Kedar pushed his hood back, revealing his mask. It was the same as it had always been. Dark. Impenetrable. The last time she saw him, the eyeshields of that very helmet had burned crimson as she left him on his back.
Now that bloody and brutal past stood before her.
“Vessa,” he said. Like they were two old friends who’d bumped into each other at a trade post. Like the last time she saw him she hadn’t held his life in her hands.
The wind blew directly into them, battering them with small chunks of hail. Kedar gripped Vessa’s arm, turning her away from the entrance.
“Don’tfuckingtouch me,” she growled, pulling herself free just as fast.
“Fine, stand in the cold, then.” He moved deeper into the tunnel with a certain swagger that was all him. Some rhythmand exactness that even if she were an artist, she still couldn’t capture. How hadn’t she noticed sooner?
Kedar reached into his cloak and cracked a flarelight, then another, tossing them into the darkness. The passageway opened into a much larger area. Gold light illuminated the cavern, glinted off the ice walls. Patches of black, shiny stone were confined beneath the thick layers of frost, and several large slabs of it reached up through the ground.
Kedar powered down her plasma dirk, its last hums echoing through the cavernous space. Seemingly unconcerned with her, he studied the place with eyes that saw far more than hers.
Behind her, out in that winter raging storm, was certain death. Vessa had played in the god of death’s arena many times in her life. In every hunt, every battle, every mission. But here, in this icy cage, she was trapped.
It’d beensevenfuckingyears. Seven years since she’d seen him, or even existed on the same planet as him.
An eternity could pass, though, and it still wouldn’t be long enough for her to forget what he’d done.
“No,” she muttered, shaking her head, “let me get these damn cuffs off.” Despite the deep freeze she felt in every part of her body, she untied the bag from herself and crouched down to go through it with numb fingers. Each device that didn’t release her only fueled her wrath more.
Just as she was about to try her twenty-seventh, her cuffs fell free.
She lifted her head slowly. Kedar held the matching device between his fingers.
Red filtered through her vision, her focus narrowed. “Are you telling me you’ve had it this whole time?” she growled.
He lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. “You’re much easier to wrangle this way. I didn’t want to deal with your attitude.”
“Myattitude? My…” Vessa stood up, knuckles cracking as she curled her fingers into fists. “And who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Tonight? Looks like I’m the only reason you're alive.” His voice was level, calm, as he crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps bulging.
In a fluid motion made possible by countless speed drills, she grabbed and threw the bag of devices at his head.
Kedar grunted as he caught it right before impact. But she was already storming toward him. Her fist connected with his ribs, and the impact was satisfying even as pain sparked in her knuckles.
Kedar blocked her kick and moved out of her strike range.
“Fight me,” she snarled, stalking forward.
Again, he stepped out of her way. “No.”
“You don’t get to come here, act like you’re rescuing me, takemykills, and pull me into this ice cave like you’re some gods damn savior. You’re a coward,” she spat. “With your cloak and voice modulator. You knew I would’ve ratherdiedin that fetid tent than deal with you.”
He made a sound with his tongue that she knew was an annoyed dismissal. Even before, it had angered her on a good day. “I am many things, but a coward isn’t one.” His voice was at once harsh and emotionless.
This time, when she came at him, he didn’t evade her.Finally. She landed hits to his ribs and stomach. Beneath her knuckles, he was all hard, sturdy muscle. She’d forgotten the sheer mass and strength that a Xaal could have. Especiallyhim.
Kedar’s abs and arms flexed against her assault. Yet he still didn’t react. He was nothing but an immoveable mountain.
“Fight me!” she raged.
“I’m not going to fight you when the death gods are a breath away from you,” he snapped, and shoved her away.
Vessa was almost too far gone to care. Too out of it to give a damn about honor or creed or what state she was in. He’d trapped her with him like a caged beast.
