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It was soft … gentle.
“I need to speak to Diel,” Noa said, her voice quiet and tame, and Diel stilled within his protective wall behind his monster. His pulse quickened. What could she ever want with him? He wanted to kill her; he would have succeeded if he hadn’t been beaten by his monster’s demonic strength.
The monster prickled. It didn’t want to release Diel from his place behind the wall inside them. It was exhausted from the battle and didn’t trust the new enemy sharing his skin.
“He won’t hurt me.” Noa smiled at the monster. Diel felt the comfort of that smile fill the monster’s arctic heart, the ice cracking and letting in something that felt like hope. Diel was sitting in the darkness, but he saw a glimpse of light up above as the monster opened the cell door that could release him from his exile. Then the light built and built until it was a flood of blinding yellow, a glittering supernova.
Diel was wrenched forward, hissing at the deep ache in his bones. When he blinked, he was back lying on the wooden floor, but his monster had withdrawn deep inside him, a temporary truce struck between them—time to heal and seek some modicum of peace. But he felt the monster’s darkness looming over him, a beastly specter, ready to intervene if need be. If he even tried to make a move toward Noa in a way that was remotely threatening.
Diel could feel the monster reliving the touch of Noa’s finger on his cheek, the hand raking tenderly through his dark hair. Diel couldn’t escape the monster’s reaction. The warmth rubbed off on Diel too. But he pushed it away. He didn’t want it. He didn’t want the solace of another’s touch. He had his brothers and death, and that was always enough for him.
Diel swallowed. His throat was raw and dry. Noa’s softness for the monster stung, as if her affection had gouged a wound into his skin. He lifted his gaze and met Noa’s waiting brown eyes. Her long pink hair fell to her waist, a shining gemstone curtain. Her lashes were long and black. Her lips were full and red. He had never seen anyone like her. She was tall and toned with milky white skin. Being so exhausted, he finally saw her. No fights. No monster rushing to the surface. Just him, looking at her. A Brethren-branded witch. A survivor of them just like him.
His chest tightened as he studied her. He braced himself, breath held, in case it was the monster rising back to the surface. But the aura of darkness surrounding the monster was dormant, sleeping, and Diel couldn’t understand what the feeling in his chest was if it wasn’t the other part of his soul.
Noa cleared her throat and held her chin high. In that moment, he thought she looked like some kind of mythical warrior. “Tomorrow night,” she said, and Diel frowned, not understanding what she meant. “We’ll meet. And we’ll end this between us.”
Even fatigued, Diel felt the stirring of excitement in his blood. She raised an eyebrow. “You want me dead? Then you won’t come for me like a coward skulking around in the night.” Diel’s lip curled as her accusation hit him like a million shards of glass. He was no fucking coward. Still, Noa was unfazed by his ire. “We’ll face each other as equals, and one of us will come out on top.” Diel felt his monster spring to life and begin to rage. Noa must have seen something in his face, because she said, “This is between Diel and me.” It took him a moment to realize she was talking to the monster. “You won’t get between us. This has to happen.” Diel blinked in shock as the monster stilled then moved back out of reach, unhappy but obeying her command.
“No one will know about it but us.” Noa pushed back her hair, her Brethren brand moving as she did so. “You know these grounds better than I do. You pick somewhere no one will find us, or hear us. But somewhere we can fight.”
Diel’s head raced. He was going to face her in battle. Excitement burst inside him, expelling some of his tiredness. “The folly,” he rasped. There was a folly on the grounds, near the lake. Gabriel had had it fashioned into a training ring. It was secure, perfect for fighting, and far away from anyone in the houses.
Noa nodded. “Midnight. Tomorrow night.” She got to her feet and moved to the ornate closet against the wall. She pulled on a black sweater, leggings and boots. Diel never took his eyes off her as she dressed, feeling a strange stretch in his chest. He felt his monster watching, fascinated by the pink-haired woman who had just thrown down the gauntlet without an ounce of fear in her bones.
