“I won’t run from you, Renwell,” I said, my muscles tensing. “I won’t hide either. I mean to kill you.”
Renwell halted, surprise darting across his face. Quickly replaced by rage. “Why? Because your lover is on his way? He will die before he reaches this palace.”
“He has an army,” I snapped, fear biting into my words.
“So do I. An army of Wolves awaits him before the bridge.” Renwell eased up the last few steps. “You may have destroyed my mine and half my army, but you will not win this battle. Surrender to me now, before it’s too late.”
I laughed. “I was never going to swear an oath to you, Renwell.”
“Pity,” he said softly, his lips bloodless. “We could’ve done such great things together.”
He lunged just as I lashed out with my boot. I kicked him in the throat. His neck folded around my boot heel, then he flew backward down the dais. The crown fell from his head with a sharpclangand rolled away.
Savage satisfaction filled me. This was why revenge was so easy to seek. Attaining it felt too good.
“Now you know what it’s like to be under someone’s boot,” I seethed, stalking down the steps toward him as he staggered to his feet, clutching his neck. “Did you really think I would forgive you again after you humiliated me?Scarredme?” I gestured at my cheek.
He ripped his sunstone sword out of its sheath. “You did the same to me. A scar for a scar. A lie for a lie.”
I circled him with my small knife. He was just as fast as me and stronger.
Surprise him. Keep him off-balance,Nikella’s voice urged me in my head.
“I think in your own dark, twisted way, you do care for me,” I taunted him. “You were so eager to get me back here, not because you needed me, but because you missed me. You crave my attention, the control you had over me. I looked up to you. Respected you. And you loved me for it.”
Renwell’s sword shook in his fist. “I do not love you, stupid girl. I haveneverloved you. This is the same, desperate search for a weakness.I do not have one.”
“Oh, but you do,” I said, circling closer. “You’ve let me live countless times when it would’ve been easier to get rid of me. You’ve lured me back to your side, knowing full well I intend to destroy you. You tried to get me to care for you in return—pretending to save my life, offering me the power I always wanted, treating me with basic kindnesses. It was all a ploy to make me care for you because you see feelings as a weakness. And you needed me to be weaker than you.”
“Youareweaker than me,” Renwell snarled. But he still didn’t attack.
I pushed a little closer. “Nikella was wrong—you care for me. You always have.”
“Nikella wanted to believe I loved her as well,” Renwell spat, looking slightly deranged. “And where is she now, Kiera?”
“You sent Korvin after her because you were afraid of her, of what she could do to you.”
“I’m certainly not afraid of you.”
“You should be,” I whispered. “You took control over me at my weakest. I will defeat you at your strongest.”
“You will die as she did. As your mother did. As Aiden will. Weakened by love.” He leaped at me.
I slid to my knees and sliced at his leg. He roared and kicked me in the ribs. I skittered away, springing to my feet. He was on me in a moment, swinging his sword with deadly efficiency. I blocked and evaded and retreated under his fury.
Until he stumbled on his bleeding leg. I darted in and slashed at his ribs. He grabbed my knife hand, kicked out my legs, and slammed me to the floor.
I cried out and tried to throw off his heavy weight, but I was pinned. Panic rose from the depths of my mind, fogging over my senses as I thrashed. Gods, I couldn’t die like this. I refused.
“Shut up,” Renwell growled. He snatched Mother’s knife from my hand and slid it into his boot. “Even if you did manage to kill me, your lover would never make it across the bridge. I made sure of it. Or rather, Librius did.”
Librius? He was still alive? How could Librius?—
Suddenly, it all made sense. The bridge. The guards. The secrecy. The time Renwell spent in the dungeon. Why he was so sure Aiden wouldn’t reach him here.
Renwell’s snarl melted into a smile at my growing horror.
“You rigged the bridge to explode?” I choked out.
