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“Any information I can use to successfully plot and execute my revenge.”
Nyra, who looked like she was on the verge of an apoplexy, opened her mouth. But Sparrow cut her off before she could try to kick me out again. “I’ll tell you what,” he said, drawing one of his swords and handing it to me. “If you can draw blood, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
I caught the sword by its hilt on pure reflex and stared down at the blade. It was forged from starsteel—a nearly unbreakable ore mined in Noxalis’s Caelum Crest—and the silvery metal shimmered with a faint, otherworldly glow in the moonlight. It was an excellent weapon, meticulously crafted, and I couldn’t help admiring it even knowing where it came from.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, hesitating.
“Actually, I think it’s a perfect idea.” Nyra declared. She smirked at me as she took up a post at the edge of the ring, leaning next to a dummy that looked as though it had been run through with a sword a few dozen times. “Unless you’re afraid, huntress.”
I stiffened. “Fine,” I said, flipping the sword in my hand. Lucius retreated from Sparrow’s side to join Nyra, and Jinx rubbed herself against my legs and gave a loud purr of encouragement before she raced after the gargantuan vampire warrior and hopped onto his shoulder. “But none of your telekinetic bullshit, since I can’t use my magic.”
“Deal.” Sparrow grinned, and he drew his own sword as I advanced. He darted forward to meet me, swinging his sword in a wide arc in front of him. I leaped high to avoid it, then brought my borrowed weapon down in an overhand swing. Our blades clashed with a bright ring, and Sparrow smirked as I stumbled back, my footing uneven.
“Rusty, aren’t we?” Sparrow crooned, easily parrying my next two strikes. His sword was a blur, a silver streak that seemed to mock my slower reflexes. I gritted my teeth, ignoring his taunts, and focused on countering. Although swords were not my preferred weapon of choice, Sebastian had taught me how to wield almost any kind of blade, and the years of training began to come back to me. My muscle memory kicked in, and my blood surged as the rhythm of battle, the familiar dance of steel and strategy, returned.
Sparrow's expression shifted from amusement to concentration as I picked up speed, forcing him to work harder. I spun and feinted, no longer just defending, but attacking. Our swords rang out in the night, creating a metallic symphony that grew faster and more furious.
“What’s the matter, Sparrow?” I taunted as I launched a flurry of defensive strikes. He sidestepped, but only just, narrowly avoiding a slash that would have cut into his arm. “Do you have any more critiques for me, or has this cat finally gotten your tongue?”
Sparrow laughed, and I thought I even heard Lucius chuckle behind me. “You’re not terrible,” he conceded, even as he aimed a strike at my head. “I didn’t expect you to be this fast, either. Didn’t know witches could match vampire speed.”
I ducked the blow, then spun to the side for a counterattack. But as I raised my sword, my eyes met Maximillian’s, who was standing just inside the entrance to the training compound, watching. His gaze burned into me even from across the room, and my breath caught at the unexpected admiration on his face.
And that was when Sparrow struck.
“Kitana!” Nyra cried out as Sparrow’s blade bit into me. Fire raced across the left side of my chest, and I turned to see Sparrow stumbling back, a horrified expression on his face. It was clear he’d expected me to block, and had tried to turn the blade aside at the last second when he realized I’d been distracted. I let out a shocked cry as my blood spattered in an arc, dropping my sword so I could clutch at the wound.
A few drops of blood had landed on Sparrow’s face, but he hardly seemed to notice as he cast his own weapon aside and rushed toward me. “I’m so sorry,” he began, but his tongue swiped against a spot of blood on his mouth, and he stopped speaking. His expression changed in an instant, eyes flaring wide with surprise… and hunger.
A bad feeling ran through me as his irises flashed from cerulean to crimson. “Don’t come closer,” I said, my voice shaking as I snatched up the sword again. My skin crawled as Sparrow’s fangs snapped down, and I raised my weapon, preparing to fight for my life.
But just as Sparrow sprang forward, a blur smashed into his side. A resounding crash echoed through the training field, and I threw up my arm as a cloud of dust kicked up in my face. When it cleared a few moments later, I saw Maximillian pinning Sparrow against the back wall. Anger radiated from him as he stood firm, his body a solid barrier between me and the blood-crazed vampire who, just moments ago, had been joking and laughing with me.
“You dare to dishonor me like this?” Maximillian spoke into the deathly silence that had descended upon the arena. His voice was soft, yet there was an ominous edge that promised retribution. “Attacking a woman who is under my protection, whom I promised no harm would befall so long as she remained in my city?”
Sparrow panted beneath Maximillian’s hold, the bloodlust waning. The eerie red glow faded from his eyes, and he blinked, coming back to his senses. Shock rippled across his features as he stared past Maximillian to where I stood, his eyes going to the wound in my shoulder.
“Oh gods,” he gasped as I took a step back, clutching the gash. “Kitana, I’m so—”
He tried to take a step toward me, but Maximillian slammed him back against the wall. “You do nottouchher,” he snarled. Power rolled off him in waves, and the hairs on my arms stood straight up as a golden aura pulsed around his body. I’d never fought a vampire this powerful before, never experienced the intensity of a full-blooded royal before. It was terrifying… and yet, it was oddly thrilling, too. “If you so much aslookat her right now, I will gut you where you stand. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sire.” Sparrow instantly dropped his gaze to the ground, the picture of obedience. I got the distinct sense that if Sparrow even thought about disobeying, Maximillian would snap his neck with half a thought, then tear his heart out much the same as he’d done to that vampire in the alley.
And this was one of hisownchildren.
“Lucius,” Maximillian said, his voice ringing through the yard. “Take him.”
“Yes, Sire.” The hulking vampire warrior appeared along with Nyra. His face was a mask, but the female vampire looked stricken.
“I’m so sorry,” she said as she approached, a first-aid kit in her hands. At the sight of the box, my shoulder began to throb in earnest. “He didn’t mean—”
“No.” Maximillian was suddenly at my side, his hand around Nyra’s wrist. He took the box from her and said, “Go with Lucius. I will take care of her.”
Nyra looked like she wanted to protest, but Maximillian’s tone brooked no argument. She swiftly bowed her head, then hurried to join Lucius and Sparrow on their way out the door. Sparrow glanced back at me over his shoulder one last time before Lucius pulled him away, and to my surprise, pity stirred in my chest at the sight of his guilt-wracked expression. It was obvious he hadn’t meant to lose control—in that moment we hadn’t been vampire and witch, but simply two warriors, testing their mettle against the other and reveling in the process. Yet I couldn’t deny the pain searing my chest, or the fear still quaking through my body.
The moment Sparrow was out of sight, the battle rush left my veins, and it was everything I could do just to stay upright. “I’ve got you, Kitten,” Maximillian murmured, catching me by the underarms as I sagged to the ground. I wanted to tell him to stay away—the last thing I needed was to be in close proximity to a vampire when I was bleeding—but I couldn’t seem to find the strength. “You have nothing to fear from me,” he soothed, scooping me up in his arms. I sucked in a sharp breath as the movement sent pain radiating through my chest, and my vision grew hazy. “Now hang on.”
The world blurred as Maximillian sprang into motion, and the next thing I knew, he was laying me atop a feather mattress.His mattress,I thought fuzzily as the scent of mahogany and leather wrapped around me like a comforting blanket. A tearing sound rent the air as Maximillian used his claw to rip open the front of my gown, and though I knew I should be outraged, I just couldn’t summon the energy. He pushed the fabric down my hips, then slid down the shoulder off my chemise to reveal the wound. Curses spilled from his lips, but his hands were gentle as he used a cloth and hot water to clean it. I cried out in pain as he tightly wrapped it using gauze and tape from the first aid kit.
