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Veyka cocked an eyebrow, then palmed her daggers.
No surprise. I hadn’t seen her wield Excalibur—ever. It remained strapped to her back, no matter what threat she faced. I knew she’d used it to fight off the witch in the Tower of Myda. But beyond that, she treated it as if it was ceremonial. Since the revelations about Arthur…
The blade might as well have been poisoned.
As soon as the daggers were in her hands, I charged.
She was ready for me. I expected her to meet me head on—she always had before. But she threw all her weight to the side, rolling into a summersault and coming to stand on the other side of the clearing.
Ancestors, she was fast. I knew it, of course. But seeing her use that magnificent body, command those muscles like it was nothing… it was fucking impressive.
She spun a knife in her hand as we circled each other. “What does sparring have to do with my magic?”
The second I opened my mouth, she ran. Launching herself at me, crouching low, going for my midsection. One knife in her hand, the other hurtling through the air. I ducked to the side, the knife singing as it whizzed past my head and embedded in a tree behind me with athunk.
I didn’t look to see where it had landed. I swiped a leg out, going for her knees. She dodged over me, grabbing a tree root and using it to lever herself away.
She wasn’t getting away from me like that. The tree root circled her ankle, dragging her down to the ground with a crash. “You love sparring,” I taunted as it pulled her closer.
Veyka still had one knife in her hand.
“I love winning.” She drove it down into the root.
I flinched backward. She ripped her leg free, hitting the ground at a sprint.
But I was already there. She couldn’t outrun me. Not with my blades and my powers. “You can’t win against me.”
“Watch me.” She dodged backward, retreating.
Mistake. I’d have her in a few steps. There was nothing behind her but a wall of trees and jungle.
“You’ve failed to access your power in isolation. So I figured we’d put it to work.” I hadn’t intending to push her so hard, so fast. I wanted to draw her out, get her comfortable with the sparring.
But every contest between us was destined to become a brutal bloodbath.
“You are talking in riddles.” She darted to the side, then back, then the other side. She was going to feint. “Too much time in the elemental court,” she grunted. Trying to distract me by talking.
I hefted my axe. One throw. That’s all it would take. I’d hit her with the handle, not the blade. Still heavy enough to knock her on her ass.
But I issued the challenge instead. “You like winning so much. Use your power to beat me.”
She darted backward, circling the edge of the forest, keeping two yards between us. For anyone else, it wouldn’t have been nearly enough to escape me. But Veyka was fast.
“The power doesn’t work that way. I…” She huffed in a breath. She wasn’t tired from the sparring. She could do that for hours. It was the crushing weight of responsibility on her chest. “It’s the void… I move from one realm to another.”
“Says who?” I backed her up a little more. She was running out of space, even for someone with her speed. “You are in control Veyka. It is your power. Make it do whatyouwant.”
Her eyes flashed.
Oh, yes, my beast growled.Does fighting like this make you wet for me?
I waited for her response, the seductive taunt that I knew was coming.
But Veyka knew I expected it. She used the half second to jump.
She hadn’t been retreating. She’d been getting herself into position.
Her hands closed around the knife embedded in the tree. Her powerful arms flexed against the fine wool of her tunic, pulling her upward. Her booted feet sailed straight for my chest.
