Kassia shakes her head. “I have no idea. He should be here.”
He never would have missed this. Never.
Something has happened to him. Oh gods.
“Arvelle.”
I’m blinking back tears as Kassia grabs my shoulders, giving me a violent shake. “You’ll talk to him later. I’m sure he’s fine. But you have to focus.”
She’s right. I let out a long, slow breath and we step inside, following the guard to our waiting spot.
“This is it, Velle,” Kassia murmurs while we wait, the fight before us ending as the winners crow, their opponents throwing down their swords. “It’s all going to be different after this.”
“Your turn,” the guard says, and I reach for Kassia’s hand, giving it a squeeze.
We both step into the arena. On the other side, our opponents do the same.
The first woman is taller than both Kas and me, but it’s not her height that concerns me. It’s her bulk. Her sleeveless vest draws attention to the bulge of her biceps and shoulders.
Speed. Speed and skill. That’s what this will come down to.
A dull boom sounds in the distance, and the ground trembles beneath our feet. I frown, but Kas is cursing, her voice low and rough.
I follow her gaze.
Fuck.
Both of us know the other fighter. Galia Volker. And from the slow smile spreading across her face, she used her father’s influence to be placed in this arena for this fight.
“Fynton wasn’t worth this,” Kas mutters.
“Understatement.”
Galia hadn’t been pleased that her ex-lover had moved on to Kas a few years ago. Kas ended things within a few months, unhappy with the entitlement he thought he had over her time. But Galia had made it clearover the years that she hadn’t forgotten who Fynton had chosen once they were over.
“Some part of me knew then. I’ve never felt dread like it. It … consumed me. And Kas … I don’t know what happened, Ti, she was just suddenly tripping over her feet.”
Tiernon’s eyes flare and I realize I’ve called him Ti. I’m too exhausted to care.
“I still see it every time I close my eyes. Galia went straight for Kas. The woman I was fighting … gods, I don’t even remember her name. She was strong, and I was distracted. I came down wrong on my ankle and almost lost my head.”
The blade had been so close, I’d heard it sing through the air, an inch from my neck.
“I was slow, and I took too long to make her throw down her sword. And in the meantime, Kassia was fighting Galia. In my nightmares, I’m making that run. Sprinting across the arena in slow motion while Galia thrusts her sword into my best friend.”
Blank eyes, crimson sand, Leon’s desperate screams.
“Everyone thinks I killed Galia Volker. Honestly, I wish I did. But Kassia severed her carotid artery. Volker was dead before I sliced off her head.” I can hear the horror in my voice. Tiernon opens his mouth to say something, and then snaps it closed. “I was trying to bring Kassia back. Screaming for a healer. But I knew there was no hope. She was dead within moments.”
Someone hands me a sack of coins. When I don’t take it, they tie it around my neck. People are screaming. Not with horror. They’re celebrating. Celebrating me.
Because I lived.
And, gods, I wish I hadn’t.
I ignore them, taking Kas’s hand in mine. It’s already cooling. How can it be cooling?
Leon is muttering something. It sounds like another language. He’s praying to his goddess. But even she can’t control death.
