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“Merden is celebrating,” Vento growled, rage flashing in his eyes. “She believes she has won.”
“Yeah? Well, she can take that belief with her into the mist,” I hissed. “I’ll kill her myself.”
“And that candy girl will skin you alive for it,” Cade warned, finally noticing the conversation. “Let her have her fun, Kingston. You just do your job and win.”
“If the mist matches the two of us, you win,” Luca said, nodding in agreement. “Then you beat Merden. If the mist matches either of us with Merden, we beat her.”
“Such an easy plan. Why the hell didn’t it work for Kana?” I snarled, and they all fell silent. No matter how much we all wanted to see Merden lose, the bald truth was that Kana was a hundred times stronger than either Luca or me. If she had failed...
“You’re going to have to trust her, Kingston. You took her blood. Live up to it,” Luca said, a clear warning in his voice that if I betrayed Kana’s love, he would gut me himself.
I laughed bitterly. “If the mist matches us, I should kill you and take care of that fucking blood contract. That’s what living up to myaima’s blood would mean.”
“Killing someone else she loves? Not likely,” Cade drawled. I dropped my head into my hands, the ache of it all nearly unbearable. “And I know you’ve known her the shortest amount of time, so I’ll let you in on this. Our girl always - always - has a fucking plan.”
“Oh, she has a plan,” Vento mumbled, and something in his tone made me wonder what he knew that I didn’t.
But there wasn’t even a minute to press the issue, because knocking rattled the door. Vento opened it, and a guard shouted, “To the ballroom - the next match begins now!”
He trotted off, and I cursed under my breath. So much for a break. “Well, at least this will all be over soon.”
Grabbing my weapons from the table, I strode past all of them and headed for the ballroom. I wasn’t giving up. I was ready to fight and win, no matter what the mist threw at me.
The ballroom was still chaotic, and there was a distinct air of celebration among Merden’s court of kiss-ass nobles. The citizens were definitely not rejoicing, but none of them had dared leave the Vault. They couldn’t resist seeing the grand finale in person, even if it meant they might possibly become casualties in Merden’s victory parade.
I didn’t even sit down as I waited for the mist to show us who would fight. There were only three of us, and I felt my mouth stretch in a grim smile when it swirled around my legs.
“Let’s do this, wolf,” I snapped as it chose Luca next. Merden settled gleefully into her huge, ugly throne to watch, and if it was possible, I hated her even more.
Luca and I dropped down into the pit. Nobody needed or wanted ceremony by now, and as soon as the guards stepped out of the way, we charged each other. He didn’t bother to shift, and I was glad enough to fight him like a man. Arm to arm, sword to sword. Even though he stood several inches taller than me and a good deal broader, I was fast.
I was skilled from all my years of fighting on the fly when thieving jobs went wrong, and I was more even-tempered. Well, usually.
Luca snarled as I opened his pants straight across each thigh, then swiped a swathe of red across his stomach. Surface wounds - digs to the pride more than anything. He cracked his sword against my wrist, and I snapped my fangs in his face. Sweeping beneath his legs with a kick he never saw coming, I got the big guy to the ground.
It had been easier than I’d expected, but I was proud of the win as I pinned his weapon with my boot and slid my blade against his jugular.
“Don’t make this easy on me,” I warned Luca as the guards called the round, collecting our weapons.
“Wasn’t trying to,” he rumbled, swiping blood from his stomach. “You’re a damn solid fighter.”
“You need more training,” I growled back, and he chuckled.
“I’ll add it to the list for next week.”
Then the second round began, and I quickly realized my advantage. Luca had an enormous amount of magic, but he had no idea how to use it. When he managed to grasp my mind, it was clumsy, and I could slide my own ice magic between his defenses, crumbling him from the inside out.
He roared as I wormed my way into his skull, peeling back the layers of ice magic until I was free again and could take him down. The round didn’t last long, and I felt a hollow sort of triumph as the mist swirled between the two of us again.
I’d won.
Luca had lost, and I would fight Merden soon. And this would all be over, one way or another.
Then Luca whined, and I felt an odd lance of ice magic coming from somewhere above. I whipped my eyes to Merden, but she was distracted with Kana’s father. The wolf bent, clamping his hands to his temples as the chill increased.
“Sacrifice!” the wolf roared, his hands tearing at his hair. “I call sacrifice!”
He whined again, nearly shifting, and I spun in a circle, scanning the edges of the crowd pressing over the chains to watch us. I couldn’t see the source of the ice magic anywhere.
