Dyna wasn’t an elf.
She sprinted forward, blades drawn. Lumina tried to counter, but it was too late. Dyna ducked under her next attack and slashed her acrossthe stomach. She screamed. Dyna swept her second knife up for the killing blow.
The blade halted against Lumina’s delicate neck. They both breathed heavily, aware of the edge pressing into her racing pulse. A drop of blood leaked down.
Dyna glared up at Tarn. “I had her.”
Inwardly, cool relief secretly flooded through her. It had been a gamble if he would intercept her in time.
“You did.” He flexed his tight grip on her wrist, and ice sank into her bones. “But I’d rather not have blood on my deck.”
Yet Tarn said so while looking at Lumina. It was her life he valued, and Dyna was beginning to wonder who she was.
“Then you should have given me a challenge.”
He searched her face, perhaps taken aback by the indifference in her tone. One end of his mouth lifted.
The Raiders broke out with wild cheers. The man from Xián Jing dropped from the masts above them and landed beside Lumina. He wore deep blue traditional robes in the style found in his country. His expression was blank, his black eyes regarding her indifferently as he helped Lumina her feet. She stared at her, pressing on the shallow cut above her navel. It wasn’t deep enough to require stitches. She would live.
Tarn released his hold on Dyna’s wrist.
The blades spun in her palms as she returned them to the sheathes strapped to her thighs. “Did you find the fight entertaining?”
“Mildly.” His pale eyes roved over her toned body, and they stirred with something she couldn’t name. “It seems you did not sit idly these past months.”
“Not much to do in the winter.”
He led her to the banister where the Raiders had gathered and lifted up her hand. They cheered wildly. Their voices were like a roar, thrumming against her chest. It stirred her pride, feeding the victory she earned. It was small, but it secured her place in their circle.
And it brought her one step closer to her goal.
“I only have one question,” Tarn said as they walked away together toward the captain’s quarters.
“And what is that?”
Tarn pulled her inside and shut the door, trapping her against it. Dyna’s heartbeat fluttered wildly beneath his cool stare. Placing his hands on the wall on either side of her, his icy breath drifted down her nape as he leaned forward. “What happened to your magic?”
CHAPTER 28
Dynalya
Dyna refused to answer that question. She slipped past Tarn and strode further into the captain’s quarters. A dance of purple lights from the spinning amethyst crystal on the ceiling greeted her. Besides the Forewarning Crystal and the red Crystal Core, new wards dangled from the ceiling. Their purpose was the same, but they didn’t prickle on her skin anymore. He didn’t bother to put bangles on her this time.
She didn’t need them.
“Well?”
Dyna wandered around the room. “Well, what?”
“While that exhibition out there was interesting, I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t call on your magic once. Nor does it glow in your eyes, but more importantly, I do not feel it hovering off you as I did before.”
“I don’t see why that’s relevant.”
They were interrupted briefly by Olsson. The burly man came in to set their meal, tasted it before serving Tarn, and promptly stepped out.
She arched an eyebrow at him questioningly. The security of Tarn’s meals was Von’s job, but she had to continue pretending she didn’t know he wasn’t here.
Dyna joined Tarn at his table and frowned at her questionable meal that didn’t look appetizing in the least. “Surely, you don’t expect me to eat this. It’s unlike Sorren to burn food.”
