Defensive spells I didn’t know.
“Uh, this is going to be a really short fight,” I told Ella.
She smirked. “I know. But I promise to go easy on you. Trust me, I was a newbie not too long ago. I get it. We can review some common defenses tonight
or during one of our break days.”
I nodded absently, my focus falling to Shade as he stepped into the ring with a lanky Malefic Blood. The male narrowed his gaze. “I’m so glad we’re paired, Shadow. I’ve been dying to kick your ass all week for disgracing my sister.”
“Is that what she told you?” Shade mused.
“That would require her to be able to speak, which—”
“Stop flirting and get to it,” Zephyrus said, interrupting the Malefic Blood.
“Gladly,” the lanky male replied, a sharp, translucent blade appearing in his hand.
I jumped as he charged Shade in a whirl of power, his aim going right for the other male’s heart. It was a brutal attack, one clearly meant to kill.
But Shade sidestepped with ease, stirring a dark cloud in his wake and wrapping it around the other male’s throat. “If you want to play like that, then properly challenge me,” he said sharply, yanking on the hold and bringing the male to his knees.
“Enough,” Zephyrus snapped.
Shade released the male with a little wave of his hand and shrugged. “Stiggis started it.”
“Bastard!” The Malefic Blood flew through the air toward Shade, additional weapons falling into his hands, but he ran headfirst into a wall of magic and bounced backward to collapse to the ground.
My eyes widened as Zephyrus put away his wand, the block disappearing with it. “Chig, take this idiot to the medic.”
“Yes, sir,” another Malefic Blood said, his body width twice the size as that of the male on the ground. He lifted the unconscious man and tossed him over his shoulder as if he weighed nothing, then headed off the field.
“I’ll move you into the winner’s circle, Shade. But I expect to see defensive magic in your next match.” Zephyrus dismissed him before he could comment and gestured for the next pairing to come forward.
Which was Kols and a petite female wearing a wicked smile. “Ready, future lover?” she asked him, her catlike eyes glowing red with power.
“If you think I’m going to go easy on you, Emelyn, then think again.”
Her resulting laugh reminded me of nails on a chalkboard, her expression nowhere near amused or kind in any way. She flipped her long black braid over her shoulder and fell into a fighter’s stance. “I’ve been practicing.”
“I’m sure you have,” Kols replied, his stance relaxed as they squared off. “Give it your best shot, Jyn.”
“Is her name Jyn or Emelyn?” I asked Ella in a low tone.
“Emelyn Jyn,” she replied, her tone sour. “She’s Kols’s future mate.”
My eyebrows lifted. “She is?” Didn’t he say something about not doing girlfriends?
“Yeah. Assigned by the Council. Some sort of agreement between Malik and Lima.”
“Yes, our Council fancies arranged pairings,” Shade added as he came to stand with us. “I was assigned to Cordelia, Stiggis’s older sister.”
I frowned at him. “Then why did you bite me?”
“Why indeed?” he mused, his lips curling. “Maybe I wished to avoid my arrangement. Or maybe it was for another reason entirely. And maybe, if you’re a good little rose, I’ll tell you one day.” He touched the tip of my nose with his index finger and sauntered off just as Kols pinned Emelyn to the ground beneath a wall of power. It reminded me of the one Zephyrus had used to block Stiggis’s attack on Shade.
Emelyn screamed in pain, but Kols didn’t stop.
And Zephyrus merely watched.