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“Raihn,” I hissed as we rounded another corner, pointing to the left with my bloody blade—to a gate marked with lit Nightfire torches. This one was bigger than the others, double doors of ornate metal, one of Alarus’s eyes peering from each.
The end? It could be. It had to be.
A single slab sat before us. Raihn and I looked at each other. Then looked at the child, who wept softly, barely conscious.
He’d move for me. I knew it. Me, or the child.
The minute he did, my arm swung.
My blade hit the solid leather-clad muscle of his shoulder. His jaw snapped shut, trembling. He glared at me.
“What,” he hissed, between clenched teeth, “the fuck was that for? I was going for that.”
He pointed his sword to a lifeless body at the far end of the hall, then muttered a string of curses and yanked my blade from his armor.
Oh.
I adjusted my hold around the child and mumbled something that somewhat resembled an apology, and Raihn told me to go fuck myself. I considered telling him how lucky he was that that blade had no poison left and decided he probably wouldn’t appreciate it.
He hoisted the corpse over his shoulder and was on his way back when the wave of pain hit me—acidic, all consuming, like I was being boiled from the inside out.
I had only a moment to recognize what was happening before Angelika hit me.
I barely managed to stave her off, my single free arm trembling with the strength it took to block her. Red suffused my vision. Each breath burned. The cuts over Angelika’s arms quivered as the mist thickened.
She smiled. “I told you I’d kill you in the ring.”
The child’s body went rigid with pain as she cringed against me. Could a human child survive this?
I heard Raihn’s approaching footsteps ru
So I left myself unguarded for one critical moment as I evaded.
The strike to my side was crippling.
I fell. I barely had enough awareness to push the child away from my falling weight before I hit the ground.
Angelika’s clawed hand was at my throat immediately. Squeezed. I found the gates, tall and glimmering with the promise of safety as everything else blurred. I reached for my magic, and it sputtered uselessly out of reach. Always gone when I needed it most.
I groped at my side. One touch to the dagger she had embedded there made me seize with agony. But it’s amazing what a body could endure to survive.
I yanked the blade out of my flesh and thrust it into Angelika’s.
She cursed and slammed my head against the floor.
Everything went white, then black.
I was only partially conscious when Raihn pulled Angelika away. I could not move my gaze from the ceiling. How much time passed? Seconds, minutes? The roar of the crowd swelled to a sudden crescendo. Everything spun.
Raihn leaned over me.
“It’s almost over, Oraya.” He looked like he was shouting but sounded so far away. “Get up. Come on. Quick. We don’t have time.”
I managed to turn my head. Angelika barely moved in a heap on the ground. My eyes fell to the little girl, unconscious, her leg twisted, dark hair falling over her face. So incredibly familiar. Like looking in a mirror.
I dragged myself to my hands and knees, pushing away Raihn’s hand.
“Lemme go,” I slurred.
“For fuck’s sake, princess, I’m not going to—”
“Lemme go!”
I crawled to the girl. Gathered her in my arms. Forced myself to my feet. My gaze settled on the gate ahead, though it tilted and smeared.
What was that, ten steps? I could make it ten steps.
Raihn held my arm, perhaps in frustration, perhaps to steady me.
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
I couldn’t answer that even if I wanted to. It took all my energy to make it those final steps.
Still, I would not let him help me. Still, I would not let go of that child.
I crossed the threshold and fell to my knees.
The colosseum spread out before me, gold-gilded and magnificent. Thousands of spectators packed the stands, screaming for blood. And yet, even in that crowd, I found Vincent right away—right there in the front, watching me with abject horror, as if his own heart had been carved out and thrust into my hands.
It struck me, all at once, exactly how much Vincent loved me.
Was that how I had looked, I wondered, when I looked at this little girl? Just like that?
At the thought of her, sudden fear overwhelmed me. These were predators. All of them. And she was prey.
Her blood and mine ran together as I turned to Raihn.
“Don’t let them take her,” I choked out.
The world faded. I didn’t remember falling, but suddenly, I was looking at the sky, my fingernails digging into Raihn’s arm, the other hand desperately clutching the limp child to my chest. Nightborn soldiers encroached upon us.
“Don’t let them take her,” I begged again.
The edges of my vision grew dark.
And Raihn leaned very close to me—closer than I ever allowed anyone—as he murmured, solemn as a vow, “I won’t.”