I wipe the blood away with a dry, humorless chuckle.
Tiberius has always been a coward. I don’t know why I expected him to suddenly fight fair.
I can’t believe there was a time I accepted my fate and surrendered to my fears.
Thank Fates, I’m not that girl anymore.
Tiberius stalks closer, rage simmering under his skin, but he doesn’t know who he’s up against. Who I’ve become.
I’ve learned to fight for my future. For my mate. For the life we haven’t lived yet. I’ve learned to fight for myself because, damn it, I deserve to be here. I deserve love. A life where I don’t have to look over my shoulder.
I deserve more than survival.
I square my shoulders, lifting my fists, ready to show him everything I’ve learned for this day.
He lunges at me, expecting his size and brute force to overpower the weak woman he thinks I am. I sidestep, using the opening to drive my elbow into his cheek. The skin splits, and he stumbles, stunned by the power behind the attack.
His anger returns tenfold, laced with humiliation now that I’ve made him bleed.
Sure, Nevaeh was keeping him pinned so we could torture him, but that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of ripping his tongue out on my own.
For every hit I land, I take three. Tiberius might be taller and bigger, but I’m faster. And a hell of a lot smarter.
While Tiberius fully relies on his Divine, I have years of honing my skills and instincts backing me up.
I don’t waste openings, hitting hard as I can to send pain radiating through his entire body.
His wounds heal quickly, while mine linger for longer. The only reason I’m healing at all, even if it’s embarrassingly slow, is because of my bond with Dean.
But pain is nothing new to me. I’ve lived with worse.
Honestly, he should be ashamed that a supposedly broken siren is still standing when he calls himself the most powerful being in his kingdom.
I’m bleeding. Bruised. Barely holding my ground after some hits, but his pride is cracking faster than my bones.
Tiberius begins to lose his patience and switches tactics. When he can’t win by force, he defaults to playing dirty. A brand move for him.
He drops his weapon, his Divine flaring his back in a cheap imitation of Dean’s shadows. He’ll need to be reborn at least a dozen times before he gets close to being anything like my mate.
“Give up, Flaw. Apologize, and I’ll end this whole charade. You could still be my queen.”
Some people don’t learn.
“I’d rather die.”
He laughs, low and cruel. “That’s exactly what your mother said.”
What?
“She was just as stubborn. Look where that got her.”
The world lurches to a halt. something sharp twisting inside me, and I stagger back. My hand presses to my abdomen and comes away slick with blood.
When did he stab me?
I stumble, shock locking my body in place, but when I look up, my lungs forget how to work.
Tiberius stands over me, the same cruel grin on his face, but something is different. He looks… younger?
