The projection of her body slowly withdraws back to her podium as she whispers into the now-deathly silence, and the crowd leans forward in anticipation. “May blood be shed. May pain be suffered. For Pyra-Mortem, let the fight begin.”
CHAPTERFORTY-NINE
My platform begins to lower toward the battlefield. From above, the surface looked like pale sand, but as we draw closer, it becomes clear that it’s some sort of ivory dirt, unevenly packed with random tufts of ivory moss, all of which will make it harder to keep my balance. I’ll have to stay light on my feet.
We haven’t fully descended when Arga unclips the leash from his wolf’s collar and sets the beast free. It leaps from the edge of his platform, landing the jump despite the height.
I brace, ready for it to come straight for me, but to my surprise, it charges toward Koda first, its black-furred body streaking across the distance.
Koda doesn’t wait for the beast to reach him, jumping from his platform, rolling through the landing and returning smoothly to his feet, running for the wolf as fast as it’s running for him.
At the same moment, Ace leaps from my side, quicker than both of them, barely stopping when he lands, racing forward and streaking across the distance, a bullet of pure fury.
The distance between the three of them is great enough that my heart is in my throat as they rage toward each other, closing in with every heartbeat.
The ruby-eyed wolf leaps at Koda, my brother draws back his fist, but Ace beats them both, crashing into the ruby-eyed wolf midair, his jaws closing around its neck as he knocks it from its path and takes it down. He knows that Koda is a threat to me, but Arga’s wolf is volatile and needs to be subdued as fast as possible.
The two beasts tumble across the ground, a blur of claws, teeth, and savage slashes. Blood splatters the white earth, and I’m certain not all of it is the other wolf’s.
I’m running, throwing myself from the platform before it settles to the ground, landing at a crouch, coming up to find Arga storming toward me.
I recognize his strategy. His wolf will take out Koda, while Arga takesmeout. I suppose he thinks it will be quick and easy this way.
I don’t plan on making it so.
My nightmare power bursts to life around me, filling the air with smoky swirls and dragging at the artificial light. The fear builds, a cold burn within my fists, as I stride toward Arga, every step measured.
When he’s close enough that I can see his confident, patronizing smile, he raises his voice. “Little sister, why don’t we take a beat? I promise not to hurt you until Koda dies, and then—”
Dark light blasts from my fist right into Arga’s face, knocking him back a step. “Youtake a fucking beat.”
I punch my right fist forward and my power hits his face again. Then my left fist. I spin and punch both of my hands forward, hitting him full on the chest, driving him back through the dirt so fast that he has to dig in his heels, or he’ll take a tumble.
I tell myself I need to weaken him. Stay away from his fists. Wear him down. Hit him with my power. Hit him with everything I’ve got.
But stay the hell away from his power.
He raises his head and snarls at me. “I was about to offer you a quick death, Nova, but now I’ll kill you slowly.”
It might be the first time he’s called me by my name. I’ll take that as a win. Still, I conserve my breath for the fight, grabbing the daggers that Roman crafted for me, one in each hand, my nightmare power twirling around them.
I duck as Arga takes a swing at me. Sliding beneath his punch, I drag the knife across his side. It barely scratches his armor, but I knew that was a possibility.
He swings to me, charging again, and again I duck under his arm, this time ramming the knife at his stomach on my way past. The blade barely makes an impact, but I use the friction against his body for leverage to fling myself up behind him, raking the other blade across the base of his skull.
He spins, defending himself, before I can sever his spinal cord. But I leave a line of blood that drips beneath his collar.
“Fuck!” he roars.
He storms back at me, his fists swinging in a combination of punches that force me onto my back foot, darting and dodging, evading contact while hitting him with blasts of my power so rapidly that the air around us fills with glistening nightmares.
Still he rages at me, unaffected.
The crowd fades into the background. So do my sisters, even Roman, but I’m aware of Ace, Koda, and the ruby-eyed wolf fighting twenty paces to my left.
The wolf leaps at Koda, who punches back, grappling to keep the ruby-eyed beast from ripping out his throat. Koda’s clothing is torn, his face bloodied. At the last moment, Ace knocks the wolf down again, tearing at the beast with his teeth. The wolf fights back, ripping at Ace’s side, drawing blood.
They’re evenly matched and a trickle of fear traces my spine.
