gallery was abuzz with surprise. True, Bowen looked as if he'd lost a stone of weight since the last time she'd seen him, but still...
Merely shaking off a Lykae's punch to the jaw was unheard of.
They crashed over the railing just in front of Kaderin's seat, plummeting to the ground below. Sebastian didn't trace, instead taking the impact. He was fighting a member of the most physically powerful species in the Lore, and if he didn't start sparing himself these blows, Bowen would easily kill him.
On their feet again, they circled, eyeing each other for weaknesses, striking out in intervals. Yes, Sebastian was taking the crushing blows, but he seemed to be ambidextrous, hitting as squarely with his left fist as his right, cleverly aiming and spacing his own as well.
Bowen had his deadly claws and speed, but Sebastian was skilled. Very skilled, she determined, and he wasn't even using his key advantage.
His lips were drawn back from his fangs in fury. His irises turned black, and his body tensed, seeming to grow even larger. Immortal male... powerful male... She caught herself leaning forward.
He was stronger than she'd ever imagined. Which meant he was more attractive than she'd ever feared.
An image flashed in her mind of his massive body covering hers that morning. How tightly his strong arms had wrapped around her as he rocked his hips into her...
She shivered and stared down in puzzlement when gooseflesh rose on her arms. That's new.
Bowen lashed out with his flared claws. Sebastian leapt back; Bowen's claws rent through the thick marble column as easily as through talc. Sebastian's fist shot out, breaking Bowen's nose, just as Bowen slashed with his other hand.
He carved four deep furrows in Sebastian's torso. Blood poured from both warriors.
Murmurs began in the gallery:
'They desecrate Riora's sacred temple! She will be enraged.'
'Oh, gods, look at the marble. We are all beyond doomed.'
'Somebody put a plant in front of it!'
Kaderin sighed. And this was the world she belonged to.
Soon louder protests sounded. Riora was a diva who made Mariah Carey look meek. Taking away the competition for spite wouldn't be beyond her.
One of the new competitors asked, 'But who could possibly break up a fight between a Lykae and a vampire?'
All eyes fell on Kaderin.
'The witch could do it.' Kaderin's tone was studiously bored as she flicked her hand at Mariketa the Awaited. Mariketa was supposed to be one of the most powerful born into the House of Witches in generations and apparently was here to compete even though she couldn't be more than twenty-two years old or so.
Not that you could tell her age from her appearance—she wore a hood and a cloak and a glamour spell so thick it seemed shellacked on her. Which made Kaderin wonder what kind of visage she was hiding.
The girl answered, 'I can't practice in another's temple.'
Without the Hie, half of Kaderin's life's purpose would disappear. She sighed wearily, then drew her sword from the sheath at her back as she dropped down. She sauntered casually to the fight and dived down, springing up between them with her arms outstretched, her sword pressed into Bowen's chest, her claws positioned at Sebastian's throat.
Bowen snarled, pressing forward into the point. 'Get the fuck out of the way, Valkyrie. Clear eyes or no', do you no' ken what he is?'
Sebastian traced out of her grasp to her side, then shoved her behind him. He kept his arm back and against her, leaving himself exposed to Bowen. She was so surprised by the gesture that she allowed it, hiding a frown behind his broad back.
But then Bowen lunged, clenching his hands around Sebastian's neck to twist his head off. Sebastian used his free arm to go for Bowen's throat, refusing to remove the arm at her side.
Which made her want to crack a grin.
A male guarding her. How... novel.
She shook herself and clutched Sebastian's protective arm to lean out from behind him. 'Bowen, you're fighting in Riora's temple,' she said. 'If you continue this, you risk the Hie.' Beneath her fingers, Sebastian's muscles were tensed from the fight, his body thrumming with power and heat. Seemingly helpless to stop herself, she inched closer to him, enjoying the hell out of his scent. Now he bent his arm back to bring her in to his body.
Why wasn't she fighting him?
'I doona understand you, Kaderin,' Bowen bellowed.
She leaned to the side again. 'No competition. She'll take it away.'
'She would no' do that. No' over the death of a vampire.'
Kaderin nodded, and strangely, Bowen's eyes went even more wide and wild, turning to the ice-blue color of his beastly form. He released Sebastian, his flattened palms shooting up. He seemed to curse himself in Gaelic.
A Lykae eager to end a fight before a kill? And while a vampire still had his throat clutched in a death grip? This was indeed a week of firsts.
'Let him go, Sebastian,' Kaderin said. 'You must.'
'Finish this,' Sebastian demanded of Bowen, biting out the words.
Bowen just wiped his face on his sleeve. 'I will no'. No' now.' As soon as Sebastian released him, he backed away, hands still raised.
She couldn't imagine that Bowen had ever backed down from a fight before. He was a proud alpha male, and he'd been trained from childhood to kill vampires. How much he must want this prize.
Bowen dropped back into the shadows, eyes glowing.
When Sebastian moved to follow him, she said, 'No, you have to let him go.'
Sebastian turned to her, and she had to stifle a wince at finding that he was insufferably sexy fresh from the fight. His muscled chest heaved with exertion and was marked with bravely earned injury.
Too bad he won't scar, she thought, sheathing her sword.
'You desire me to let him go?' With a brief glance down at his ghastly injuries, he said calmly, 'I tend to punish slights like these.' Such an understatement rumbled in his deep voice.
He'd held his own against Bowen. And had been ready for more.
Warrior. Immortal. I've never made love to an immortal.
Sebastian's gaze kept flickering over her, as though still starved for the sight of her. Without warning, he grasped her arm and traced her to the darkened balcony once more.
'Don't ever put yourself in danger like that again,' he said to her.
She looked into his eyes, and the floor seemed to wobble. 'Y-you traced me?' Dizziness. Her first trace. Trippy. 'That wasn't very considerate.'
'I should have warned you, Katja.'
In another instant, the entire world seemed to go off-kilter—sights and sounds and even the beat of her heart were different...
Oh, gods, Kaderin was feeling again—and there was no denying it now.
She swayed slightly, but he still held her arm. Sc-sc-screwed.
As though she'd been scoured clean with icy water, the blessing was... gone. Utterly.
She released a pent-up breath, accepting what she instinctively knew was true: it was Sebastian who brought out her feelings. There was no capricious power toying with her, no new spell. It was simply... him.
And she wanted to scream to the sky in frustration, because she didn't understand why.
The Valkyrie didn't believe in chance, in randomness. So what could it possibly mean when the pull of a vampire could ignite emotions, that had been stamped out so completely, and for so long?
As she gazed up at Sebastian, she experienced her newest emotion. Dread.
