Even though they spoke quietly, I could still make out their words over the hum of activity throughout the Pit. “The half-Fae wants to fight,” the interloper murmured. “He put his name in the pool.”
Dante cursed, hands forming fists, but he didn’t make a move to jump off his throne. “Let him fight. But tell his opponent to let him win. His mind has been tested. My hold on him is tenuous at best.”
“Don’t you want me to take him out of here?” the other creature asked, clearly confused by Dante’s actions.
I had to assume the half-Fae was Hawk. Why else would Dante care? He’d wanted Hawk on his side for a while—though, I still wasn’t sure why. To my knowledge, Hawk wasn’t obviously powerful in any special way that was different. Unless there was something about his demon side I didn’t know about.
You don’t knowanythingabout his demon side, I reminded myself. All I knew was that he was half demon. Nothing about his House, or the power they wielded. I did remember the strange power he’d wielded while fleeing the safe house, how he’d taken out a Fae chasing us during the escape without moving a muscle.
I hadn’t really noticed his power then. Hadn’t known what to look for, or how to read the parts of him that’d been Fae or demon.
“Let him fight,” Dante replied, sitting back in his throne. “I want to see what he’s capable of. And I want to know why he wants to be in the ring.”
34
Hawk
Even in the darkness behind the cages, I could see her.
The female from the bed.
The sharp pain in my thigh battled with the dull ache pounding in my skull. A war between following the words of my king or my basic instincts that told me to find the female and protect her almost destroyed me.
It was too much, but the sight of her in a collar, dressed in chains, made the fog clear enough for me to fight.
Beside me, the vampire sighed. “I don’t know why you want to do this,” he muttered, “but good luck.”
From the corner of my eye, he appeared almost…pained. But he didn’t try to talk me out of it. I wasn’t sure why I had the feeling he would.
He hadn’t questioned me about the wound on my leg since the incident in the med bay. For some reason, I was grateful. He still had no idea who had caused the injury, but I knew now.
It came back to me in flashes. The dreams of her, the war plaguing my mind telling me to forget, the desire to save her almost losing against the pressure caused by the unknown presence in my mind.
Then the pain. I’d done it to myself. I remembered itclearly now. Pulling the knife from my belt and slamming it into my leg. The blood pouring from the wound.
But the pressure had released, and for a moment, there’d been clarity. Freedom. Respite from the war and the knowledge that one side would mean my doom, the other my salvation.
It was always meant to be her.
She was my safety. My freedom. My clarity. Mysalvation.
Yet despite knowing that, the war waged on. I needed another moment to see clearly, but the vampire made it difficult. He no longer left my side. Like he knew.
But the fight would open my eyes. He wouldn’t be able to stop me in the ring.
The small male who said I wouldn’t fight returned with lips pressed together. “The King has given his blessing,” he said, gaze flickering to the throne at the other end of the Pit. “You may fight.”
I stepped back and bowed my head before joining the other soldiers who wanted to partake. Unrecognisable faces sharpened into features I could make out. Many Fae, with their pointed ears and glossy skin stood with teeth barred and arrogance on full display. There were a few vampires with fangs lowered, glaring at one another. A shifter female with red hair and dark skin stood off to the side with her arms crossed, eyes glowing.
In the ring, the two shifters who fought finally fell. The wolf was covered in blood, each breath heaving from its chest. The panther dropped its head, black fur torn apart. Both were alive enough to be healed. Both were dragged from the ring towards their cages.
“Now, for some real sport. One of our very own commanders has put her name down, and she’s ready to fight!” The voice echoing throughout the Pit sounded like he didn’t believe his own words. “Sunniva Storm and Hawk Nash!”
There were cheers. Cat calls. Some shouted profanities as the shifter female pushed off the wall she’d been leaning against. Others jeered at the mention of my name.
I hadn’t recognised my name before the clarity, but now, itrang in my ears with the knowledge that it meant something. That it once had been spoken byher.
I followed the female into the ring, heart pounding. That tickle in the back of my mind started again when my feet hit the packed earth. At the first sight of blood, what felt like icy fingers tried to pick at the clarity I tried so hard to protect.
