Thalia’s fury echoed through the greenhouse.Ensconced as he was in the plants, he felt them shiver and move away from the violent energy.He let his magic flow into the shadows the way he had with Alayna earlier, letting the plants absorb it as he made his way to his teammate.
Keep it together, Tals.
If she lost control emotionally, she was done.Alison obviously knew it, too.
The shadows around the women pulsed as they entered the same space.Connor crept toward them carefully, keeping to the left so that he would come out on Thalia’s other side.
“Pick up the sword and I’ll show you,” Thalia growled, voice pitched low.
Relief sparked through Connor.Her voice indicated she was holding on to her control.Only by a thread, but it was enough.
The grunt of intensity and clash of metal reached him before he could see them.The branches parted, easing his way forward toward where they were fighting.Thalia had brought swords.Her own, and… his jaw clenched as he watched Alison swing his mother’s sword through the air.
He shadowed them as they fought, the spark and flash of metal lighting up the darkened greenhouse.Thalia pushed their commander hard, vengeance powering her movements.They stayed perfectly controlled as she countered Alison.
Thalia needed this moment more than he did, so he stayed back, ready to support her.Like she’d done from the shadows earlier.
A brush along his arm made him glance at the bush he was hiding in.One branch protruded more than the rest, as if in offering.Frowning, he studied it closely.Was that… vine berry?
Shock filtered through him.Alayna was growing poisons hidden in the depths of the beautiful Zamyran plants in the greenhouse.With a quick glance to track the fight, he returned his gaze to the offered berries.Vine berry he could work with.
Cutting off a strip of his shirt, he wrapped it protectively around his hand before tugging the berries off the branch.Crushing them, he coated the tip of his blade with the dark red hue.It looked deceptively like blood.He shoved the contaminated piece of his shirt in the pocket on the opposite side from his deep wound, just to be safe.
“Thank you,” he murmured, touching the branch gently.
As he moved carefully through the rest of the planters to avoid any other surprises Alayna had grown, he saw that Thalia and Alison had moved further away from him.The familiar clang of metal reverberated through his bones in the quiet space.
Shadowing himself, he disappeared into the waiting darkness.After cloaking himself completely, he let the extra magic run off him into the surrounding plants.Let the energy mix with theirs until it became less noticeable and wouldn’t tug Alison’s attention as he approached.She’d worked with him too closely not to be sensitive to his magic.
He walked toward them, knife gripped solidly in his hand.
Alison spun in an impressive move as he approached and swiped Thalia’s leg out from under her, sending her crashing to her back.A foot to the hip kept Thalia down, Alison hovering tauntingly above her.Blood leaked from several wounds on her torso, soaking her shirt with evidence of the fight.Wavering slightly, she pressed the tip of his sword into Thalia’s chest, ready to drive it through.
“You killed Jax!”Thalia growled at her.“Connor needs to hear it, too.He’s not coming out until you admit it.”
He froze for a second, analyzing Thalia’s words.Her emphasis on the wordnot.
Throwing out his magic, he realized what she was doing.She wasn’t just trying to get a confession for her own peace of mind.Several people were at the edge of his range, standing still as silent sentries.She’d brought more than just his sword to the fight.
“Come now, Connor, you’re not going to let me kill her, are you?This is between you and me,” Alison called.
He was close enough to see sweat dripping down her face.Weariness and pain working on her strength.She leaned heavily on the sword, making Connor worry that she would accidentally kill Thalia.
“You sent a zevving viper team after us because we knew too much,” Thalia snarled.“Just like Samir’s team.Except they missed several times.”
“If Drew had only agreed to work with me instead of against me, your team wouldn’t have suffered the same fate as Samir’s.But no.Unreasonable.Just like Connor.”
“You’re the unreasonable one, you snake.You killed Jax, and I will have justice for my mate.”
“I did.”Alison sneered.“But there’s not much you can do about it if you’re dead too.”She raised the sword, readying to end Thalia.
Connor leaped for her sword arm, grabbing onto it tightly to disrupt her swing.His other hand shoved the knife into her back all the way to the hilt, twisting it as he pulled her back toward him.
She stumbled as he unbalanced her, pulling her back until she nearly toppled over him.Yanking his sword from her hand, he shoved her farther away from Thalia.
The movement gave him enough time to throw the bloodied dagger out of her range.He didn’t need to be poisoned again.
He stalked toward Alison as she stumbled back, pulling another knife to defend herself with.Her hand shook, and she sucked in a rasping breath, eyes never leaving his.
