackled me and sent me sprawling to the ground. I hit my head and remained motionless, waiting for the world to stop spinning. He took advantage of my disorientation to straddle me.
That was different. The strong contact was sheer torture.
He placed his wide hands on my chest.
Bitter bile filled my mouth. Tremors gripped me. Sweat dampened my shirt.
“Get off me.” I sounded like a scared child.
He sniffed close to my neck, likely smelling my fear.
Panic threatened to freeze me. My vision darkened at the edges as my power withdrew. The involuntary twitches started, and my teeth chattered.
His fur receded until his human features returned.
He held my chin, and disgust at the contact with his skin choked me.
“You aren’t scary at all.” Graves laughed.
In a last attempt to push him off me, I put a hand on his chest, shaking. I barely grazed him when he was tossed backwards and landed on the ground.
It hadn’t been me. I’d pushed him, but not with enough strength to shove him. It must have been Darius. I would discuss it with him later, but for now, I didn’t waste the opportunity andreverted our position. I latched my mouth onto Graves’s neck and drank. And drank. And drank.
Anger and fear weren’t good advisers. Graves’s heartbeat slowed. He stopped struggling. Between the pleasure of the bite and the fatigue from the blood loss, he passed out. His fur receded, leaving tender skin exposed.
“Alex!” A soft hand tapped my shoulder, and I raised my head from Graves’s neck, ready to yell.
Irene didn’t leap back. “Stop. You’re killing him.”
He deserved to die for having challenged me. If I let him live, he would try again.
