Arga is holding Esta down, one hand wrapped around her forehead, his other punching her repeatedly. I shudder as I remember what she said about her brother Sotain being beaten to death.
Her golden power is growing around her form, but the cage fight indicated that it takes Esta time to harness her strength, and she already expended a lot of her energy in that fight.
With a scream, I leap over the final cupboard, shifting back into my human form mid-flight, my protective suit rushing to cover my body.
I crash into Arga, my arm sweeping around his neck, so that I wrench him off Esta.
He and I smack into the open cupboard on the other side of her. Another trinket box sits right at the edge of the upper shelf above us and the impact knocks it farther outward, dangerously close to falling like mine did. My demon sight tells me that the vial is within it.
Arga retaliates immediately, his fist thumping into my side, a hit that explodes through me like a hundred punches, nearly knocking me unconscious, sending my senses into a spin. The pain he must be feeling from the poison would be excruciating now and he’s taking it out on me like he was taking it out on Esta.
She rolls to her side, coughing, tears of agony streaming down her cheeks. She’s still screaming out in pain—no doubt from the poison—as she tries to crawl toward the cupboard.
I hold on to Arga, my legs wrapped around him, as I punch with all of my might. At the same time, I try to sense his fear. I can throw my power into him, but he’s strong enough, like Crone, that only his deepest fear will defeat him.
The danger is that holding on to him makes me an easy target. His fist finds my face. Then my side. Each time, agony shoots through me and I lose the trail of his fear, sense it slipping through my fingers, as I struggle to breathe.
Then I catch it, a flash of a memory, but I don’t know how to interpret what I’m seeing.
It’s Koda as a toddler. He’s simply sitting on a marble floor like the one in this room. He’s smiling—the brightest smile I’ve ever seen—his blue eyes shining.
The memory slips away and so does any meaning it could have.
I hit out with the only fear that makes sense—Koda’s fear—the fear of failing. The dark, smoky tendrils of my power converge around my fist and my energy streams into Arga’s shoulder when I thump him.
He grunts, roars, but he doesn’t go down, rising to his feet instead and bashing me against the cupboard. The trinket box tips across the edge just as Esta reaches for it.
It’s falling into her arms, and I’m screaming for her to take it and run, even though she’s in no shape to run anywhere right now.
Arga launches himself at me again, both of his fists punching out—one hitting the edge of the cupboard beside my shoulder, but the other smacks into Esta’s head, knocking her down.
The box hits the floor, cracking but not smashing.
I scream as I throw myself into Arga, maintaining the contact despite the pain. “Esta! Take the vial!”
She lies stunned, her forehead bleeding as she tries to push herself back up, only to slump back to the ground, blood and tears dripping down her face. “Nova… help me…”
Arga gives a roar and suddenly his fists are flying, hitting me over and over so fast that I can’t move. Every punch wracks me with so much agony, it’s like he’s breaking my bones again and again. His final punch cracks against my cheekbone and I slump to the floor, groaning as I try to crawl to the box, to get to it before him.
He steps on my outstretched arm and snatches the box up, pulling out the vial and uncorking it. “You’ll never beat me, Nova.”
Tipping the vial up, he drinks all of it before he takes a deep, shuddering breath and drops the empty vial onto the floor beside me.
No.
Crouching down, he brushes the damp hair off my forehead. “I’ll see you at the final fight. Prepare to die in agony.”
He strides away from me, picking his path between the furniture.
I snatch up the vial, hoping for a single drop to remain. Anything.
It’s completely empty.
So are Esta’s eyes, her final tears leaking to the floor, the glow of her power vanishing as her life fades, and then she’s gone.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
Igasp for breath, rocking a little on the spot. I’m hurting everywhere. I’ll have bruises like I’ve never had before. It’s only because of my power that Arga didn’t break every bone in my body.
