Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
Kayce glared where Adrian disappeared before turning to Aurelia, a look of pride softening his face.
Under his gaze, she couldn’t even be disappointed at Adrian’s escape.
Aurelia hadn’t done this for his approval, but skies, to see it in his eyes made her burn in a way she never had.
Flickers had been there before, but now it was like an inferno raged in her chest each time he looked at her.
Before he could say anything, the minotaur’s hoof scraped the ground.
Over the whistling wind from Jace’s balcony, battle raged outside.
She knew then the gates held fast; Adrian had brought the monster for this exact purpose.
Spineless coward. And yet, she couldn’t quite shake the fact that she had seen a piece of herself in his plea.
“Looks like we get that redo from the mall,” Kayce said.
“Was this what you had in mind?” Aurelia grimaced before the minotaur snarled.
“No, he’s going to be a very annoying pain.” Kayce stalked to the other side of the corridor, his attention on the minotaur. “Some ugly beast you are!”
Huffing, the minotaur leveled his bull-like head. Kayce caught Aurelia’s eye, jerking his chin to signal her to circle. She was already moving, the pen’s light morphing into a lasso. The beast snarled at the magic, eyes narrowing to watch Aurelia.
“Should I even ask about your parents?” Kayce wore a diabolical smirk, tossing his sword idly from one hand to the other. “Though, I am curious: was your father or mother the cow in the equation?”
She snorted and rolled her eyes, despite a twinge of mounting anxiety. That gargantuan head swung toward Kayce with a grunt. Aurelia twirled the rope, the circle swinging beside her.
Kayce’s brow rose. “Oh, so you are intelligent. You had me fooled.”
That did it. The minotaur roared, running full-tilt toward Kayce. The floor trembled, marble cracking under each step as the beast thundered toward them. The minotaur raised one of his axes, swinging hard and towering over Kayce.
Kayce ducked, the blade brushing his hair and back.
Aurelia grit her teeth—that was too close.
But Kayce was already bouncing back, sword swinging to claim its own mark.
The blade bit into the beast’s hide, splitting its midsection.
The minotaur growled, knocking the prince backward as though he were no more bothersome than a gnat.
Aurelia’s heart leapt into her throat when Kayce collided with the wall, face contorted in pain. But he scrambled to his feet as the minotaur stalked forward.
This wasn’t going to be the mall again.
Running, she twirled the rope, the circle swinging wide overhead before she threw it from behind.
A loop settled around the bull horns and wrenched the beast’s head back as Aurelia hauled with all her strength.
The minotaur jerked, dropping an axe to grab at the light tangled about his head.
He snarled, burning himself. The motion freed Kayce, but the minotaur turned to glare at Aurelia.
She balked. “Oh, crap—”
A roar erupted from the beast, causing crystals to fall from the chandeliers.
He flung his head left and right, whipping Aurelia around like a fish on a line.
She stumbled over her legs, trying to keep hold, but her pen was slipping.
Another twist was all it took for the minotaur to send her tumbling to the left, pen soaring as the light faded.
It clattered against the marble floor, rolling down the hall.
Kayce ran to her side. She gasped for breath, the wind knocked out of her. But she shoved to her knees, trying to work through it as the minotaur rounded on them again.
With her pen gone, Aurelia thrust out her hand. “Cut me!”
“What?” Kayce reared back.
“Just do it!” she demanded, the minotaur pawing the ground with his hoof.
Muttering under his breath, Kayce used the edge of his sword to slice neatly across her unblemished palm.
Aurelia refused to flinch, clenching her jaw before standing. “Cover me,” she breathed, squaring her shoulders.
Her eyes were hard as flint, staring at the beast, at the cut across his abdomen.
Both lunged in the same instant. Crystals from the chandeliers rained under the charge.
Kayce was a beat behind her, catching the blow of the axe with his sword as Aurelia slammed into the beast, her hand to his sternum.
Blood met like ink, smeared like words, over flesh like parchment.
The minotaur’s arms caged her to his combustion, light searing all around her until smoke and ash lingered instead.
She crumpled back into Kayce, who caught her against his chest. “Aurelia?”
“I’m fine,” she muttered, blinking dazedly and trying to catch her breath. “He was bigger than the gremlin.”
“You don’t say,” came a voice from the archway. “Seems like you’re well versed in Transcription, Lia. Despite being a bit hands-free.”
Turning, they found Mikayla, pearls perfectly placed, standing alongside Fee, Mom, and the rest of the Order. And in the front Leo stood, holding Aurelia’s pen out to her.