I speared magic into my legs until my sprint was a blur.
I had to get there.
I had to get there for her.
For him.
For me.
Almost there. I wasalmostthere.
A hand latched around my upper arm.
Carmine’s panting breath filled my ears, and I smirked at his lack of control. He hadn’t had time to plant himself like atowering Viking in my path or to ensnare me in some beautiful display of power.
He’d chased me the good old, undignified way.
But catch me he had.
Breathing hard, he caged me against his body. His chest moved against my back. I was out of breath, too, but I wasn’t rattled. Because unlike me, Carmine was the same old demon I’d left.
“Iwon’tallow you to play Tiers,” he snarled into my hair.
There’s the real you.
I twisted to look back at him. “Too late.”
He followed my line of sight to the tip of my right toe.
That was inside the checkpoint.
The crowd roared. The arena shook with the force of demon glee and malice, and I felt just as gleeful and malicious as them. But that faded as the demon king pressed against my back. I whirled in his grip to face him, and reveled in the slight shock in his gaze.
I’d bested him and gone against his demand in front of thousands. For the scared and young person I had been, that triumph over himmeantsomething.
I tilted my chin. “The rules of Tiers are clear.”
I qualified for the next round.
I’d done it. I wanted to crumble in a heap and shake with sheer relief.
Carmine’s lips curved, and a familiar coldness burned away the other traces of him. This was a coldness that I loathed.
“Enamai,” the demon king spoke low. “Have you forgotten?”
Had I just pushed him too far? This part of him was unpredictable to say the least.
Carmine placed his lips against my ear. “I make the rules.”
3
The cacophony of the crowd returned to my senses as a portal appeared before me. The Crave Arena shook with the force of their clamor. The closest demons half hung over the balustrade in an attempt to witness this rare display from their king.
He’d entered the Crave Arena. They’d seen him lose control.
I felt damn good about that. I could’ve been queen in the history tomes, but I’d settle for “the woman that pissed off the king that one time” just fine.
“Would you like to walk through the portal by yourself?” Carmine asked in a silken voice.
