She turned slowly, wincing at the pain in her leg. There was no need to feign the agony. Luna’s teeth were damned sharp.
“Andras,” she breathed, not speaking his true name.
He stood a few yards away, dressed in his usual all-black, hands in his pockets. His head was cocked to the side. Piercing blue eyes, bright against his ebony hair, scanned her with curiosity and what appeared to be excitement.
The predator who had found his prey. Or so he thought.
His shadows were untethered, as if he had set them free,allowing them to do as they desired. Tendrils of night twisted and writhed around him, obscuring the lower half of his body as he meandered forward.
“Your poor leg,” he tutted. “I was hoping to face you at your full strength. Without your magic, your death is going to be rather boring.”
Ava remained silent, keeping her hand in a fist around the crystal, making it appear as though she was clenching it in pain.
“I promise to make it look like you fought back valiantly. You’ll be a symbol to your people. The princess who tried and failed to defeat us.”
She must keep him talking. Long enough to get close without raising suspicion. “Where’s Deidamia?”
He raised a brow, pausing his steps. “Around.” He casually waved a hand. “You didn’t think she’d allow herself to get too close to you, did you?”
“So, she sends you to do her dirty work again. Is that it?” Ava asked, continuing the ruse.
His sensual laugh skittered across her flesh.
Thinking of her mother as she raised Silverglow, she pretended as if she was going to attack, hoping it would urge him closer. “I’ll just find her after I kill you.”
Lunging forward, she whimpered in pain when her weight was transferred to her injured leg, causing her to falter. A shadow shot forth and yanked her sword from her grasp, tossing it to the other side of the clearing.
“Kill me?” he taunted. “You can try. That will definitely make this more entertaining.”
Ava backed away, trying to lure him nearer. He didn’t move.
Pulling a dagger from a sheath on her thigh, she flicked it toward him. He snatched it from the air with a dark wisp of smoke and threw it aside as well. “Oh, come on, dear. You aren’t even trying.”
It wasn’t working. He wasn’t coming closer. She would have to go to him. Changing tactics, she palmed another blade and sprinted forward, adrenaline muting the agony ripping through her thigh.
She brought her weapon down, aiming for his neck. He vanished into shadow. Unable to stop her forward momentum, Ava’s knees hit the grass.
“Better,” he said, now behind her. “But I’m getting impatient.”
Her scalp screamed in protest as she was yanked backward by her braid.
In a flash, Andras was in front of her, hand on her throat, standing above her.
Now, Ava. Trap him,said Luna.
Ava flexed her fingers, preparing to recite the spell. But her hand was empty. She didn’t have the crystal anymore. She must have dropped it when she fell.
Where was it? Where was it? Where was it?
Her mouth went dry at the realization she was completely helpless. If she attempted to use her magic to break free from his grasp, he might kill her or flee. Scratching at his arm, she tried to pull away. His fingers tightened. Mouth gaping, she tried to catch her breath.
Find the crystal. Where was the crystal? Her eyes darted across the grass.
There. A couple of feet away. Andras didn’t seem to notice, but she couldn’t reach it. She could retrieve it with a vine…no. Too risky.
“Too bad your love isn’t here to watch you die. It would be much more interesting that way.”
Picking her brain for a way to escape his grasp, she heard Quinn’s voice in her head. From the day she gifted Ava the dagger. “It will never fail you.”
