Cason grumbled and drew his sword. “And if you get killed because you can’t stand steady on two legs, I’ll stab you right back.”
“There he is, my dragon.” She flashed her teeth in a feral smile before pressing her back to his. “Perhaps I’ll finally see how that fire really burns.”
He didn’t have time to question her when her first blade flew. The man had barely begun choking when fire and water blasted toward Cason. He flicked the hand with the throwing knife, driving a rope of fire toward a different body as his sword lifted to the water.
It wrapped around his blade, but Cason was faster. Better.
He separated from Brela as he called his magic. Lightning pulsed through his veins, into his palm, and he sent the bolt through the stream of water.
He heard the impact—smelledit on the now charred body—as another tendril of flame snaked toward him.
Cason didn’t deflect. He spun with it, adding his own power as he shoved it toward the man who had barely dodged his first deflection. The man screamed, plummeting to the wet earth in an attempt to put out the fire on his clothes and skin. His efforts were in vain as Cason snarled, tightening his fist to heat the flame, then shoved it down his throat.
Behind him, he heard a sword clash with Brela’s dagger. Heard ice shatter as she deflected a magic attack.
Heard her shove the blade into an earth-blessed man’s ribs, then collapse to her knee. Panting. Losing energy.
“Bre!” he yelled over his shoulder as he finally met the flaming sword of the fire wielder he had been fighting. Distractions. He needed to keep her mind occupied. “I think you were in the middle of saying something earlier. Something about me being handsome.”
Cason parried. The fire wielder barely dodged his lightning.
Brela managed a breathless chuckle as she deflected another rope of ice. “You”—a grunt when a sword met her blade—“areinfuriating.”
Cason flung more fire at a new man running toward him, just to be shoved backward by his shield. The sun-blessed man’s mistake, giving him space to work his magic.
“Impossible,” Brela hissed as swords clashed.
Fire and lightning sprayed out of Cason’s blades, exploding and sending his two men flying back into the fog. He turned in time to wrap his power around the onslaught of fire licking toward Brela’s side. He smothered it into the wet grass.
She kicked the water wielder away from her, then turned and snarled at Cason before returning to her fight.
“Please, continue,” Cason panted through a grin. “I can’t imagine you can string together many more words beginning with ‘i’.”
“Irritating. Irksome.” He heard ice shatter and a dagger slice through flesh. A howl of anger came from one of her men. “Aninfernalnuisance,” she added, the wordinfernalpunctuated with a growl as she thrust her dagger deep into the water wielder’s ribs.
Then, “Case!”
Fireballs from two directions forced his hand. He ducked, rolling away from the explosion. Right into their trap. Cason slashed at the shield that barreled toward him, but it was too late.
It slammed into his chest, sending him tumbling backwards.
“Shit,” Brela hissed, barely jumping over his body in time. She still slammed to her knees, grimacing at the impact. “Having a little trouble, dragon?”
He launched to his feet, dragging her up with him. “Running out of words, shadow wolf?” he drawled, shoving his sword back in its sheath. Flame wrapped around both his arms.
Blue fire. Brightening the space between their bodies. Burning hotter.
His magic sang in delight at the freedom to stretch and grow and protect.
More fireballs exploded against the perimeter of magic Cason built around them. Shielding them with blazing heat.
“You are idiotic, inflexible, inconceivable,” she growled, ripping a throwing knife free from its sheath as she stepped back to give him room. To giveherroom. Flames reflected in her pale gaze as she smiled and purred, “Incorrigible.”
Without taking her eyes off Cason, her blade flew. The man had no time to shield, the knife embedding in his skull. At the same time, Cason blasted a wall of blue fire toward the two fire wielders. They could do nothing to deflect the strength of the flame, crumbling with barely a scream.
“Incredible,” she murmured.
Brela didn’t flinch at the fire or the heat. A fraction of his might, yet still stronger than he’d ever used in front of her.
