She’d spied on them? Of course she had. Eyes and ears lurked everywhere in the palace.
Despite his rising irritation, he was tempted to stay and question the wraith further. But acting too eager might place him in a lesser position in her estimation. Better to return on his terms.
Eleven minutes, nine seconds left in the battle. Eight. Seven. Six.
“I’ll consider it,” he said. As she sputtered with indignation, he flashed to the underground arena, landing in the same spot he’d abandoned earlier. The edge of the dais. Without glancing over his shoulder, he knew every member of the welcome party still occupied the dais as well. They sat in their chairs, laughing and drinking champagne.
The harpy named Tonka popped to her feet, bubbly liquid splashing over the rim of her glass. “Uh, don’t you have somewhere else to be, Astra?” she asked with a worried tone.
He scanned the area below and stiffened. If he’d been smiling before, he wasn’t now. His harpy stood in the ring, lined up with everyone else in her heat. They were all sirens, the weakest of the participating immortals...save for their voices. The group faced off with ten unibeasts on the other side of the circle, each animal pawing at the sand, eager to begin.
Smears of blood wet the walls and drenched the sand. Evidence of previous battles.
Having watched many of the preceding heats, he knew the beasts had eaten the losers. A strong metallic twang scented the air.
“The last group isn’t supposed to go for another ten minutes, thirteen seconds.” Other facts hit him. The odds of only sirens ending up in Blythe’s group, rather than an eclectic mix of species, were not high. This had been planned, and not in the harpy’s favor.
“Not our fault. The combatants before this one canceled,” the pale-haired Tonka explained, setting aside her glass and approaching his side. She faced the arena, not daring to meet his gaze. “They preferred to lose their heads by sword rather than to feed a horde of unibeasts their vital organs. To each their own, amirite?”
He flicked his tongue over an incisor. This had been a planned act, and, considering Penelope’s change of heart at the end of their conversation, the wraith participated. Was she supposed to keep him on her island until Blythe’s heat ended? A heat meant to conclude with the death of his chosen female, he was sure. If not by fair means, then definitely foul. Without him acting as an eyewitness, the perpetrators could claim total innocence afterward.
The fury he’d experienced when he’d learned what was to occur today—nothing compared to what he experienced now. It burned through him, torching any semblance of calm.
“When I kill you,” he told the councilmembers, using the softest of tones, “I will make sure you hurt in ways you never dreamed possible.”
A mix of trepidation and aggression wafted from them.
“You can’t blame a girl for taking a shot.” The pale-haired harpy reached for a large ram’s horn that rested against a pillar. “Besides, we’ve heard your threats before. So far you’ve been all talk and no action. How do we know you’re even half as evil as you’ve been boasting?”
Did she hope to goad him into launching an attack? Would he then be accused of breaking a rule? He leaned down, getting in her face, forcing her to peer into his eyes. “You’ll be the first to suffer.”
She stumbled back, only to lift her chin in defiance. “Promises, promises. Now enough chatter. It’s time for the final round.”
She couldn’t mask her trembling as she brought the horn to her lips. Her gaze returned to him before she inhaled deeply...and blew.
At the sharp blast of noise, combatants and beasts launched into motion. Roux watched, his jaw clenched, as the sirens rushed together to join hands, leaving Blythe on her own. A soft melody rose from them. As the song increased in volume, each of the unibeasts shifted their full focus to the harphantom.
Every note of the song ramped up their level of aggression, until they were foaming at the mouth.
Roux braced. No matter what occurred, she would pull out a win and kill each predator. Roux hadn’t lied earlier. He had complete confidence in this female’s abilities. But, despite her arsenal and skill, she would not emerge unscathed. The thought of her pain...
A growl vibrated in his throat, and Tonka backed away from him.
On the field of battle, Blythe charged toward her foes, clutching two short swords. A shout of warning died on his tongue. She needed different weapons. Swords served no purpose against a unibeast’s thick, stony hide. A soft underbelly might be susceptible, but she’d have to get underneath a beast without getting torn to shreds. An impossibility. Then, at the last second, she vanished, reappearing in the circle of sirens.
Slash, slash, slash, slash. With her customary grace and elegance, she cut down the other immortals, her motions as fluid as water. Bodies toppled, one after the other. When the final competitor fell, the song died and the unibeasts ceased foaming. Their steps slowed as they shook their heads, coming out of a haze.
“So she can flash,” said an Amazon behind him. “She didn’t reveal the skill in round one.”
No, she hadn’t, he realized. She’d kept her talents to herself. As she should have.
The unibeasts reacted to the kills, rushing over to feast on the remains before any survivors could heal. Their hunger never abated, their stomachs bottomless pits. As screams flowed and ebbed, Blythe was momentarily ignored. She dropped the swords and unhooked a whip from her side. With a crack of her wrist, the end of the whip coiled around one of the beasts’ necks. Yank.
It flipped over and she flashed, materializing crouched on its belly and already ramming a blade into his heart.
Yes! “That’s my female,” he whispered, unwilling to distract her.
At the death of their comrade, the other beasts lost interest in their meals. They focused the full bulk of their attention on Blythe. Snarling, with thick droplets of drool leaking from fangs any vampire would envy, they formed a circle aroundher.