12
Nobody moves.
Rhydian licks his lips and disgust crawls all over me. Off to my left, Baelen watches him and at least five other males whose grins make me want to throw up.
I can see Baelen calculating each move, every step to get to them before they get to me. He’s wearing fine armor and carrying multiple daggers, a sword, and a bow and arrows at his back. His hands twitch to the dagger at his hip every time he looks at Rhydian. Bae may have spoken up against this trial, but now that we’re here, maiming the other male won’t be enough.
His gaze meets mine for a moment and the ferocity in his face scares me. He’s barely Bae right now. He’s a Rath to his bones and the other males don’t know what they’ve asked for. He’s just waiting for them to make a move and give him an excuse.
“Come on!” I scream, my chest heaving and fists clenched. There’s lightning inside me. I can feel it under my skin. The same way there’s a gargoyle’s growl in my throat. I just need a way to let it out. I just need a weapon.
I roar at the other males. “You can either get a piece of me now or when one of you wins. Let’s get on with it.”
Sebastian’s in a defensive position—he and Baelen seem to have figured out some way of signaling each other—but Jasper…
I do a double take. Jasper’s actually smiling. Nope, more like grinning like an elven cat.
“Holy lurking shadow panthers!” he shouts, drawing attention away from me. He leaves his position beside a spreading oak and strides toward me with a gusty laugh.
“Listen to the mouth on this female.” He bellows each word, laughing as he goes. “I, for one, would rather take her for life than have a small piece right now and let it be the last.”
He’s got within ten feet of me without anyone stopping him, close enough I can see the dagger he’s lifting out of the scabbard at his waist.Holy lurking shadow panthers, he hasn’t forgotten what I did with the last dagger I held and he knows I need a weapon.
His mouth might be laughing, but his eyes aren’t. That’s the Jasper I know. With a flick of his wrist, he pitches the weapon neatly into the ground at my feet.
“Which is why…” The grin drops off his face as he turns to the others, drawing his sword. “Anyone who wants a piece of her goes through me first.”
As I leap forward to pluck the dagger out of the ground, I break the stand-off. Rhydian’s five lackeys charge toward me but Baelen’s plan is as clear as the moss sparkling on the stones beside those beautiful trees. Jasper and I are the not-so-helpless bait. Baelen and Sebastian are the predators. The other males, well, they’re the mush in between.
I pick up the dagger as the first male reaches me. It looks like Rhydian is cunning enough to let someone else take the first shot so he can figure out my weaknesses.
I’m pleased to discover that my new weapon is made entirely of steel. Electricity shrieks through my arm, lighting up the dagger, my hand, and my torso. The high-pitched crackling sizzles a warning and Jasper’s smart enough to side-step and stay out of harm’s way. He allows the attacking male through but that’s fine with me. I greet my attacker with a snarl and an armored foot to his face. The shimmer husks lining my armor may as well be iron cracking across his cheekbone.
He stumbles backward and I give him one last chance.Don’t get up.
The fool jumps back to his feet, dagger drawn, aiming for my shoulder. My lightning illuminates his face as he flies toward me.
He’s aiming high so I drop to my knees, driving my dagger into his left thigh. His scream is drowned by the shriek of electricity. I use my free fist to thump his other kneecap. I can’t hurt his knee through his armor, but I push both his legs out from under him, using his forward momentum and the strength of the storm to flip him bodily over me. He lands with a crash onto his back.
By then, Jasper fights two other males and Baelen and Sebastian are battling another four. Rhydian is still keeping at a distance from all of them. He’s not the only one staying back: another male hasn’t moved from his position right at the end of the arena. None of the other males are bothering with the loner and I don’t have time to identify him.
Before my attacker can recover, I slide across the floor, banging against the shield that protects the dais, and bounce off it. On the dais, the Elven Command jumps backward. Elwyn Elder moves so fast that he knocks over his chair. The hourglass wobbles and one of them grabs it before it smashes.
I drop to the male’s side, holding the dagger in both hands, ready to plunge it into his heart. I recognize him now. “Garrett of the House of Glory. Do you yield? Or would you rather bleed to death?”
He clutches his thigh, trying to stop the flow of blood. His efforts aren’t doing him much good. He’s lost his dagger and I draw his sword before he can reach for it too. Now there are two blazing weapons in my hands. I keep at the barest safe distance from him so that I don’t electrocute him.
Despite the threat in front of him, all he can do is stare beyond me to the Elven Command where the powerful males watch from so close by, protected by their spellcast shield. Gideon Glory takes a step forward, his robes floating around him. The fury on his face is like a dagger itself.
The penny drops. Each member of the Elven Command has a grandson in the arena. All of them are fighting against me right now except for Sebastian Splendor.
I shout at Garrett, “What did your grandfather tell you? What did Gideon Glory order you to do?”
The male looks at me and it’s like he’s seeing me for the first time. “You weren’t supposed to be here. They wanted to force you out.”
“I got that already. What else?”
He sucks in a breath, groaning and in pain. “They ordered us to take Commander Rath out by any means necessary. They don’t want him to win.”
