“Yeah? By planning to lock me in a cage in your basement and holding me hostage?”
He lowers his gaze to the sand and smirks to himself. “That was supposed to be the last resort. You gave me no other choice.”
My voice is cold as ice. “You’re sick, a spineless pawn for a criminal organization who’s not able to stand up against your father.”
Daegel’s gaze flickers to mine. “Seeking power for the sake of vengeance is no more noble than seeking power for the sake of power itself.”
“I never claimed to be noble.”
He opens his arms. “So that’s that, then? We bury our future in the sand and fight until death? That’s what you want?”
I swallow, lick my dry lips, and shrug. “I don’t see any other choice.”
Daegel gathers both of his blades in one hand and picks up the pair of pearl-handled daggers. He tosses them to me, and the weapons land at my feet. I glance between the blades and him.
“I can’t protect you anymore, princess,” he says. “But it must be a fair fight. There is no honor in slaying you in an unequal fight.”
I bark a laugh. “Now you care about honor?”
He says nothing.
I detest his arrogance and the pride with which he offers the weapons to me. Keeping an eye on him, I pick the blades up. The daggers are lighter that I expect. They rest comfortably in my palms.
Slowly, Daegel raises his blades. I guess the time I’ve been dreading has come.
The crowd cheers for us. Their excitement and thirst for blood press onto my senses. It’s distracting, so I focus all of my mental attention on shutting all of it off.
I don’t think.
I don’t feel.
I simply am, a lethal weapon.
Daegel doesn’t get to attack first. I do, as I advance forward and swing the blades at him. The sparks fly through the air as our blades clash between us.
I only pause for a second before I retreat and launch at him again, from a different angle. My breathing is even, and my pulse is steady as every limb in my body moves with ease and grace. I don’t give Daegel an opening to come at me. I attack him with lethal force. All he can do is dodge and deflect my blows.
This is reminiscent of those times back at the Ezkai Academy when he’d train me in the early mornings, before the rest of the trainees woke up.
From the frown that settles between his brows, I can tell he doesn’t expect the ferociousness with which I attack.
I may be good with blades, but I’m a Phantom Ranger and he’s a master of the blade.
Daegel’s feet are light on the ground, moving graciously together with mine. He matches my speed and strength. We’re stuck in a deadly dance of two doomed lovers.
The next time our blades lock, Daegel leans forward and says teasingly, “Did you know that when you fight, you move your hips in the same way?—”
His words don’t rattle me. “Fuck you. Your dirty talk doesn’t work on me now that I know you’re twisted.”
Daegel laughs and retreats before swiftly thrusting his left blade towards my hip. I dodge it just in time before it sinksinto my flesh. I take a couple of steps back to put more distance between us. We circle each other.
Daegel smiles. “Bullshit. No way all that we shared between us means so little to you.”
He thinks he can get to me with his words. That his manipulation will wear me down and break me eventually. I won’t give him the satisfaction. Not anymore.
I inhale.
Exhale.
