Amriel moves in, breaking my focus. In a flash, they’re at each other’s throats again, fists grappling as they trade barbed accusations.
“You let her fall down the refuse tunnel.” The Shadow spins, jabbing an elbow into Amriel’s nose. “She almost died before she even left the castle.”
Amriel stumbles, but quickly recovers, sinking a fist into the Shadow’s side. “You almost took her leg off. Youscarredher.”
The Shadow roars, then counters with a blow so vicious, so reckless, that my ears ring when it connects. Amriel’s head snaps back as he goes reeling.
When he gets his feet beneath him again, he spits a gob of red. “Is that all you’ve got?”
“Not even close,” the Shadow bellows. “You sent her into the Wildwood with nothing to defend herself. What kind of mate does that? Are youtryingto get her killed?”
They crash together again. Amriel feints and parries, his blows calculated. Meanwhile, the Shadow surrenders to instinct. To unbridled rage.
I fight the urge to shield my ears against the crack of flesh on flesh. I want to scream. Bash their stupid male heads together until they realize they have only themselves to blame. Because I just wanted to stay home. I never wanted to come to Velindra, or fall down a garbage chute, or make my way through any eldritch forests. If these two idiots had just steered clear, I’d be at home right now, happy and safe in my bed.
Claws slash across a bared forearm. “You’re the one who Claimed her,” the Shadow snarls.
A fist crunches against bone, drawing a pained grunt. “You’re the one whomauledher, you beast.”
Red and blue puddles slick the floor. A hot splatter lands across my cheek. When I wipe at it, my fingers come away stained with bluish sparkles.
Goddess, they’re going to kill each other. I have to intervene—or try. But the moment I edge near, a hand closes around my elbow. I turn to find Calen beside me, decked out in velvets and silks, the fae woman from last night’s dinner clinging to his arm. She smiles, the curve of hermouth relaxed, as if we aren’t standing in a forested hall watching two immortals try to murder one another.
“Just let it play out,” Calen says. “It’s better for them to get it out of their systems.”
I hesitate, but…what am I going to do, besides put myself in even more danger? “Aren’t you worried they’re going to kill each other?”
Calen chuffs a soft laugh. “No. I’m sure they want to, but…no.”
He packs the words with so much certainty that I sink back again. The Shadow kicks out, his boot connecting with Amriel’s leg, the crunch sickening. The fae king crashes to the floor, but doesn’t stay there for long. He leaps up, his eyes blazing, as if this violence excites him. As if he’s venting some bottled-up stockpile of emotion.
The Shadow roars in his face. Amriel responds by ramming a shoulder into the Shadow’s abdomen, hard enough to lift his feet from the floor.
I wince. “Do they do this a lot?”
Calen’s eyes track back and forth as the men go tumbling and snarling across the hall. “No, but it isn’t the first time. And considering they have a mate now, it probably won’t be the last.”
“Oh, but… No. This isn’t…” I shake my head, groping for words. “They’re not fighting overme. At least, Amriel isn’t.”
Calen’s head swivels, his pink eyes alight with amusement. “No?”
“No. He’s just mad about the curse. About the Shadow almost making it permanent.”
Calen’s mouth does something odd, as if he’s fighting to keep it under control. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
“Mmm. Right.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Clearly, he doesn’t believe me, but who cares what he thinks? He’s fae, so the concept of mates makes sense to him. He has no idea that Amriel and I naturally hate each other, mate bond or no.
The fight reaches a crescendo. Amriel lands a particularly nasty uppercut, sending his opponent staggering backward. The Shadow crashes to his knees, his breathing turbulent, one palm braced againstthe floor for support. Glowing blue blood leaks from a dozen different places.
Amriel snarls in victory. But he looks equally as brutalized, and the way he swipes a hand across his split bottom lip makes me think he doesn’t have any more fight left in him than his twin does.
“See?” Calen murmurs. “That should be it. For tonight.”
A corner of my heart unclenches. My fingers relax at my sides, though I have no memory of tightening them.
