“I take it you did some light reading last night.”
Asterie didn’t respond as she approached a stone wall where weapons hung and grabbed a second broadsword. She spun it in her palm. It looked like she would raise both swords against me. But, instead, she threw the dull weapon at my feet with such force it cracked the stone.
Her skin began to glow, a faint but noticeable hint of blue that charged the air around her. That raw, unhinged power. I bent carefully to take the offered sword, not wanting to use it in the least. Asterie’s sword was still aflame, a blue inferno pointed directly at my head across the arena.
“How could you do it?” She spat the words—they filled the arena in a way that sent a chill down my spine.
She stepped to the left, and I circled to the right. She launched at me, wasting no time. A skillful assault that took me by surprise, but my blade kept pace with her onslaught of strikes, only blocking.Amara was right—all this power couldn’t be from me alone.
“I don’t want to fight with you, Asterie.” My voice remained measured.
“What? Am I not vulnerable enough for you?” She snarled the question before throwing another strike with precision. “Do you just get off on killing those whocan’tfight back? Maybe you should let your pet come out to fight me so you can keepyourhands clean.”
I didn’t move to allow Van out.
She knew so little.
Her blade nicked a hole in my shirt sleeve at the shoulder, and warmth dripped down my bicep and forearm. Her feral smile at the sight of my blood running over the ink of Van chilled me.
My jaw tightened, and my defenses became more hurried and fueled by my growing anger. Her righteous disregard for the truth was infuriating.
Open your eyes, I wanted to scream. Fire meeting fire. It mingled in the air between us. We were charged and ready to ignite.
“If the Queen hadn’t asked for you alive, then I would kill you right here.”
Frustrated, I barked back, “Have you ever killed anyone?”
Getting a taste of what it felt like to have someone look at me without disdain only to have it ripped away over a bullshit passage in an old book ate at me.
“Have you?” I shouted.
Our blades clashed again, hers sparking.
When she did not respond, I thrust her back with my next block with as much force as I could muster. My own blade flashed with fire before I quickly extinguished it.
Asterie lost her footing and landed with a thud as her blade came out of her grasp and skidded across the arena floor. She seemed to glow brighter—her whole body flickered like a star. I pointed my blade at her heart, having no real intention of hurting her. I was simply out of breath and out of patience.
“No, you haven’t, have you? If you’d ever killed—saw the life leave the eyes of someone at your hand, then you wouldn’t throw the threat around so fucking lightly.”
She glared up at me. “I didn’t mean it lightly. You can hide behind the actions ofthat thingin your arm, but you’re a pathetic wretch. A stain on this land…and I would be doing the realm a favor to be rid of you.”
She closed her eyes as though bracing for me to pierce her heart. Her glowing skin flickered out like a candle. She honestly thought I’d hurt her—that struck me deeper than her words or any blade could. I threw the blade away with force and knelt in front of her.
I could feel her breath on my cheek as I said, “And you mean to tell me that you don’t feel ‘that thing’ calling to you too? Keep pretending that you don’t know exactly where your fire comes from. That you have no idea why you can’t keep away from me. Why you can control him too. Admit it—even now, you don’t want to stay away. Even knowing what a monster I am.”
She swallowed hard. She was trembling—was it out of fear or rage?My guess was the latter. “What nonsense are you spewing now?”
“You are bound to me!” My shout made her flinch, making me wince against the unintended malice in my voice.
I need to rein this in.
“What you have, Asterie—what saved you two hundred years ago. It wasmypower. My fire. And you have it. Half of my Source power. It was given to you.”
She didn’t deserve to face the truth over a fool’s temper. I watched as her brow wrinkled and her face fell. When she looked up at me, her dark eyes dimmed. Undoubtedly, every moment of her life was being assessed and checked for maleficence or goodness. Every outburst, every infraction. But her gaze was still full of hate. I’d never learned when to shut the fuck up.Why start now?
“You sit up in here in these high towers, playing Sources.” I scoffed. “So righteous about it too—but ask yourself, Asterie, what good have you done? You saw those people in Kullworth. Your precious Order is a facade. Don’t act like you don’t have just as much blood on your hands as I do.”
She stilled. I felt a strong pull at the ink on my arm.
