Zarethiel fell for my trap, lunging and opening up his side for a powerful kick to the ribs. I could have followed it with an uppercut to his jaw. Knocked him clean on his smug ass. Stabbed his side with a blade.
But I didn’t do any of the myriad of things I could have done.
I pulled back. Let him stumble. Let him catch his breath.
But not without a wicked smile curving my lips, reminding him of who was truly in control of this fight. “Try harder, Zarethiel. If you’re going to fake a win, at least make it believable.”
“You bastard,” he coughed.
Movement in the crowd beside the throne caught my attention.
Maelsar. With his focus trained on Calrien and Sylaira.
Tightness I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in my chest eased.
He’d managed to execute the first part of my contingency plan.
I drew a dagger from a strap on my thigh as Zarethiel picked up the fight again. Successive spears of white flew toward me, and I ducked each one while closing the distance. When I was steps away, the fucker who dared touch my mate threw up a shield of magic.
My blade glanced off it. I stabbed again, hitting just the right angle so the bronze edge of the knife ate into the glow. Like I had popped a bubble, it disappeared.
But Zarethiel was ready. He lunged, another dagger primed to sink into my thigh.
I caught the back of his jerkin, yanking him off course. But he had timed his attack well, and the tip dug in.
With a snarl, I tossed him away.
Nobles cheered and jeered as ruby spilled down my leg and onto the floor.
I banished my magic. No point in battling the thrall of the bronze when the ethereal strands in my well were already threadbare.
Chest heaving, I circled my opponent again. “Can you hurry this up? I have other matters to attend to. Stabbing me isn’t going to finish this.”
Zarethiel’s face was already red from exertion, but the shade deepened with my taunt. Other than my slight injuries, I hadn’t broken a sweat.
“You could just kneel,” he spat.
“The Goddess wouldn’t like that,” I said, voice drippingwith disdain. “She’d find a way to judge your actions untrue and unjust. Do you want to risk her wrath? The whole court knowing that you arranged for me to lose on purpose?”
He leaped for me again, swiping endlessly through air as I backtracked. When I realized I was closing in on the thrones, I tried to angle away.
But Zarethiel threw up a wall of luminosity.
I gritted my teeth and called on my power again.
He would not herd me closer to the monarchs. There was no telling what sort of assistance Stadiel had offered him if the fight seemed to ebb in my favor.
With a twist of my hands, I called a hurricane of radiance into the throne room, increasing the mirrors’ endless reflections. Let them all go blind. Let the Goddess see through them all.
A scream sliced through the storm—feminine, familiar, and full of fear. Glass shattered, sharps whipping amid the maelstrom. Thunderous terror tore down my bond.
I twisted, attention falling on my mate.
And then I let my magic go.
60
“Give him some incentive to stop,” Stadiel snarled at the male standing behind me. I glanced desperately toward Maelsar, who had been steadily creeping toward me since the trial began.
