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He flashed a wicked smile. Then he vanished into an illusion.
Gods, he’d needed this too. A fight to take the edge off everything. As long as he kept his instincts in check.
Tenah’s crimson flames blasted out like dueling snakes. Gireth yelped like a frightened child mid-throw. His knife clanged against the stones of the colosseum wall behind the target.
“Why snakes?” he bellowed. “Their lack of limbs displeases me. I demand more limbs.”
Renton shook his head with a chuckle, almost losing hold on his shield of magic. It wasn’t always worth the drain on his energy to utilize magic but against Tenah…
His mouth curved up on one side as he closed in on her. His illusion dropped long enough to steal her breath away. “This is what you face should you choose darkness, Tenah.”
But there was no malice behind his words. This close, he became lost in her. The flicker of surprise on her face. The little gasp that escaped her full lips. The hint of lavender on her naturally tan skin.
Corrupt, his instincts reminded him. But fuck if he didn’t care right now.
“I’m not breakable, Tenah,” he said. “Remember what I do for a profession.”
She forced him back with a strike of her flame serpent. Renton feigned sideways to avoid a second attack from her hungry flames. They devoured the target the crew had been using to prove their superiority.
“Come on.” Gireth threw up his arms. “Important work happening over here.”
Tenah muttered an apology as she snuffed out her flames with a wave of her hand, but the damage was already done, the target no more than blackened, compromised wood. The crew stormed off in search of a less dangerous location for their pissing match.
Renton planned to enjoy every second of alone time with the fiery woman challenging his every belief. Tenah seemed to agree, unleashing her magic in all of its fury. She launched bolt after bolt as his illusion flickered in and out like a dying lightbulb.
Glorious speed had always been on his side. But even with his quick movements, he couldn’t escape the heat from her magic. Sweat dampened the hair around his temples and the back of his neck as her flames created brilliant streaks of red in the salmon sky while the sun dipped lower.
Another firebolt slammed into the stone wall where he’d just been. He laughed, his illusion fading. He brushed crumbles of stone from his shoulder.
Tenah locked onto him, her next bolt rolling straight and true. It struck him in the arm before he hoisted himself up into the stands and hurled a small knife at her boot. After patting out the flames striving to eat away at his armor, he looked down to see Tenah staring at the knife. Should he call the match?
Some invisible force constricted his body, ripping him from the wall and back into the pit. The air warped with heat as Tenah cranked her flames up another notch. They had a blue tint to their core.
She smiled darkly as he realized what she’d done. Strands of his own magic had been pulled taut between his channels and her fingers, forming a connection like the one the Chaos woman had used in the Boglands.
Gods, Tenah was so much more powerful than what her file had listed. The only other shadow Renton had met capable of demonstrating such magic was Elder Nithril, one of nine High Court rulers, and he’d sacrificed his ability to cast in order to seal the isle portals during Advanth’s war, saving countless lives and hindering the spread of Corruption.
There was no doubt in Renton’s mind that her family had raised her to become a weapon. Further proof that he needed to keep her out of the hands of evil like Boedworth.
But then what would he do with her?
Flames coiled down the invisible bond of magic she had created between them. They caught him directly in the chest. He grunted as he slammed back against the wall. Quickly, he popped the lid off his last vial of creeping smoke to douse the flames.
Tenah’s eyes widened as the numbing smoke coiled down her magical ropes. She severed them with a swift jerk of her hand. Renton didn’t bother avoiding the creeping smoke. Let it render every bit of his magic useless. Sure, he wouldn’t be able to use illusions to hide from her anymore, but she couldn’t puppeteer him with his magic either.
He took the brunt of two more firebolts before the novelty wore off. Then he unleashed the speed he used to hunt Corrupt, leaping over the ring of fire she crafted as a last resort to keep him at bay.
Panic flashed in her wide eyes. She cringed away. Flooded with guilt, Renton pulled his shot, his blade sinking into the dirt beside her. He’d gotten careless. She was unskilled with close combat. He would have to rectify that. Magic always had a delay, one that put casters at a disadvantage against fast, short-range opponents. Not to mention the issue when their magic ran dry…
Tenah didn’t waste his hesitation. Her features shifted into something menacing as she drew a whip of flame from thin air and snapped it down against his side.
“Fuck!” Renton exclaimed.
She yanked the flame whip back for another punishing attack. “My wraith taught me to play into the weaknesses of others.”
Renton’s brows kneaded as he retrieved his blade from the dirt. “And what exactly is my weakness, Tenah?”
Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes darted away for a second. He thought she might not answer, but then she said softly, “Your heart.”
