“You’re afraid of facing me head-on.”
I wish I could fully see Will’s expression, because I’m sure he’s delighted by the challenge in that comment.
“Afraid? Gosh, you really overestimate how much I think about you.”
“When will you get it through your thick skull that we don’t want you around here?”
“We?” Will laughs and it trickles down my spine. “I thinkyoudon’t want me around here. Perhaps I remind you of a guilty little secret?”
Bastion swings his sword, but changes angles at the last second and manages to slice a clean cut on Will’s cheek.
A line of blood seeps down his chin.
I claw forward.
Howell grabs my shoulders.
Let me pass. Let me through, please. Let me get to Will.
Will reaches his fingers to his cheek. He doesn’t seem to be in pain, just surprised. He dabs blood on his fingertips and smirks.
“Oh, Bash. You must be so proud.”
“Get lost.”
Will takes a step forward. A drop of red drips to the ground like a fallen petal. The cut flows freely as he advances unflinchingly on Bash.
“I used to find fun in riling you up but I’m bored of this,” he says. “I’m tired of letting you get what you want. You and your self-absorbed fiancé in your big, strong castle thinking you can use people and discard them as you wish—”
“Do not insult Card.”
“Why not? It’s true, isn’t it? That he’s incapable of thinking of others? Maybe that’s why you’re a perfect match.”
“Shut up!” Bash swings once more.
A symphony of metal from behind has Howell breathing a sigh of relief. Reinforcements. The guards are coming. Will needs to get out of here.
“Aw, Daddy’s guards are coming to save you once again. How cute,” Will says. He spins around, finally facing my way. Howell, being built like a wall, expertly blocks my attempts to catch Will’s eye. “Well, I’m done here. Have fun playing the perfect son, your lordship.”
“At least I still have a dad to save me,” Bastion spits.
His face drops immediately in regret.
His hands fall limp to his sides.
The wind halts.
As does Will. He stops in his path, suddenly hardened and shut off.
The shock of Bash’s comment has me floored, has my stomach curling. I never expected he could…It’s too low. He’s crossed a line. It’s—
Will whips around, bloodstained hands curled in fists. Bastionraises his sword-free hand in supplication, absolute anguish on his face.
“I’m sorry. Will, I shouldn’t have— I’m really s—”
The prince doesn’t get to finish because Will, a sorcerer so reliant on magic, punches him square in the nose. The sword flies out of Bastion’s hands as blood splatters onto the street for the second time. Howell swears andfinallyI can slip past him.
“Will!” I cry, dashing forward. The arriving guards shout orders and the crowd combusts into turmoil. I grab the back of Will’s jacket and get easily thrown aside in the tussle. A guard—I don’t care to see who—tries to pull my arm away. I shake them off and crash a knee against the cobblestones.
