“You almost killed me, stupid bitch!” he spits, and bright red blood coats his teeth. His hand raises, as if he aims to strike me, but before he can, long, thick fingers wrap around his wrist, pulling him backward.
“I know you weren’t about to strike a fellow competitor, Dolan. Let alone a female.” It’s the first time I’ve been truly grateful for Raiden’s deep growl. The first time it hasn’t been aimed in my general direction.
A crowd is gathering, and the last thing we need is to bring more attention to ourselves. Raiden releases Dolan but shifts to stand between the two of us.
“She fucking cheated!” he yells, and I swallow a snort. “There’s no way this healer trash unhorsed me otherwise.”
“I watched the entire thing, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a soul to agree with you. I suggest you drop it. Now,” Raiden whispers coolly. But his eyes are demanding.
Dolan’s face is already starting to bruise from the fall, and I can’t stop myself from saying, “You’d better run along to thehealer’s tent and have them fix your face before your head gets much larger than it already is.”
I’m hit with an odd sense of pride when Raiden covers his mouth with a fist to hide the smile I’ve pulled from him.
“This isn’t over! I’m coming for you, wench!” Dolan shouts at my back. He has no idea that I’ll be the one coming forhimbefore the tournament is over.
Raiden
Baltas’ hand on my shoulder is the only thing keeping me in my seat.
“You have got to calm yourself. She is doing fine,” he whispers in a volume only audible to me.
He’s right, Arina has performed so well in all of her hand-to-hand matches today. It doesn’t make them any easier to watch. Each time one of her opponents lands a hit, I add another name to the list of people I will have taken out.
I’m sure she’s thrilled they’re treating her like an equal, but I have no respect for a man willing to land full-powered blows on a female the way they have been today.
Dolan has been watching her just as intently as I have. He studies her every move, and I hope she’s aware enough to know she can’t use the same moves on him that she has on the others.
The two square up, but refuse to shake hands at the start of the fight as is customary. The herald calls for the brawl to begin, and they’re quickly a tangled mess of limbs. My stomach turns, and I look away, watching Baltas for any indication of trouble.
A woman in the crowd begins screaming. It’s just a low hum at first, but as she gets closer, her words become clear.
“She’s a demon! Evil incarnate!” The crowd gets quiet as it parts, and the woman finally becomes visible. She’s holding a bottle and swaying her way closer to the ring. Demitra.
At first, I think maybe Arina hasn’t seen her, but she continues to shout and slur, until there’s no ignoring the ruckus.
A loud crack hits the air, and Baltas winces as the spectators cheer. I turn back around to see what’s happened, but I shouldn’t have.
Dolan is on top of Arina. His open hand comes down on her, but she blocks him with her arms. The gruesome thud of his hand connecting with her forearm, her head, and any other piece of her he can, awakens a monster I didn’t realize lives inside of me.
She’s losing strength. The herald goes to stop him, but Dolan is possessed.
Arina moves to get away, but she’s not fast enough. Dolan grabs her by the fucking hair. He wraps her braid around his arm, trapping her in his space. She releases a bone-shattering wail, and I swear I can feel her pain.
I’m on my feet, inching closer to the ring as I watch in horror. The onlookers scream, but I can’t hear a fucking thing.
Of course Captain Perfect is nowhere to be seen. He would stop this. Maybe even take care of Dolan for me. If I jump inthere, it could ruin everything. I have to stay put. It’s harder than I thought.
Dolan wraps his arm around her neck, and there is no question in my mind that he is going to break her.
He gets her in a choke hold with ease, looks me in the eye, and whispers a little too loudly for my liking, “I’m going to murder your fucking queen, and then I’ll track you down and make you beg for death. And there’s not a godsdamned thing you can do about it.”
Blinding fury pierces through me. White hot rage that I cannot tame. But before I can jump into the ring, Baltas flies past me, pulls Arina from Dolan’s grip, and flattens him with one punch to the face.
Arina
“PUT ME DOWN! Let go!” I kick my legs out, attempting to twist from the grasp of the rebel who had been behind Phil at the ball.
“You’re injured, Miss,” he rumbles, dragging me away from the ring with ease.
