Reyna held her sword before her and faced the enemy. Lorcan flipped his dagger over his in hands with a dexterity and speed that made her eyes spin. He was trying to intimidate her, and it wasn’t working. She’d never been more determined to win.
She still wasn’t ready to let go of hope, even after what he’d done to Thane. Reyna would go through with the plan. She’d trapped him on the throne and spill his blood. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped up to him.
He swung his blade toward her head. She danced back, and the sharp tip nearly cut through her armor. A hiss filled the air as the scent of burnt leather filled the air. Lorcan laughed and lunged again.
This time, Reyna swung her sword toward Lorcan’s blade and knocked it out of his hand. Now, it was her time to smile.
“Did you really think you could best me with a dagger? I’ve trained my entire life with blades.”
“And so have I.” Lorcan ducked down and whipped out a sword hidden beneath a blanket of thorns. He angled it toward her as he stood with a devilish glint in his eye. The laughter and smiles had died, and so had the barbed jokes.
The sword came down from above. Reyna whipped her blade up to meet his. Steel rang against steel, and the reverberation of the blow shook her body. She gritted her teeth as he scraped his sword down the side of hers, knocking her back. She ducked and sliced her sword toward his legs, but he jumped just in time.
Breath heaving, she rolled to the left, thorns and vines scraping her arms. She jumped up into a crouch and then leapt, throwing all her weight behind her blow. Lorcan met her in the air. Their bodies slammed together.
She flew back and landed next to Thane on her arse.
Lorcan laughed again and stalked toward her, his eyes flashing. “You’ll never be able to defeat me. Not so long as you hold back.” He leaned down and hissed into her face. “You’re afraid of hurting him, which means you’ll never hurt me.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. The bastard was right, damn him. She was trying to knock him down, but her blows were measured and weakened, as if she were practicing swordplay with one of her fellow Shieldmaidens. Not trying to kill an enemy on the battlefield.
But thiswasan enemy. And as long as she refused to admit that to herself, she’d never win.
She would die. So would Thane. And then the curse would spread throughout the world, destroying every living thing alive.
Her sister’s face flashed in her mind. Those pleading silver eyes. All that hope. That belief in her.
I came back to remind you of what you’re fighting for.
Reyna closed her eyes. Lorcan’s smile flashed in her mind, and his laughter filled her with hope. She thought of his strength when he’d faced Molt, the way he’d stood tall when he’d accepted the duty place before him. That sparkle in his eyes, the teasing way he spoke just before he threw her onto the ground and claimed her beneath the stars.
A tear slipped from her closed lid and trailed down her cheek.
She had always been afraid this moment would come. An impossible choice. Lorcan or the world. Had the Ruin been right about her? Would she let everyone else die just to save him? Not even him—acursedversion of him, one that had destroyed everything the real Lorcan had ever been.
“Have you given up that easily?” Lorcan hissed, poking her with the pointy end of his sword. “Fight me.”
Slowly, she pulled a deep breath into her lungs and stood. “I haven’t given up. If you insist upon a fight, then let’s get on with it.”
They threw themselves at each other, renewed fury dancing between them. She slashed her blade toward his, and he blocked the blow. Frustration burning through her, she whirled to the left and tried to slash him from behind. He caught her blade just in time, and her sword glanced off his.
He grinned, rushing toward her. The anticipation of victory twisted his face into a strange, haunted version of him. He leapt and swung, right toward her head. Tossing aside every single thing she’d learned about honorable battles, she tossed her deal with him aside and called upon the magic within her.
Strength, power, speed.
Whipping through the room at an impossible speed, she threw all her weight behind her sword as she blocked his blow and grabbed the blade before it danced far away. She ripped it out of his hands, and she barely felt the sting of the cut on her palm. And then she shoved the sword right into his gut, off to the side of his vital organs. It shouldn’t be enough to kill him. Still, she hated the guttural roar of his pain. The terror in his eyes.
She tossed his sword to the floor and strode toward him, levelling her blade at his neck. He stumbled onto the throne, holding on to his gut. Reyna leaned in close and stared into his eyes, her heart thumping. She’d done it. Against all odds. Here he sat, bleeding on the damn throne, and soon the curse would be over with.
Suddenly, Lorcan shuddered. His eyes rolled back into his head, and then—
“Reyna,” he said in guttural voice that skittered along her skin. Shock punched her in the gut, and her heart nearly stopped in her chest. It was him. She knew it. She could feel it in her bones.
Tears filled her eyes as she kept the blade pressed against his throat. “Lorcan? Did it work? Has the curse been broken?”
His jaw rippled as he growled through gritted teeth, his midnight eyes locked on hers. “No. It can’t be broken that easily. Reyna I…”
Hot tears splashed onto her cheeks as a knife of pain ripped her heart wide open. “What do you mean? Why can’t it be broken? Surely there’s a way to stop this damn curse!”
