Sweat dripped into her eyes. She blinked away the sting, stepping back far enough to allow her a moment to wipe herforehead with the back of her hand. She flicked her braided hair behind her shoulder.
“Tired already?” Dominic asked through even breaths.
“I’m just getting started.” Adara charged for him, swiping low for his right leg with Infinova, and high for his left arm with the dagger. He leaped back, but took the brunt of the attack on his left arm, her dagger shallowly slicing through cloth and skin. Dark liquid bloomed beneath his forest green tunic, the stain traveling down his sleeve. Adara smirked.
He returned the expression. Fear ran down her spine at the sheer promise of pain in that menacing smile. Dominic had this way of looking at people, ofsmilingat them without an ounce of mirth or mercy. It never failed to make her tremble at the sight of it, at the reminder that she had waged a war against the Thief of Hearts.
As if he were the magic flooding the island, Dominic struck like lightning. Faster and harder than she could prepare for, his sword collided with hers. Lashing out with her dagger, Dominic dodged, catching her wrist in his iron grip. Then heshoved.
Stumbling back, Adara had no choice but to let the dagger drop, or Dominic’s crushing grip would have broken her wrist. His sword flew horizontally through the air. A death blow aimed at her neck.
She dodged just in time, but Dominic’s foot hooked around her bad ankle. The pommel of his sword struck Adara’s fingers, so powerful that she released her grip on Infinova’s hilt, bones aching from the impact of the blow. Pain shot through her leg, searing and blinding. The ruthless smile on his lips as she sprawled to the ground, gasping for air that whooshed out of her lungs, told her he’d noticed her injury and struck where he knew it would hurt most.
Steel plunged straight down for her chest. Adara rolled to the right, closing the distance between her and her sword—
Infinova skidded across the dirt, a phantom wind blowing it out of reach. He was a Galemaker, as well. She hissed, pain sluicing through the back of her thigh, the warmth of blood leaking out of a shallow cut. He could have easily thrown that dagger straight into her leg, sinking into muscle and hitting bone, but he didn’t. Instead, he’d made a slice, enough to wound, but not to severely maim. Perhaps he wanted her to survive, merely to destroy her in their game of love later.
Fingers wrapped around her injured ankle, nails digging into the open wound, and pulled. Black spots emerged in her vision as she fought the wave of nausea roiling through her. She kicked and clawed for leverage, dirt caking beneath her nails as he dragged her across the ground. Adara reached for the knife in her vambrace. Then she twisted, slashing at his wrist.
Blood sprayed, and Dominic grunted, yanking his hand back. He released her and was upon her sword in an instant. “What are you going to do now?” Dominic jeered as he picked up Infinova. “You’re nothing against me without a weapon.”
With both swords aimed at her, Dominic lunged. Adara dove underneath the blades, rolled between his legs, and popped up behind him, ignoring the agonizing throb radiating through her ankle.
“You’re forgetting one thing, Nite. You don't need a weapon when you're born one,” Adara snarled. Power surged through her veins. Coils of cobalt fire snaked around her arms, crackling along her wrists, her fingers, until two flaming whips sparked at her side. Heat simmered, distorting the air around them. Gasps sounded, the Andreilians leaping back from the undulating flames.
Dominic’s eyes widened imperceptibly. Then he smiled and stuck the tip of Infinova in the dirt. Embers danced across his fingertips, growing until a ball of orange fire sizzled in the palm of his hand.He must have stolen a Searling’s key, too,Adarathought. He also appeared to be one of the rarePherrathat could summon from nothing. He whirled his sword in the other hand.
Oh, how she wanted to hurl those flames at him. To show him how pathetic his fire was compared to her own. Adara let out a mirthless laugh and shook her head. “Never fight fire with fire,” she said. With a flick of the fiery whip, it curled around Infinova’s hilt. She snapped the whip back to her, her sword flying into her hands once again. Embers sparked and crackled along the blade, leaping out, as eager to end this as she was. “Everything you love will burn.”
Dominic spun his sword again and tossed the ball of orange flames in his palm. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t love anything.”
Not yet,Adara thought to herself. She lunged for him, flames searing through the air as she swung Infinova. Dominic hurled his flames into her sword. Their magic collided in an explosion of sparks and smoke.
Coughing from the smoke, Dominic waved a hand in front of his face, clearing the air. Adara, using the gray, billowing mass as coverage, swiped her sword at him. Blood leaked from the left side of his torso. A superficial cut that he didn’t react to except for glaring at her through glossy eyes, the burning blade no doubt more painful than the cut.
To his credit, Dominic gritted his teeth and rolled his shoulders back. His blood clotted quickly, magic already working to heal him.
Not allowing him a moment of rest, Adara’s left hand shot out, a pillar of blue flame streaking straight for him. A stream of water shot from his hand—power of a Neptune, she noted—dousing her magic. She sent another spiral of flames his way—
Crackling white light speared from his palm, aimed at where she stood.
Mud splattered across her face as she landed in a puddle from the spray of water, narrowly dodging the lightning strike.An Electro, too, Adara thought as she noted the panoply of powers at his disposal.
She pushed to her feet, picking up her sword and reigniting it. Flames coiled around her wrists, lashing out, wrapping around his ankle. Dominic screamed as it seared his skin. Adara wrinkled her nose at the stench of burning flesh. She tugged on the whip, his leg flying out from under him. Dominic crashed to the ground, and Adara let the flames die out, not wanting to burn him severely. He grunted, breath hitching as air left his lungs.
“Two can play at that game,” he sneered. He shot out a hand. A vine aimed for her ankle. Gods, a Terrene, too. How many powers were in his arsenal? It latched around her, coiling tightly, a serpent trying to squeeze the life out of its prey. He yanked the vine toward him, pulling the same move she’d just done on him.
A flash of pale blue filled her vision. Adara slammed into the ground, a loudcrackresounding in her ears as her temple struck. Blood sprayed across the sheet of ice beneath her, crimson stark against the pure white snow that coated the top. Adara cursed under her breath, his Froster abilities seeping cold into her skin.
She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, feeling the split in her skin where she had bitten as she hit the ground. A coppery tang filled her mouth. She spat blood on the ice and snow, thankful the cracking she heard was her body hitting the ice, not her skull breaking—though the throbbing and splotches in her vision were immensely agitating.
Pain, sharp and cold, lanced through her arm. She bit back her scream, ignored the nausea at the sight of a shard of ice penetrating her bicep. The flames enveloping Infinova flickered, her magic failing at the cold that permeated her bones.
She rose from the ground, pulling out the shard of ice so her own healing abilities, albeit much slower than Dominic’s since she wasn’t a Med, would take over. A small noise of pain escaped her, blood rushing down her arm as she tossed the icicle away. It clattered against the ice, her blood splattering.
“Pathetic,” Dominic laughed.
Adara clutched Infinova, knuckles white against the hilt, willing more fire into the blade. Smoke rose into the sky. “What’s pathetic is that you have the abilities of so manyPherraand still can’t beat my one power, and I’m still holding back.” She let out a growl through clenched teeth, charging at him with her sword raised. Ice melted beneath her with each step.
