“This will do.” Fieran stopped on the center of a bridge over one of those pools.
I blinked at him. “For what, exactly?”
“For burning off that raw rage of yours. Show me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What? You want me to punch you?”
His mouth curved into a slow, dangerous smile. “I wouldlovefor you to punch me.”
He beckoned me forward. His confidence was infuriating, his everymovement easy, fluid, and predatory. The faint glow from the pools painted his skin in shades of gold and shadow.
“Aren’t you going to teach me?” I demanded. “If I try to hit you, we both know I’m just going to embarrass myself.”
“But you might manage to hurt me. And we both know you’ve fantasized about doing just that since I took Lidi’s magic.”
Lidi’s name hit me like a slap. How could he say those words so lightly, as if my sister’s magic were a joke?
I charged at him.
Fieran moved like smoke. I spun, catching my balance on slick moss, and paused to study the situation before I could launch myself at him again.
I was alone on the bridge, and he was standing on a marble base. The god-statute that had once inhabited the base—though it looked a little scrawnier than Fieran—was sprawled at his feet.
“You’re clever,” he told me. “You can do this. “You can hurt me all you want, Cara. All you have to do is catch me.”
I glanced around the room, looking for an angle to approach that would give me a chance. When Fieran followed my gaze, I charged.
The sound of my boots on the stone floor echoed through the chamber, birds fluttering from their nests in the rafters. I swung again and again, more desperate each time. He evaded me without effort, his movements all sharp grace and lethal restraint. He wasn’t fighting me. He was dancing with me, letting me burn myself out.
I dove low, trying to tackle him around the waist. My foot slipped on a patch of moss, and I pitched forward. Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground. My cheek collided with his chest, hard muscle and heat and the faint scent of smoke and sea air.
He didn’t let me go.
My pulse thundered in my ears. I was furious with myself for trembling, furious with him for noticing.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I snapped, breathless.
“Like what?” His voice dropped low, threaded with amusement.
“Like you thought I’d be better.”
His expression softened, the smirk fading. “You already impressed me. That’s why you’re here.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
This asshole was the reason I was here, and the thought that I’d impressed him with my bravery and fight as a mortal—fora mortal—was suddenly a bitter one. For a few moments, before he ruined my life, I’d been proud that he seemed to think I was special. I was so stupid.
He’d seen something in me worth dragging me into his world. If I’d shrieked and run into the schoolhouse with Lidi, abandoning those other boys to their fate, my family would be alive. The sheer cruelty of my capture overwhelmed me.
“Let me go.”
He did immediately, though his gaze lingered, heavy enough to feel like a touch.
“Why are you willing to fight for everyone else, but not yourself?” He backed away from me, leaping lightly back up onto that marble dais. “I say Lidi’s name, and you’re full of fire.”
“Keep her name out of your mouth,” I warned him. He’d been wise to back away. I cast a glance around the temple, looking for weapons. The vines hanging down might be useful to strangle him, but he was too tall for me to reach his neck unless he helpfully bent down at my request.
“You take care of everyone else, but not yourself,” he noted. “Why is that? Do you despise yourself?”
