Chapter Thirty-One
“Trianne!” Daemon growls as he jumps up, covering me with his tunic. “What in the thirteen hells are you doing here?”
I recognize the woman. She was Daemon’s second in the tournament challenge. Her blonde hair is unbound now, not braided tightly as it had been that day, but it’s definitely the same woman. She’s classic fae, tall and slim and stunningly pretty.
“That is hardly the question for you to be asking me.” She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him with her violet eyes.
“What, I’m not allowed to blow off some steam?” Daemon scoffs. “You have no right to question anything I do, but especially not this.”
I flinch. I know he’d told me he couldn’t be caught with me, but his words still sting. I shimmy my pants back on and stand up, staying a couple of feet behind him.
“Blow off steam with another fae. Not a…” She casts her eyes on me as if I’m an earthworm. “…a human.”
A ripple moves over Daemon. “Again. Not your right. Not your place.” He puts emphasis on the last word, his voice dark and deadly.
Trianne only narrows her eyes further. “You may be royal blood, but I’m the one who’s been there at the Court of Onyx while you’ve been away this whole time. Your aunt and uncle listen to me. And they will be very interested to hear about this.”
“You say that as if I had a choice to stay or go.” Daemon’s shadows spin around him slowly. “And tell them for all I care. If they want to keep a journal of my bedroom activities, they can go right ahead.” He shrugs.
They lock eyes for several long moments, and then Trianne shrugs. “Fine, Daemon. If you want to keep a lowly human whore for a lover, you go right ahead. It’s not as if it’s a disgrace to your family name and your entire legacy.”
Daemon’s shadows lash out, almost more quickly than my eyes can follow, and wrap around Trianne’s neck. She gasps and reaches up, trying to pry them off with her fingers. Before I can even react, Daemon pulls them back, and Trianne falls to the ground, choking.
When she crawls back up to her feet, the look she shoots him is both furious and triumphant. “That’s what I thought,” she says, her voice ragged. “More than just letting off a little steam.”
“I’m warning you,” Daemon snarls. “Do not do something you’re going to regret.”
She doesn’t respond, just staggers backward, locking gazes with me for a moment, hatred burning in her eyes. Then she turns and storms off, disappearing from view on the far side of the glen.
When she’s gone, Daemon lets out a string of curses, running a hand through his hair in agitation. I step toward him slowly and place a hand on his shoulder. He shudders beneath my touch. “Are you okay?” I ask softly.
“This is exactly what I was trying to avoid,” he says, his voice carrying a low groan.
“Does their opinion weigh so heavily on you?”
He turns to face me, running one hand up into my hair. “I couldn’t care less about their opinion. I hate my aunt and uncle. What I’m worried about is what they’ll do with this information.”
“Everyone already wants me dead, Daemon,” I say, trying to make light of things.
“You don’t understand how hateful they are. They will try to punish me for what they view as a transgression. And they’ll punish me by punishing you.”
“Well, I’ve got my guards, and I’ll be extra careful.”
Daemon shakes his head, his eyes haunted. “This isn’t the first time this has happened.”
My muscles go rigid. “You mean, you’ve had human…” I’m not really sure the right word to use for whatever’s happening here.
“No, not lovers. A human friend. A long time ago, when I was a child. They found out and…” He shivers in rage, his jaw clenching and unclenching. “I will never forget it. Ever.”
“I’m so sorry that happened,” I say softly.
He pulls me against him gently and wraps his arms around me, and we stand like that for several minutes. Finally, Daemon pulls back, his gaze serious. “You need to practice. You’ve only got another day until your challenge with Toryn.”
“Don’t you need to go?”
He shakes his head. “The alternative is that Toryn kills you tomorrow. And I won’t let that happen. Let’s fight one battle at a time.”
I nod and step away from him. “I think I know now how to summon my magic. One that doesn’t involve you and I…” I trail off.
“Oh?” Daemon raises his brows.
I take a few more steps back and I close my eyes.
I think back to this morning, to my grandparents and their visitors who want to claim me as one of their multiple brides.
In my mind’s eye, I see them leering at me, see the lust in their eyes as if I’m just a possession to be bartered.
Fury rises within me once again, and I can feel the heat of it flow through me.
And now I know it’s not just heat…it’s my magic.
I let it build and build and build, feeling it accumulate behind my eyes and in my hands.
When it feels like I might actually ignite, I picture Toryn back at Shadow’s Keep, in the garden.
Trying to force his way with me, assuming that I needed his protection, that I owed him.
I feel a rush of energy in my hands, a release.
I open my eyes. Daemon is staring at me with surprise and awe.
Two large spheres of golden flame sit in my palms, one on each side.
“Your eyes…” Daemon says.
I know that they’re glowing, the feeling now familiar. And I also feel that kinship with the flame, that sense of belonging I’ve always had when I’m near a fire. Because I am fire, too.
Daemon shakes his head as if coming out of a trance. “Okay. Now, throw your magic at me.”
My focus falters, my thoughts not having gotten this far, and the flames flicker and start to diminish.
“Don’t overthink it,” he says. “You know what to do.”
And I realize I do know. Not in my head, but in my heart. My soul.
My flames flare back up and I hurl them both at Daemon. They envelop him for a moment, but then he rolls his shadows around him, and they dissipate.
“Good. Again,” he commands.
We spend the next few hours practicing, improving on the speed of summoning my magic and the force of my throws. When I stagger, a wave of dizziness moving through me, Daemon steps forward and catches me.
“You need to rest,” he says, his eyes flickering with worry.
I lift a hand to my forehead, feeling the throb of a headache coming on. “What’s happening to me?”
“Using magic takes a toll. Especially on humans.” He looks down at me with a frown. “I should have realized sooner…”
“You can’t save me from everything, Daemon,” I say softly.
He pushes back one of my curls. “No, you can save yourself. That’s what I like about you.”
We walk toward the closest path leading down from the peaks.
Tomorrow, I’ll either prove him right, or…
well, I’ll be dead. Toryn certainly won’t be holding anything back.
And even though I’ve made a breakthrough with my magic, I’ll be going up against a fae who can best me in hand-to-hand combat and who’s had years of magical practice.
The odds are better than they were before, but they’re still pretty dismal.
I keep a brave face for Daemon, though, as we make our way back down to the tents.
No matter the outcome of the challenge, I don’t want him to blame himself.
When we reach my tent, it’s late in the afternoon. Daemon turns to the guards outside. “Make sure no one bothers her the rest of the day. And send someone to fetch her food.”
The closest guard, one of the humans, nods and jogs off. Daemon lifts the flap of the tent for me to duck inside. He follows me, letting the flap fall behind us. He takes one of my hands in his. “Eat a big meal when they return and then go to bed early. You should feel better tomorrow.”
I nod. “Thanks for your help.”
Daemon leans in and dusts a soft kiss over my lips. “I’ll be back in the morning to check on you. We should get in one more small practice, but not so much that you’re worn out for the challenge.”
After he leaves, I can feel exhaustion tugging at me, but I wait until my food arrives, and then I eat and crawl into my bedroll. Surely, I can’t go to bed this early and sleep the rest of the night. But I slip away into darkness, and next thing I know, it’s dawn.
Daemon makes good on his promise to practice with me the next morning. I try to inquire about his aunt and uncle, and whether Trianne had told them about us.
“Let’s just focus on today, Embyr,” he says, but I can tell by the tightness in his smile that there’s something he’s not telling me.
We practice for only an hour, and I’m able to summon my magic fairly consistently, with perhaps a little improvement on my speed and force over yesterday’s practice.
But will it be enough? I hadn’t incorporated time to rest in my two-day window before the challenge.
Had I known how much using my magic would drain me, I might have asked for more time.
Of course, no amount of time is enough to prepare me to battle a fae, let alone a fae who hates me as much as Toryn does.
After practice, I make sure to eat another big meal. I’m not nearly as worn out as the day before, but I can tell I still need a nap.
“Sleep until close to the challenge,” Daemon says. “And don’t forget, I’ll be there tonight, cheering you on. Even if you can’t see me.”
A mirthless laugh escapes my lips. “You’ll be about the only one.”
“Just remember—one battle at a time. Show Toryn what you’re made of.”
“I will.”
“Promise?” Daemon’s eyes burn into mine with such intensity it makes my breath catch.
“I promise.”
“Good.” He gives me a final kiss, and then he turns and strides from the tent.
Sleep claims me, and it seems like only five minutes later when one of the guards opens the flap of the tent and rouses me.
“You have a visitor,” he says gruffly.