Kai’s hand came up to clutch gently at my throat. His mouth twisted into a smirk. “Don’t even think about it,” he said. My eyes must have flicked to his nose, revealing my intent to go for the headbutt anyway.
Equal parts rage and desire slugged me in the chest. Kai forced me to turn forwards again so he wasn’t in danger of having his nose bitten off. “If you don’t make too much fuss, I might take it easy on him,” he whispered, his mouth pressed against my ear.
“Are you kidding right now?”
“I would never joke about this.” I would never joke about you, was what I heard. I gripped Morning Star even tighter. He tried to press his thumb down on my pressure point to get me to drop the blade. I held on until he had to let go or break my wrist. He let go. This was going to hurt a lot before the end.
Chanelle was dancing around Andrei. Sweat dotted his brow. She feinted to the left. He tried to anticipate but his leg slipped on something on the mat. Her arm whipped out and nicked him on his left. Blood, bright and slick, soaked into his T-shirt.
I wrestled harder. If I had to dislocate my shoulder to get away from Kai, I would do it. He sensed as much. That was why he raised his palm to my temple. I gave a startled, frightened yelp. He was going to render me unconscious.
Andrei’s head snapped up. Before Kai’s angelfire could take hold of me, Andrei barked out a command. “Stay awake!” His compulsion wrapped around my mind. Kai’s angelfire bounced off me. It refused to settle. Cop that!
But the moment of distraction cost Andrei. While his attention was on me, Chanelle teleported behind his back. Oh god no. Always keep your eye on your opponent! Her blade flicked out. It was pointed right at the base of his skull where it met his spine. A hit like that would kill him.
I screamed at the top of my lungs. Andrei turned but he wasn’t fast enough. The glint in Chanelle’s eyes was maniacal. My heart thudded in my ears. She slashed out. I thrashed against Kai. But instead of spearing him, Chanelle sliced through something on Andrei’s neck. She teleported and grabbed the light amulet. His T-shirt tore with it, exposing his pale skin to the light.
Within seconds, the sun began to eat away at him. “No!” I screamed. Instead of killing him outright, she was going to let him die in agony. A patina of red washed over his eyes. The wry mask that he wore for the world cracked as the sun fried his skin. Reaching out in a move that would cost him, Andrei grabbed the tip of Chanelle’s rapier and yanked her closer. His left hand bled as the edge of the rapier dug into him. Chanelle jerked forward in surprise. Andrei slashed out with his right hand. His claws flayed her cheek. Huge gashes appeared. My stomach lurched at this sight of her face stripped open.
And then he was falling. Andrei landed on his back. Flesh sizzled as smoke hissed everywhere his skin was exposed. Chanelle screeched in utter fury. She clutched at her bleeding face and whipped around to glower at me. The fierce hatred in her eyes sparked a parallel emotion in me. I thought she would attack me while Kai had me disabled.
Instead, she flexed her hand and green light saturated her skin. Silence permeated the arena. Sweat crowned her brow as she raised the glowing hand to her face. Skin and muscle began to knit together. Within seconds, her appearance was pristine again.
I felt like I was experiencing everything with cotton wool in my head. The Nephilim in the crowd were on their feet, cheering and screaming. The mirrors highlighted the ethereal beauty in her perfect smile. She raised her hand and waved to her admirers.
The breeze carried the whispers of the crowd through the barrier. “She healed herself,” a reverent voice said.
“They must already be bonded,” someone else deduced. “Only the bond could give her that power.”
Chanelle laced her hands behind her back in feigned humility. She smiled benevolently at me.
A rushing sound filled my ears like a hurricane. It hit the inside of my mind and swept out all thought but one. In its wake, my mind was clear. She was going to pay for this. For everything.
Kai felt my whole body going soft. In response, his arms coiled around me. It left the hand holding Morning Star unfettered. I whipped the demon blade around so that it was pointed inward. I grabbed at every bit of emotion I felt and buried it under layers of resolve. Nephilim were impervious to a lot of things. Demon blades weren’t one of them. The scar on Kai’s brow was a testament to that. I gave myself a second to prepare. And then, with all of the strength I could muster, I sank the demon blade into Kai’s stomach.
55
Kai’s gasp echoed in the arena. It rippled through the supernatural world in a wave that I swore I could feel in my bones. Chanelle’s banshee screech followed in its wake.
I slammed my elbow into Kai’s head and pushed his arms aside. Yanking a blade from someone’s gut wasn’t easy. The suction of his muscles and internal organs was stronger than I’d anticipated. Chanelle appeared right before my eyes. Her angel blade was cutting a path to my neck. I brought the demon blade up to block her, using my legs to push up. When she stepped back, I shot up and smashed my foot into her chest.
I slipped into the Ley dimension and allowed the sight to guide me. The world became a faint
