Adara shoved against him.
He didn’t budge.
“I will never succumb to your commands,” she sneered through gritted teeth. Hooking her foot behind his, Adara swept Dominic’s leg out from under him.
He hit the dirt hard, grunting at the impact. He hissed as her boot slowly pressed down on his wrist, lowering all her weight to his arm so he was incapable of lifting his sword.
“Agree to do this the way we originally made the deal, and I’ll let you live,” she offered, the tip of her sword aimed at his throat. It was an empty threat.
Dominic’s face contorted in anger. Suddenly, his legs were tangled around hers, throwing her to the ground. Pain burst through her jaw as she landed roughly. A glint in the corner of her eye had her rolling to the side, barely dodging the blade that came plunging into the ground where she had just been. She scrambled to her feet, working her jaw as she rose, trying to ease the pain away. The second she charged at Dominic, her sword was yanked from her grasp by a vine and tossed into the foliage, out of sight. She halted in her tracks, faltering, but Dominic did not.
Adara could only dodge each and every blow Dominic threw at her. He thrust his sword toward her. She sidestepped, pivoted on her foot, angling herself where she could grab his wrist, holding his weapon arm in place. With her back to his chest, she delivered a swift elbow to his stomach that had him doubling over in pain. Casting a fiery whip in his direction, it wrapped around the blade and tossed his weapon aside, disarming him.
Dominic feigned a punch. Adara tried to dodge and found herself leaning right where he wanted. His hand wrapped around her throat. Before he could lock her in a grip she couldn’t escape, Adara drew a dagger from her belt and another from her boot. He instantly released her, leaning away from her knives slashing at his chest and face. Even with the advantage, Adara was still unable to draw blood from him. He caught her wrist, stealing one of her daggers, almost breaking her hand in the process, but that didn’t slow her down. It was an endless battle between the two of them.
Pulling away from him, Adara stopped, and dared to sheath her knife. “This is pointless,” she panted.
Dominic cocked his head, pointing the stolen knife at her in accusation. “You’ve been lying this entire time,” he said, breathlessly.
“I omitted the truth,” she replied. “We can still figure this out.”
“You wanted this. You started this war. You should have thought about the consequences before bargaining with me, love. It’s not my fault you need me, but I don’t need you,” he said.
Rolling her eyes and huffing out a breath, Adara dared to turn her back on him. A sign that she was done arguing with him. She’d walk away alive. It was only a matter of time, and she had no interest in fighting him anymore.
“Don’t turn your back on me!” he shouted after her, frustration clear in his voice, angry at the implied insult.
Turning her back on him was a sign of her power, of her unfaltering nature. A show that she was not afraid of him. Before she processed what was happening, she yelped in shock as pain burst through her back now pressed against a tree, held forcefully by a wall of hard wind. Her cry of pain was cut off as Dominic raised a hand, cutting off her air supply.
“You made a mistake coming here,” he snapped, slow footsteps bringing him closer with each step, twigs cracking under his boots.
The sound echoed in her mind, sounding a lot like bones breaking, like what it would sound like if Dominic decided to snap her neck.
She struggled against his mental grasp on her, feet kicking in the air below her to find purchase. She clawed at her neck, as if she could fight the phantom hands that held her there, choking her life away. Dominic drew closer, his unhurried, assured steps taunting her. His fingers slowly closed in on his palm, like hands constricting tighter around her neck. Her vision blurred, Dominic’s figure fading in and out of sight. Her motions slowed as she felt herself slipping away. Her feet stopped scrambling for ground, hands falling down to her sides.
Adara let her eyes drift closed, trying to take in a deep, calming breath but could barely get any air down. It was impossible withDominic’s magic holding her hostage. Though he had a hold on her, that would not stop Adara from speaking to him.
“Let go,” she uttered. Her voice was a barely audible rasp.
No response.
Adara’s vision had gone entirely black. Dominic’s words replayed in her mind.How the Hel do you expect to protect someone else when you can’t even protect yourself?
Conflicting emotions raged inside her head, and all she knew now was that no one would wield power over her, especially notherpower. The only person she needed saving from was herself. Any fool would glimpse her and believe that she wielded no weapon. Dominic’s first mistake was forgetting that she was a weapon herself.
Sparks ignited between her fingers as she struggled to raise her hand. Willing all her power and concentration to the embers in her palm, the sparks sprang from her hand. With her eyesight unreliable, Adara was unable to pinpoint Dominic’s location. He could run, but not if she surrounded them entirely.
The forest erupted in flames, a blazing inferno circling them with no escape.
“Let go,” her sharp warning pierced through the woods, louder, stronger this time. Sensing the fear she’d struck him with, she urged the flames inward. Scorching blue fire closed in on them. “I will . . . survive the fire. You? Not so much.” The words struggled to leave her lips. “Let go or I won’t hold back the flames any longer.”
Dominic’s grip loosened slightly.
“They’ll surge forward, consuming you entirely. Searing into your skin, charring you completely to ash.” A mocking smirk crept onto her face as she cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised in amusement. “Burning alive doesn’t sound like such a pleasant way to go, now does it?”
His grasp loosened a little more, and Adara sucked down as much air as she could. Vision returned to her dizzy head. The flames were close enough now for him to feel the heat on his skin, her fire ready to feast on him. His grip faltered, dropping her entirely. As her feet hit the ground, her knees buckled beneath her. She fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. The fire halted around him, dissipating to nothing but smoke.
Dominic towered over her. “Fine, I’d rather kill you with my bare hands, anyway.” He crouched down, hand reaching for her—
