Acting purely on instinct, and ignoring the shock, I planted my feet and called to the stony earth below us.
Just before the fireball could make contact, I caused a thick slab of stone to jut out of the ground in front of Matea and me, serving as a shield for us both.
Not wanting to drain my energy too fast, especially with how muchI’dused the past few days, I dropped the stone back into place a moment later when the fire dissipated. I looked toward Matea, who wasglaringstraight at my twin with hatred in her eyes, but was fortunately unharmed.
Before he could form another fireball, I quickly asked, “Dimitri, you’re a wielder?”
“Feeling less special now, aren’t you, twin?” he taunted. “Seems like Father had us keep a lot of secrets from each other over the years.”
“Like what truly happened to Mother?” I asked, careful to keepdistancebetween the two of us. I drew comfort from having Matea so close.
“Exactly,” he said as another ball of fire began forming in his hand, purposefully slow. “Though I’m sure she’d say hello if she could.”
“Where is she?” Matea said viciously, throwing her hood back and stepping forward with more courage than I had ever felt at once.
Dimitri’s jaw fell ajar at the sight of Matea, realization and vague recognition washing over his features,whenI felt Drayven’s shadow self quickly approaching the end of one of the many corridors.
He materialized at the mouth of it, still partiallyshadow, and made an unlocking motion.
The keys.
Iwasn’tsure why Rayvencouldn’tshadow wield his way past whatever lock he was facing, but Iwasn’tabout to question him in these circumstances.
Flicking my eyes to Matea, I knewshe’dseen his signal, too. Now, the three of us were all on the same page.
When I looked back at my brother, he was still staring at Matea in shock. Iwasn’tsure wherehe’dseen her before, but he obviously recognized her from somewhere.
On the other hand, Matea looked ready to gut him, if thatwaswhat itwould take.
“I vouched for you, Dimitri. I really thought we could handle this peacefully,” I said, a hint of sadness in my voice. “Instead, you’ve proven me wrong and left us with no choice.”
“And what choice would that be?”
“To win this war,” I responded nonchalantly. “But right now, you have something I need.”
With that, I drew the condensation off a nearby wall and quickly shifted it into an icicle, using it as a small spear and throwing it straight toward Dimitri’s shoulder.
He dropped, dodging it, and used his fire to melt it before hopping to his feet again and coating his clenched fists in flames.
“If you wanted a fight, Viva, all you had to do was ask,” he said with a false level of innocence in his voice.
We fell into a rhythm as we circled eachother,my fists now coated in water and iceI’dwielded to myself from the floor and walls.
“I didn’twanta fight, but you’ve left me no other option.” Iswiftly dodgeda flaming punch he threw at my face andcomingup behind him, prepared to kick him to the ground.
This time, he was ready—unlike our previous veltik khan, which was supposed to be a fight to the death between two Northerners.
Father’s life had been the price.
Dimitri spun and caught my boot seconds before I could make contact. His fire burned so hot that it began to melt the leather of myboot,the shoe starting to cave in on itself. The heat quickly seeped into my skin, causing me to panic. I yanked my leg back the same moment he pushed and let go, making me collapse to the floor in a heap.
Landing on my back, the breath was knocked out ofme,my wings pinned between my body and the floor painfully. Gasping, Iscurriedto sit up just as Dimitri prowled closer, malintent in his eyes.
Though before he could strike, a length of shadow looped around his ankle and tugged, causing him to stumble. His warrior training kicked in swiftly as he righted himself, but not before the shadow slid up his form and looped around his key ring. By the time he noticed something was amiss, the keys were midair, caught in Matea’s shadow grasp.
The moment the keys were in her hand, I motioned to wherewe’dlast seen Rayven and yelled out, “Go!”
As we locked eyes, I watched the internal struggle in her gaze as she debated between being loyal to her sisteror being loyalto her queen.
