He didn’t raise his hand. Didn’t give the signal for hisFallento cut down the fae in his way. He simply…flexed.
His magic tumbled down the corridor, a wall of might that stole her breath. It ripped and tore a path ahead of him, laying waste to the opposition and a couple of passing nobles. Only the servants, hunkering down with their hands over their heads and shaking in fear, were spared. He not only had power, but incredible dexterity with his magic.
“Demigod Kieran would give his left nut to have you in his arsenal,” Daisy murmured as they stepped through the bodies and reached the doors. “Any of the Demigods would.”
“Except for your Lexi.” He didn’t try the lock but blasted the double doors open. “She wouldn’t care what I was—she’d only care what threat I posed to you. Isn’t that right?”
“I see someone has a lot more strength in his mindgazer magic.”
“A lot, yes. I want to experience you, but that will come later, too.”
Now theFallendid run in front of them, weapons out, teeth bared. Tarian let them, holding out his hand and having it filled with Daisy’s magical knife as Faelynn passed.
He handed it to Daisy. “Per our deal, when you don’t have this knife in your possession, you are allowed to kill myFallen. Let’s keep them safe, shall we?”
“I still have a green light to kill you.”
“Yes, you do. And the magic to render me vulnerable.”
She didn’t know about that. She was good, but she wasn’t indestructible. The court battle with the fae female had proven that. Daisy didn’t think she had the same training hours as he did. Not even close.
“That doesn’t matter.” His voice was subdued and reverent. He looked at her as his warriors laid ruin to those around them. “I would never lift a hand against you. If you decided to kill me, I wouldn’t stop you.”
She opened her mouth to call bullshit but didn’t get the chance. The princess appeared in a doorway at the back of the chambers. Her dress billowed. Two objects filled her hands, both of them glowing. A blast of shadowy power rose up and rushed toward them.
34
Daisy
Daisy didn’t gettime to think. She reached out with her magic, the same magic that could stop someone using her if she so chose, and sapped the strength from those obsidian chalices. Just as she’d brought them to life, now she deadened them. Eldric had said it was within her power to do so. It was why the crystal chalice was always meant to be a thinking, logical being.
Her knife elongated into a sword, ready for battle.
“No.” Tarian put out his hand to stop her. “This is my fight.”
His magic didn’t well up like with the guards. Instead, he pulled his own magical knife from its sheath. It glowed in the dim light as the princess’s face crumpled into a mask of rage. Her vile magic swirled around her. It didn’t get the boost from the chalices she was looking for.
Still, she had plenty, and she attempted to use it.
“Do you want me to wither her magic?” Daisy asked as Tarian’s sword elongated into a staff.
He chuckled darkly. “Her magic is nothing to me now. An annoyance. I’ll keep it at bay.”
TheFallencontinued to fight with vigor. Tarian walked right through the center of them, his staff whirling, the light spinning. The princess flung out her hands. Shadowy magic curdled the air between them and met his gorgeous resistance of dawn. The new day would bleed away all the night’s power.
He was on her, thrusting with his staff. She snatched a blade from a sheath at her hip and countered. He twirled and struck, cutting off a necklace, then a beaded, decorative broach. She parried, blocked, stepped back. He was everywhere at once, striking at her, putting her on the defense. Always advancing. It wasn’t until they were in her bedchambers, Daisy running to stay close, that Tarian’s sword work intensified.
“You always wanted me in here,” he told the princess, too fast for her. Stripping away her layers of wealth one strike at a time. He was like a vengeful god, mighty and masterful, beautiful to watch. “You always wanted me bared and at your disposal. I told you that someday I would have my vengeance. Well, you can thank a human female for allowing my claims to come true.”
He slashed, opening a streak of red across her stomach. Again, down the middle. Insides fell outside and streamed down. She screamed, trying to protect herself. Trying to gain the upper hand. But he showed how he’d gotten those ten rings on each arm. He proved why he was the best, not just in magic, but in all things.
A limb hit the ground. Another. Then her head followed.
She didn’t die, though. She didn’t stop flailing. The mind was dead—well, detached, really—but the magic forced the body to live on. The reality of that would give Daisy nightmares. Zombies weren’t supposed to be real.
Tarian drove his staff through the princess’s chest and into the floor, skewering her and keeping the body put. Without arms, she’d be hard-pressed to get free.
“Drain her, dove,” he said, watching her with cold, heartless eyes. “End her.”
