“They’re sparring,”I say flatly, clenching my jaw to keep my voice steady.
Kai’s expression shifts to concern.“Is that a good idea?”
“A good idea for whom?”I growl defensively.
Kai puts both hands up as if in surrender.“Sorry.”
“Aurelia can handle herself,”I say, even though my own stomach is in knots. The irony isn’t lost on me—defending Aurelia’s right to fight when every instinct in my body is screaming to pull her away from danger.
My heart pounds against my ribs as they turn to face each other, practice swords raised. Aurelia rolls her shoulders back, her stance relaxed but ready. Runa’s eyes never leave her, calculating, searching for weakness.
The match begins, and I’m instantly on edge.
Runa tests Aurelia with a lazy swing, which Aurelia parries with a flick of her wrist. Their blades tap together twice more, each woman measuring the other’s reach. Then Runa’s mouth tightens, and her next strike whistles through the air. Aurelia barely blocks it, the impact vibrating up her arm.
Unfortunately, Runa is every bit as skilled as I remember her being. She takes advantage of Aurelia staggering backwards from the last blow and drives her shoulder hard into Aurelia’s, nearly knocking her off her feet.
My hands shake at my sides with the effort of standing still. At what point do I stop it? First blood? If Aurelia falls?
It’s too late for that, because a moment later Runa hits Aurelia again, and she does fall.
Kai swears under his breath. “Should you stop them?”
“Not yet,” I hear myself say, even though my brain is screaming at me that yes, I should fucking stop this right goddamn now.
Runa towers over Aurelia, but Aurelia is quicker. A moment later she’s back on her feet, darting in and out of range like a hummingbird. She dodges several of Runa’s strikes, then feints left, but spins right. Her practice sword swipes across Runa’s cheek, drawing a thin red line.
Runa’s eyes widen with shock. A heartbeat later, they’re trading blows that ring across the field, filthy snow kicking up from the ground as they lunge and pivot. Sweat darkens Runa’s collar; several large red welts appear on Aurelia’s bare thighs and forearms, but neither one of them relents.
If her wings come out, I’ll stop it. So far, they haven’t. Mine might though—I can feel them straining against my skin, the pressure building between my shoulder blades as I watch Aurelia take another hit, her head jerking back with the impact.
I think I might die watching this.
Aurelia’s sword catches Runa’s upper arm, tearing a hole right through her leathers and leaving a red welt behind. I raise an eyebrow. Part of me wonders if she used magic to do that, but I don’t give a fuck if she did.
No one else seems to notice. In fact, someone cheers, and I suddenly realize we’ve drawn a crowd. At least a dozen wolves have gathered in a semicircle, and more are jogging over to see what all the commotion is. I spot Gunnar yelling enthusiastic encouragement, then Viktor watching, arms crossed, his narrow eyes darting between the fight and where Kai and I stand.
Runa’s sword slices through the air, cutting a blood-red line across Aurelia’s collarbone. A growl tears from my throat before I can stop it, and I take a step forward.
Kai’s hand clamps around my forearm, his fingers digging in as he holds me in place.“She’s doing fine, just like you said. If you intervene now, it makes her look weak.”
“I thought you said this shouldn’t happen,”I reply, unable to tear my eyes from the fight.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know it would be a fair fight.”His eyes widen slightly as Aurelia executes a perfect parry.“You trained her?”
I nod, my chest tight with a mixture of pride and terror. I’m both glad I trained her and furious with myself for doing it at all, because if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be in this position.
The fight drags on. I watch as both Runa and Aurelia slow, their movements becoming heavier, less precise. Somehow, Runa has lost an entire sleeve of her armor, and blood trickles from cuts on her arm and the side of her face. Aurelia looks worse, except for the fact that she’s still smiling while Runa’s face is contorted with rage.
My chest constricts so tightly that I can barely breathe. I dig my nails deeper into my palms; the pain barely registering against the roaring in my head. I can’t take another second of this—I’m going to fucking lose it.
Finally, Aurelia’s blade flashes toward Runa’s throat, before at the last second she reverses her grip, smashing the heavy wooden pommel of her sword into Runa’s throat. Runa chokes and falls backward, as the breath is knocked out of her.
I stop breathing too. My heart hammers against my ribs as I watch Aurelia raise her sword again and bring it down in an arc.
Then, as she scrambles up again, Runa’s body contorts—bones cracking, skin rippling, her human form dissolving into fur and muscle until a medium-sized gray wolf with a white star on its forehead stands where she stood a heartbeat ago. Her discarded sword clatters to the ground at her paws.
Aurelia freezes, her sword suspended in mid-air, the killing blow aborted. I watch her muscles relax, the tension flowing out of her stance as she lowers her weapon. My heart is still hammering against my ribs as she throws her sword down into the dirty snow beside Runa’s.
