“Diadre! NO!!!”Melek roared, his eyes snapping over my shoulder to the space behind me where my mate had appeared.
Instinctively, I whirled, but Diadre was on her hands and knees, weeping, fingers clawed into the carpet. She hadn’t even—
The spear whistled in the air, flipping up to crack against my knuckles, and sending a numbing jolt all the way to my shoulder.
I cursed and dove, hugging my spear to my chest as I rolled to one knee, facing Melek again—and whipped the handle up just quickly enough to block what would have been a stunning blow to my temple.
For a moment, my brother leaned all his weight on our crossed spears. Teeth bared and jaw clenched, I growled, then used every ounce of my strength to push up from the floor and away.
When I whipped the spear back in the opposite direction and thrust, Melek yielded enough to defend, pushing my blade to the side as he twisted and returned, spear at the ready, facing me.
We both went still, panting, glaring.
Then Melek stared, with an intensity I hadn’t seen since our days on the battlefield. I expected a rousing speech. Instead, he hefted his spear in his hand, then met my eyes before hurling it off to the side so that the head was buried in the wall with a thunk, the handle wobbling with the force.
Stunned, I turned back to gape at him. “Are you insane? Melek, I’m going tokillyou!”
Melek shook his head slowly. “I know your heart is good, Jann,” he said in a low voice. “I know those eyes are not the color of your soul. You saw what happened with that fucking hound. We have souls—wecanbe redeemed,” he said intently. “It’s onlythat lying Fallen fuck who tells us otherwise.It doesn’t have to be this way.”
I stared at him, then down at the weapon in my hands, then back to him.
Melek waited, palms open. But I knew that stance.
He waited for my attack.
I huffed, then threw my spear aside too. Melek’s gaze brightened, but I shook my head.
“You aren’t going toout-honorme, Melek,” I growled. “Weapons or not, I’m not going to put my family in the hands of Lucifer and his loyalists.”
“Are you listening to yourself? Youareone of his loyalists if you stay on this path!”
A very uncomfortable pinch began between my shoulders, but I rolled them to loosen it.
Then, I launched myself at my best friend, who I had called brother. Because if I was going to kill him, I wanted it to be done quickly.
40. Hand-to-Hand
SOUNDTRACK:Ready for Warby Joznez, 2WEI, and Kataem
~ JANN ~
If anyone couldchallengeMelek, it was me. We both knew that.
Melek and I had always honed each other’s blades. We knew each other intimately, both as men, and as fighters. We had helped each other strengthen weaknesses, and bolster defenses. But every sliver of knowledge I’d gained against him, he’d also built against me.
Which meant, I couldn’t afford to give him a moment to think. I couldn’t hesitate or doubt myself. He would exploit the slightest uncertainty.
I didn’t allow myself to consider who I attacked, or why. Rather than respond with words, I gritted my teeth and gave my mind to my body. I flowed forward, with a barrage of eye-blurring front kicks—Melek’s least-favored defense—each pace faster and harder than the one before, moving me deeper into his space, and forcing him backwards in the room.
I heard a gasp—one of our mates—but I closed my ears, and refused to be turned. My shins took the brunt of Melek’s forearm blocks, but I successfully shifted him closer to the wall, towards a sitting area where he’d be hindered by furniture.
Just as I would have forced him to back into a low table near the window, Melek hooked my lower leg with a kick of his own, forcing my momentum to the side, and pushing me off balance. With a curse, I caught my weight on the front foot, but before I could rock back, he’d already moved in, both hands locked on my forearm, turning as he pulled it over his shoulder, jammed his hip into my side to flip me.
I landed with a spine crunching thud. Any question I might have had that Melek would hold back with me was clearly answered when every ounce of air in my lungs was forced from my chest.
He levered my arm up, and braced his foot on my chest to stop me rising. “You’re living in fear, Jann. Wake the fuck up.”
I sucked air into my aching lungs, grasped his arm that was locked on mine, and yanked him down, lifting a sharp knee directly into his stomach and rolling him to the floor the moment his weight shifted.
