Kolis dropped his hand. “I was going to go with infuriating pain in my ass.” He rose, and the sound of the bone in his leg cracking as it healed turned my stomach. His crimson gaze swept over me, and then one side of his lips curled up in a smirk. “You really want to do this?”
“Not really,” I muttered, my heart beating too fast, too erratically.
“Looks to me like youdo.” He tossed his head back and then leveled his chin. The bump in his nose had evened out already. “And you know what? I can respect that. You’re a fighter. There’s honor in that.”
Like I cared what he thought.
“And I should’ve expected this from you. After all, you did learn how to become a fighter.” The crimson essence in his eyes pulsed as his lip curled back in a silent snarl. “I used to hate that about you.”
A shudder of revulsion ran through me as I repeated to myself that I could handle this.
“But guess what,so’lis?” His voice lowered. “I kind of like that about you now.”
“Ew,” I grunted.
His nostrils flared. “Excuse me?”
“We’re, like…related, you pervert.”
A shoulder lifted. “We weren’t before.” His brows came together. “Actually, I suppose we were in a way, but distantly—”
I struck, thrusting the blade toward his chest.
Kolis caught my arm with a laugh. “Really? You arestillgoing to try this?” He put pressure on my wrist, crushing the bones.
I gasped, my fingers spasming open. The blade clanged off the floor as pain stabbed down my arm, taking my breath. I clenched my jaw to keep from screaming.
I can handle this.
Kolis laughed. “You’re barely alive,so’lis.”
“Stop. Calling. Me. That!” I shouted, driving my foot down on the bone I had broken earlier.
“Godsdamnit,” he thundered, the leg buckling. He went down, dragging me with him.
I hit the floor on my knees and pulled at the arm he still held, ignoring the intense throbbing shooting up to my elbow. When that didn’t work, I did something that Vikter would’ve been embarrassed to witness.
I went for his hair.
Sinking my fingers into the blond strands, I pulled as hard as I could, jerking his head back. A sickening sense of satisfaction filled me as I felt a handful snap free.
“Fucking Fates,” he hissed.
His grip on my wrist loosened, and I started to slip free.
I didn’t see the blow coming.
Pain exploded along the side of my face. Blood pooled in my mouth as I pitched sideways, stopping my fall with one good hand and the other connected to a destroyed wrist. The pain was sharp and searing, like hot lightning streaking through me as I spat a mouthful of blood.
I can handle this.
I had to. I needed to. Because the longer I kept him occupied, maybe—just maybe—someone would have time to show up. Someone could stop him before he went to Carsodonia.
Keep fighting, I told myself. And I repeated that as I rocked back and kicked out, hitting nothing but air where Kolis had been.
“Missed me,” he taunted.
Breath stalling, I whipped my head around. Where did he—?
