Page 398 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

“Please, Green!” Adrastos shouted.

Then he jumped.

SEVENTY-THREE

VALLEY OF DEATH

MAGNOLIA

The instant my feet hit the dirt, I threw my head back, cracking into Adrastos’ nose. The sound of splintering bone rewarded me as I found my balance, his arms flying off me. An enormous conspiracy of shifter-sized ravens tore across the sky overhead, and I prayed they were Freya’s.

“You pathetic little cockroach!” I shouted, whirling to face him as shadows rippled down my arms and fury surged. His hand was clamped over his bleeding nose as he set and healed the bone. When he opened his mouth to speak, I cut him off, screeching, “Traitorous filth!” I slammed my shield into him—one hand outstretched, the other pulling a dagger from my hip, rage curling in my grip. “I trusted you. I fucking loved you. You made me love you.”

“Green, please—” My enemy raised a hand in surrender. I slammed my shield into his again, forcing him back another satisfying step.

“Don’t you call me that.” Every moment of our friendship, every laugh, every touch, every lie crashed into me like a freight train, and I channeled it into my attack. “Don’t you speak to me.” Every kiss, every compliment—crafted to manipulate. “I fucking trusted you, you piece of shit. I believed in you.”

“It was real!”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” I slammed against his shield again, a seam cracking down the center. Adrastos’ eyes flicked to it, a cocky smile tugging at his mouth.

“Nice work, witchling. You’ve gotten better.”

“Shut the fuck up. You’re dead to me.” I relished his flinch, marching forward and hammering our shields together with deafening cracks. “You died when the lie you spun as Bellamy did.” I threw my shadows out, raging, shoving him toward the treeline. Only then did I realize we were in some kind of park. We couldn’t be far from the city—the air still lined with smoke, the glimmer of sunrise a mercy I hadn’t expected to see. “You let me believe you were my friend. You knew what would happen if I broke Aren’s⁠—”

“I warned you,” he snapped. “I warned you what it would do to your mate, what he could do to me—and still you refused. Determined to free yourself of him. Well,” he gestured vaguely between us, “congratulations. You won.”

“You knew!” I cracked another glittering fracture in his shield. His eyes darted to it. “You knew you were going to use me, betray me—and you still fucked me. You’re no better than that monster.”

His eyes flared. Jaw clenched. Good. He deserved to hurt. Deserved to feel every lie that had dripped from his tongue.

“Oh, own up to something, darling. This pathetic redirect is beneath you.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Back to that game, are we?”

“You think this is a fucking game?!” Crack. “Ansel is dead.” Crack. “A good man lost his head. A noble man. It should’ve been you.” Crack. “My city is under siege. What part of this looks like a game to you?” Crack. This time, he flinched, grabbing the wound Aren had inflicted as the force of holding his shield tweaked his muscles. I adjusted my angle, pressing into the weakness. “Lives are on the line, you spineless coward.”

Crack—only this time, it was my shield that glimmered. His lip curled.

“I may be many wicked things, Magnolia Green—both despicable and divine—but I promise you, a coward I am not.”

“Prove it,” I snarled, throwing my power against his again. Another fracture shimmered like light through crystal, sparks skittering off the edges. The earth rumbled beneath our feet. “Stand for what’s right. Stand up for those who can’t. Don’t you realize what you are?”

“What am I?” His eyes bored into mine. “Tell me, Magnolia—what am I?”

“You could change things. Help people. Instead, you’re a fucking monster.”

“Yes,” he said flatly. “And yet, you’re shocked I’m doing what monsters do?” He slammed his fists into the shield wall, and the entire barrier rippled around him. My eyes widened.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve seen the good in you, Bell. I…” My voice cracked. “I’ve seen you save people. Save me.”

“You think it’s a coincidence they knew where you were? That Aren’s house exploded after you took me inside the wards? Read between the lines, Green. I am exactly what you say I am.”

I was gaping. The shock of his words struck like physical blows. My jaw slackened. I couldn’t even summon the sense to shut it.

He chuckled, and the sound was entirely foreign—not the sweet rumbles or the barks of laughter I’d once known. His smirk was sly, lopsided. Not subtle. Not timid.