“No,” I said coldly, stopping a few feet from him. “The mistake was yours. You took what’s mine.”
I raised my hand, and a torrent of shadows surged forward, crashing into Izo’s protective barrier with a deafening roar. The blue dome above cracked under the strain, and the crowd gasped, their cheers turning to murmurs of fear.
Izo retaliated, summoning a tidal wave of water that surged toward me like a living beast. I met it head-on, my magic slicing through the wave and scattering it into harmless droplets.
“You’ve been a thorn in my side for too fucking long, Izo,” I said, advancing as my magic coiled around me like a predator. “It ends now.”
Izo’s composure cracked further, his movements growing more erratic as he summoned whirlpools and spears of ice, each one deflected or destroyed by my relentless assault as I inched closer and closer.
“You’re nothing without your tricks,” I taunted, my voice laced with venom. “Your power comes from others—yourfather’s legacy, forcing people to comply through your siren’s song. But me? Iampower.”
Izo’s face twisted in fury, and he unleashed a torrent of water infused with bioluminescent energy, the force of it shaking the ground. I braced myself, channeling every ounce of my magic into a shield that absorbed the blow, my feet digging into the cracked arena floor.
“I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done,” I yelled, my voice shaking with the weight of my vow. “For what you did to her.”
Izo faltered, his steps hesitant as he realized he was losing ground. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable, and it only fueled my resolve.
“You’re scared,” I said, taking another step forward. “Good. You should be.”
Izo made one last desperate move, summoning a geyser of water that shot toward me with deadly precision. I countered with a blast of shadows, the two forces colliding in a deafening explosion that shook the entire arena.
When the dust settled, I stood tall, my chest heaving, my magic still burning brightly around me. Izo lay crumpled on the ground, his strength spent, his confidence shattered. I stepped even closer as he scrambled to his feet.
From the corner of my eyes, crimson robes caught my attention. Altair leaned against a pillar, his expression caught between smugness and terror. He was good at masks, but his fear seeped through the cracks now, as palpable as the moisture coating the arena floor.
“You’re working with this asshole?” I snarled, gesturing toward Altair, my power pulsing in the air around me.
Izo’s silver eyes gleamed with a veneer of confidence. “Altair and I came to an agreement,” he began, feigning nonchalance as his voice wavered ever so slightly. “I approached him with anoffer he couldn’t refuse. He saw reason. He saw the potential in what I offer—the inevitability of my victory over you.”
Altair chuckled nervously, his smile brittle. “It’s just business, Raffaele. Nothing personal.”
“Business?” I spat, taking a menacing step forward. “You betrayed a blood bond for business? Or is it greed, Altair? What did he offer you to stab me in the back?”
Altair straightened, smoothing his robes with a calculated calm that failed to hide the tremor in his hands. “Izo explained how his siren’s kiss had already taken hold of you, and it would only be a matter of time before your powers waned completely. He said he’d take over your territory and combine both with the Crimson Dominion. Two territories for the price of one. A far better deal than anything you could offer me.”
“How dare you fucking betray me, Altair?” I spat. “We made a blood bond.”
He shrugged with an air of indifference. “I was concerned about the blood bond, but Izo assured me that once your powers waned completely, so would any bonds you’d made. The plan was to string you along until you could no longer fight us off.”
Izo’s laugh grated against my nerves, a hollow echo in the tense air. “Your father’s empire was built on blood magic, Raffaele. You knew that, didn’t you? Have you never wondered how he dismantled my father so swiftly?”
I tilted my head, my lips curling into a predatory smile. “Where do you think my father obtained that fucking blood magic, Izo?” I turned my gaze to Altair, whose composure cracked. “Are you naïve enough to think that Altair played no role in the death of your father?”
Izo froze, confusion creasing his brow.
I knew I couldn’t kill the bastard myself with the blood bond we made, so I’d have to coax Izo into doing it for me.
The shift in the air was instantaneous. Izo’s fury ignited, and he turned on Altair with a roar. “You fed The Shadow’s family the very magic that destroyed mine?”
The crowd gasped as the alliance between them splintered before their eyes.
Altair backed up a step. “It’s not what you think?—”
But Izo was already moving. With a speed that left no room for argument, he lunged at Altair, ripping the bloodstone pendant from around his neck. Altair’s protests turned to panicked gasps as Izo crushed the pendant beneath his heel, shards scattering across the arena floor.
“No!” Altair shouted, but he was cut off as Izo grabbed the discarded blue blade—the one Vivian had wielded—and drove it into Altair’s chest.
The arena erupted into chaos. Gasps and cries filled the air as Altair crumpled, blood pooling around him. Izo turned back toward me, his expression twisted with fury and triumph.
