Chapter Twelve #2
Him … the fae male … stole you away.
“I agreed to go with him,” Kadeesha clarified quickly, because the fae male in question, Malachi, stood inside the mouth of the cavern just a few feet away.
He’d teleported Kadeesha and the rest of the Nkita to the aerie, and Zahzah now eyed the Apollyon king as if he was a tasty morsel about to be devoured.
“We made a deal,” Kadeesha added. “He saved Samira’s life, healed her, and I came with him to his territory in exchange. ”
Zahzah snorted again. More flames encircled Kadeesha.
But Zahzah hadn’t yet attacked Malachi, which was a small win.
Kadeesha momentarily mused that perhaps she shouldn’t try to curtail Zahzah’s violent impulses.
Zahzah killing Malachi, of her own volition and without a direct order from Kadeesha, wouldn’t breach the oath Kadeesha had sworn since that would be an action beyond Kadeesha’s control.
And maybe she would have allowed that precise event to occur in order to be rid of Malachi as a thorn in her side if she hadn’t just gotten the news about Rishaud and his hostile takeover of Aether lands.
Now … as disgruntled as it left her, Malachi was too valuable a tool to use against the Hyperion king.
While Sylas hadn’t even gotten close to striking Rishaud when they’d faced off, Malachi had injured him. She needed him to do it again.
And again.
And again.
Don’t ever leave me behind like that, Zahzah huffed, interrupting her violent dreams.
Kadeesha petted Zahzah’s neck. “I won’t, sweet girl. I vow it.”
Zahzah’s snout nuzzled Kadeesha’s forehead. Then the flames vanished, the war serpent deciding to end her temper tantrum.
Behind her, a throat cleared. Kadeesha inwardly smiled at how the mighty Apollyon king kept his distance from the kongamatos.
It didn’t stop him from being an asshole, though.
“I don’t have all day to play nursemaid,” he grumbled.
“Collect the rest already so I can escort you lot to the training arena.”
Kadeesha rolled her eyes. “According to your cousin Cassius, you have all the time in the world because you don’t actually rule your kingdom.” The thick vein she spotted that stood out stark against the flesh of his neck when she whipped around was a true delight.
“At least I still have a kingdom to be monarch of. I hear yours has been seized by your darling betrothed because your father entered into a fool’s bargain.”
When Malachi chuckled at how she winced, Kadeesha reminded herself she’d sworn an oath not to try to murder him.
“Can we depart now?” he prodded impatiently.
If she hadn’t so intensely needed to get into the air and find a sliver of solace by flying, she would’ve taken her time collecting the kongamato just to rankle him.
WHEN SHE’D DRESSED in the violet flying leathers for a training run, Kadeesha had thought feeling the supple leather against her skin was like being home even amidst an enemy court.
She’d been wrong. Nothing compared to straddling Zahzah as the kongamato flew fast as lightning through the air while roaring like thunder.
This was truly home. Kadeesha relished every moment of the thrill as she and her squadron advanced through training maneuvers.
The only thing that dampened the feeling of utter liberation was the voice that wouldn’t let Kadeesha forget she was running drills in front of an outsider.
What was done was done, though. And true to insufferable form, Malachi hadn’t only teleported them to a massive colosseum to use as a training ground, he’d insisted on planting himself in a spectator box and watching.
To see for myself how valuable our bargain can be, he’d said with his usual imperious air.
This time, she didn’t banish Malachi and his bullshit from her thoughts.
Instead, she smiled wickedly and decided that if His Grace wanted a display, she’d give him one.
She’d demonstrate for Malachi exactly what she was capable of if they became foes.
Perhaps then he might rethink attempting to encroach on Aether lands once Rishaud was dealt with.
“Descend lower—drift above the sands and follow my lead,” she told Zahzah.
The war serpent dove downward and then righted them so they floated horizontally closer to the arena sands.
Kadeesha shouted a mighty war cry and hurled a molten column of purple aether flames at one of the wooden dummies on the sands.
As she’d requested, Zahzah followed suit.
Crimson flames entwined with Kadeesha’s purple ones, and after they’d incinerated the initial dummy, their combined flames spread like wildfire.
Their assault swallowed the dozens of targets around them in a purple-and-red blaze of utter destruction that took them only mere seconds to wreak.
Then, Kadeesha sent her aether flames roaring toward Malachi’s spectator box, grinning viciously.
Because the thing about oaths and bargains was that the binding magic that made them impossible to breach lay within one’s intent.
And Kadeesha didn’t intend to kill Malachi, or even injure him, this particular day.
She only wished to send a message, a thing she mentally communicated to Zahzah.
Kadeesha locked eyes with Malachi, gloating in full, as her and Zahzah’s attack struck the wooden box and it exploded in fire.
Malachi had balls of steel; she’d give him that much.
He didn’t blink. Didn’t so much as flinch. He …
The insane bastard grinned.
Then shadows swirled around the burning wood of the spectator box and more settled over the arena sands. The temperature of the air plunged—and Malachi’s shadows snuffed out both her and Zahzah’s flames.
Zahzah screeched, furious. Kadeesha … she gaped.
It was the last thing she should’ve been doing because Malachi was staring straight at her.
But how the hell was his void magic that powerful against both her aether flames and Zahzah’s fire combined?
He hadn’t been alive for centuries, the might of his magic growing for hundreds of years like with Rishaud and her father.
She and Malachi were about the same age, and they were both of royal blood.
It meant his power shouldn’t be leagues above hers.
But for the third time in so many days, he’d dismissed her aether as if it was nothing.
I’ll eat him now! Zahzah’s insistent demand broke into her thoughts.
She was grateful for the interruption because it reminded her that she was gaping and to pick her jaw up off the arena sands.
She schooled her face too late, however, for now Malachi’s wider grin taunted her.
She couldn’t let the blow to her pride stand.
Something reckless drove her to indulge the war serpent just a tiny bit.
“It’s a no to eating,” she told Zahzah, “but you can sample his blood.”
Delight thrummed down the mental bond she and Zahzah shared when Kadeesha projected to Zahzah what their countermove would be.
Her lovely girl shot toward Malachi with the breathless speed that made kongamatos so terrifying when they took flight.
Malachi didn’t have time to ensconce himself in shadows as a shield or strike out offensively.
Zahzah attacked fast, a single talon swiping across Malachi’s left cheek, and then Kadeesha encircled them both in a sphere of aether flames, throwing all of her strength behind it to make sure it would hold back anything Malachi responded with. Then she shouted at Zahzah, “Land!”
They hit the ground with a force that made it quake, and Zahzah purred as she brought her bloody talon to her snout, stuck out her tongue, and licked the talon clean.
Malachi appeared on the sand mere inches away.
Kadeesha reinforced the aether flames around herself and Zahzah.
Malachi looked the flames over as if they were nothing.
He lifted a hand to his bleeding cheek and swiped his thumb over the angry red line.
Around them, Leisha and Samira and the rest of her Nkita landed with their kongamatos.
Her sisters took up a protective position at her side, with Leisha already having unhooked her battle axes from her waist. Malachi didn’t spare Leisha or any of the others a glance.
His gaze, which had turned pitch black, bore into Kadeesha.
This time, when he grinned, there wasn’t a shred of amusement.
The only way to describe it was a predatory flash of teeth.
“You drew my blood. That will not go unpunished, Princess,” Malachi murmured.
For some reason, the fear that should have coursed through her at such a pronouncement was mingled with … anticipation?
What in the Celestials is wrong with me?