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The book slipped from my grasp, tumbling to the stones, a single page breaking free. Twisting at the sound of the voice, I glimpsed the intruder’s sadistic smile as he stepped into the light. The bruises I’d given him back in Cila had faded, much to my disappointment.
“Adam.” I spoke his name like a curse. “What do you—”
I never got to finish my question—not when all the air had been sucked from my lungs.
My knees gave out as pain radiated across my body. Sinking to the floor, I clutched my tender stomach with both hands, my eyes flickering to where Adam’s shadow stalked, his hand at his side, a wooden club held tightly in his grasp.
That bastard—
My vision swirled, taunting gray-black smoke lining the edges of my eyes. Adam had struck me with a damned club.
“Still sore about Cila, are you?” I panted. “I’m sure the Knights got a kick out of me putting you in your place.”
He’d gone too far and accosted my brother. No one messed with Liam, and I didn’t care that my entire village had watched as I’d disgraced myself in front of the Knights.
It had brought me here in Liam’s stead, so I was thankful.
While Adam seethed, I curled my hands into loose fists—
He struck again before I could act, pummeling me with all his strength, sending my body flailing backward and into a bookcase.
“You don’t belong here,” he bellowed as books rained down on my head. I hissed as each one fell, my skull stinging. “You always acted as though you were better than the rest of us. Better thanme. But you don’t look so high and mighty now. Maybe I can finally see what you hide beneath those gloves of yours.”
I’m going to kill you, my mind retorted, even as panic had my body slumping down the bookcase. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t.
Weakly, I lifted my head and glowered, refusing to let Adam believe he’d won. “Is this because I denied your advances all those years?” I gave a scoff. Even with the label of pariah hanging over my head back home, Adam had still tried to corner me, using what he believed to be charm. When that hadn’t worked, he’d resorted to taunts and threats. “You’re nothing but a bully, Adam, and one who can’t even throw a decent punch.”
“Let’s see if this”—he held up his club, giving it a skillful spin—“is better than one of my punches.”
I couldn’t breathe properly, and I was sure he’d managed to bruise a rib. The voice in my head screamed for me to stand, to do anything but accept defeat. But I was so very tired.
I exhaled, preparing for the pain that would surely follow.
But the blow never came.
My lids peeled open, boisterous grunts filling the room as two solid bodies collided. The shock of the crash echoed like irate thunder, the silhouettes wraithlike in the quivering light of the sunfire.
I was suddenly a spectator in a battle between shadows, my eyes wide as I watched them move like billowing plumes of smoke. A resounding thud sent one of the assailants downhard. Flashes of silver and swinging fists whirled, and then, there was no movement at all.
It ended just as suddenly as it had begun.
I automatically pushed back, my instincts urging me to get as far away from here as possible. If Adam succeeded—
The victor materialized, the sunfire casting ghoulish shadows across his scarred face. In the dimness, his injured eye glowed, an insidious blue and silver that sent shivers down my spine.
Jude.
I raised my chin to meet his imperfectly handsome face as he closed the gap between us. For once, my mouth didn’t open and spill whatever nonsense came to mind. I was stunned into silence.
Beyond his frame, I made out Adam’s unmoving body, his chest rising and falling slowly. He’d been knocked out cold.
Jude bent before me, his hands resting on his knees. The sunfire played across the severe features of his face, sharpening the angles of his jaw and cutting cheekbones. His hair shone a brilliant blue-black, and my fingers had the odd need to brush through the strands.
“You seem to attract trouble, recruit.”
His voice sent a fluttering of tingles into my stomach, and I cursed the peculiar warmth that followed.
“I-I couldn’t sleep,” I stammered, which brought a touch of heat to my cheeks. Realizing I was still slouched in a defensive position, I straightened my shoulders.
