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Her mother.

Kaia’s throat dried. For the first time this round, sparks of heat lit up inside her. She’d been so careful.

Tabitha dropped the motionless body she held by the hair and faced off with her forgotten daughter. Around them, the battle continued to rage. Bianka noticed what was happening, though, and alerted the others. Soon Team Kaia was moving the rest of the females outward, giving Kaia and her mom a wide berth.

“At long last, the daughter I once spent an entire morning praising, telling my competitors that you would one day be stronger even than me, only to find you’d nearly ruined us all,” Tabitha said. Her anticipation was palpable. “Finally you will be punished for that. I will put you in your place for the humiliation you caused.”

She’d spent an entire morning praising Kaia? Had claimed Kaia would be stronger? Don’t soften. That’s what she wants.

“And where is my place?” She had to be cold. This fight was necessary, and centuries in the making. Use might, not fire.

One seemingly delicate shoulder lifted in a shrug. “At my feet. Of course.”

At one time, that would have destroyed Kaia. Today, however, she experienced only the mildest twinge. She was loved, and by a man who didn’t love easily. He considered her worthy. That was enough. “You can try.”

“Oh, I’ll do more than that.”

Talk, talk, talk. Kaia waved her fingers, the fire beaten back. “We just go

Surprisingly, Tabitha remained where she stood and arched a dark brow. “I’ll give you five seconds to run away, a chance I’ve never offered another. For old time’s sake, you could say. And Kaia, that’s the only handicap I’ll give you. After that, I will take your head.” She tossed a dagger in the air. A dagger already coated with blood.

“One,” Kaia said.

If she wasn’t mistaken—and she had to be mistaken—pride flickered in her mother’s amber eyes. “You’re weaponless. Do you really expect to win?”

“Two.”

Another flicker. “Trying to impress your man? Too bad he’s not up there. He disappeared several minutes ago.”

No reaction. She wouldn’t fall for such tactics. Wouldn’t be distracted from her purpose. “Three.”

The corners of Tabitha’s mouth quirked. “Do you recall when you were a girl and I spent hours training with you? I had you laid flat every time.”

No damn reaction. “Four.”

“All right. No more conversation.” Tabitha threw her gaze at the crowd. “No one is to interrupt us. Is that clear?” With that, she assumed a battle stance, her legs apart, her knees bent and her arms at the ready. “It’s just you and me now, daughter.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Five.”

They flew at each other.

Tabitha hadn’t earned the name “Vicious” for nothing, and slashed at Kaia the moment they were within striking distance. They were too close for her to avoid being hit and Kaia knew it, cursing herself for expecting her mother to try and get her on the ground first. So she did the only thing she could. She lifted her arms, allowing the blade to slash at her forearms rather than her neck or her chest. As the sharp pain tore through her, skin splitting open, her mother struck again, lightning fast, aiming for her stomach this time.

Kaia counterattacked. She caught Tabitha’s hand midway, gripping her wrist in her elbow and twisting up, using the momentum to her advantage. When their arms reached shoulder level, she pressed Tabitha’s wrist and the blade against herself and punched her mother in the temple with her free hand. She could have used the flat of her other hand to bat at the dagger and send it flying, but better to strike now, while she had the chance, than to remove the weapon from her mother’s possession.

Why fight as if they had forever when she could do something to end things now?

Tabitha stumbled from the impact and dizzily dropped to her knees. Of course, she regained her footing in the few seconds it took Kaia to close the distance between them. Before she could strike, Tabitha spun, avoiding contact. Then, within a blink, Kaia was struck from behind. In the skull. She staggered, thinking fast. Knowing her mother as she did, she was sure the woman would fly at her, try to push her to the ground, cutting her neck while her weight smashed her wings. Only one way to combat that. Kaia used those staggering steps to push off and back flip.

Below her, for less than a blink, she saw the top of Tabitha’s dark head. Saw that she’d been right. Saw Tabitha stop, realizing she wouldn’t be wi

Grunting, Tabitha fell to her knees. Kaia kicked again—no mercy—aiming for those fluttering wings. Boom. Her mother’s body was flung forward, the cartilage in the right wing snapping on impact. Again, the entire action happened so quickly, anyone watching would have missed it if they’d blinked.

That should have slowed her mother down, but Tabitha had about a million years on her and had fought with a broken wing before. Seemingly impervious to the pain she must be feeling, the woman rolled, stood, turned.

“That all you got, baby?” Tabitha was smiling, but there was blood on her teeth.

Cold. Merciless. “Let’s find out.”

Once again they launched at each other, meeting in the middle. There was a flurry of punching and blocking. Cold, stay cold. With every shot of her mother’s left arm, the dagger she held made a play for Kaia’s jugular. Kaia was nicked a few times, but the blade never sank deep enough to do much damage. And that wasn’t because her mother pulled her blows! Kaia had skills even she hadn’t known about.

Tabitha currently had the lead, pushing Kaia backward. She held her own—cold, cold, so cold, tamping down any new flickers of heat that tried to spring from her—until she tripped over an unconscious body. Down, down she fell. Tabitha was on her in an instant.

When the dagger arced toward her, she knew there was only one way to save her neck. And her life. That dagger needed a target. She met the metal with the palm of her hand, allowing the tip to spear her flesh all the way through, going in one side and coming out the other. Hurt like a son of a bitch, but it was totally worth it. Even though her bone was splintered, the dagger was stuck between the pieces and Tabitha drew back an empty hand.

That didn’t stop her. Fist after fist battered at Kaia’s face so swiftly she couldn’t avoid them and she was almost knocked senseless. Still she remained cold and finally gathered the strength to roll backward, to her shoulder blades, scooting her mother off her stomach and allowing Kaia to swing her legs.

She locked her ankles around Tabitha’s neck and jerked down. The woman fell to her back and lost a lungful of oxygen. Or would have, if Kaia hadn’t jammed the heels of her boots into her mother’s throat, crushing her wind-pipe and preventing the air from escaping.

Without a pause, Kaia stood, her field of vision shit as blood dripped into her swollen eyes. End this. With all of her might, she jerked the dagger from her palm—and damn, it hurt worse coming out than going in!—then tossed the weapon out of the circle. Now they were both unarmed.

She stalked forward, hoping she would be on her mother before the practiced soldier had time to heal or strategize. That didn’t work out for her. Tabitha was on her feet in an instant and they were facing off for the third time, circling each other.

“Bravo for you,” Tabitha rasped, voice broken thanks to her still-healing trachea. “I expected you to fold long before now.”

“That’s because you think too highly of yourself and too little of those around you.”

“With good reason.” Emotionless.

I will make her feel something. Kaia licked her lips, tasted copper. “Mother of the Year Award, meet Tabitha the Vicious. Or not. But don’t feel bad. I took Father’s away, too.”