CHAPTER 28 #2
My eyes follow him until broad arms collide with my body, taking the air out of me and wrapping me tightly.
A leg kicks against mine, sweeping me off of the ground and I fall backwards.
My back slams into Koen’s arms, his body hovering over me with a cocky grin spread across his face, and my lip rises with the sight of it.
“You let your guard down.” He leans closer, his nose inches away from mine. “Rule number one, always stay ready. The horses are faster than anything you have ever seen.”
My hands shove against his solid chest, pushing him off of me as I dust off my suit.
“Damn, Koen,” I snarl. My chest is rising and falling. “Are you trying to kill me?”
I tease. Yet, inside me, I'm truly curious if he will one day try.
“Dagger. Now,” he barks, ignoring my question. His eyes fall to my thighs, where the few daggers I have today are.
“Why do I need a damn dagger?” I snarl. “We are riding a horse, not fighting them!”
His lips pull into a slight grin before his teeth dig into his bottom lip and he takes a violent stride to hover over me. “What happens if the horse decides to wield its powers from the Gods to kill you?”
My heart seizes.
“They can wield from the Gods?” My voice cracks.
He leans closer, and I can feel his warm breath as he growls, “You are dead out there if you don’t understand how ruthless the horses can be.”
My throat tightens as I stare into his emerald eyes. The word death replays in my mind like a broken record. I replay the conversation he had with that woman repeatedly. I can’t trust him.
I must not ever trust him.
He grips my shoulders, twisting me around to where my back slams against his chest and his head rests against mine.
My lips part as they tremble and I lift my chin, steadying my breathing and rapid heart rate.
I suck in a deep, shaky breath as his hand slides down the side of my ribs, gently yet firmly. His fingertips trace along my suit as if it is a map. Without hesitation, I slap the shit out of his hand and he lets out a deep, teasing laugh.
“Do not touch me,” I hiss.
The warmth of his breath tickles against my face as he takes the strand of my hair to pull it behind my ear. His fingertips brush against my face so tenderly that it makes my knees buckle.
“I told you to wear your hair up more,” he whispers against my skin. “Make sure you have it up while riding one of the four. Your eyes have to be glued to the horses at all times, not glued on me.”
My elbow swiftly beats against his ribcage, and I hear a moan escape his lips. I quickly reach in my thigh sheaths and rip my dagger out. My boots grind against the small pebbles as I stand in an attack position.
He holds his side, laughing yet groaning in agony all at the same time.
“Don’t worry, if I am looking at you it’s because I am plotting my revenge on you,” I snarl.
He shrugs. “As long as I get to have those eyes on me, plot your revenge all you want, little Spark.”
“Well at least you didn’t kill him.” Florian chuckles as he crosses his arms. “The Queen needs you, Koen.”
Koen tilts his head before rolling his shoulders. I can hear the bones crack with his movements.
“Of course she does,” he scuffs. "Good luck with training.” He tilts his head towards me. “You need it.”
My lip rises, and I roll my eyes, turning away from him to throw my dagger straight into one of the wooden frames of a horse. My dagger slices through the air with a high, piercing whistle sound and strikes the wood, right in the middle of the bullseye.
“I don’t need luck.” I glance over my shoulder towards him. “That was your face I was imagining.”
His lips roll together as he laughs quietly. “As long as you were thinking of me.”
I swear steam shoots through my nose as I yank another dagger from my sheath. This time, I aim for his face, but Florian shifts in front of me.
“Leave, Koen, before she actually throws this dagger directly into you,” Florian yells.
I watch as Koen leaves. His curls bounce with each step to leave, but a woman slams into his shoulder as she scurries into the pit.
“There she is!” yells the woman as she bursts through, her deep, teal hair whipping in the wind from the approaching storm. “I'm so going to kill you!”
As she charges through the archway, storming towards me, I pause. I don’t fear this woman. I don’t even fear death anymore. I suppose I am broken. Cursed.
Knowing the man my heart is beating for might kill me, is far worse than death.
I catch sight of a few small piercings on top of her nose and a hoop piercing under, linked to the piercings on her left ear, which are visible through her half-up hairstyle. She is dressed in a similar uniform as ours, with no pin on her chest like the chosen eight have.
However, I thought women weren’t allowed to be a part of the games or the chosen eight.
“Ah shit,” mutters Ivker, slamming the hilt of the sword into Octavian's chest to try and stop the woman who fiercely strides towards me. “Klayra heard she was here.”
“You forget she burns people to ash, Klayra!” The man from the sea rests against the wall, kicking up his foot and crossing his arms. “This shall be interesting.” His words are muttered under his breath, but I can hear him so clearly.
“I don’t give a shit!” Klayra screams, yanking out daggers from the sides of her pants. “She must die! She killed Layken!”
“Who the hell is Layken!” I throw my arms out, staring at Florian and Koen, hoping for some help with the incoming crazy woman.
“My brother who you turned to ash!” She slices the blades in the air, getting ready to pounce any moment. “He was supposed to make it here with me! And now because of you, he is gone!”
“Stand down, Kly.” Koen darts in front of me, his hand gripping around his danger so tight I catch the sight of his veins in his arms through his suit. “She has nothing to do with this.”
“Koen, she’s right. I killed her brother.” The tips of my boots glide in the white sand, casually walking up towards her. “Shut up,” Koen hisses, glancing over his shoulder, not daring to let his eyes glance up to meet mine.
“You have no right to tell me what the hell I should do!” My voice drips to a low grunt, biting the inside of my bottom lip. Who the hell does he think he is?
Klayra scuffs, biting her dagger blade in between her teeth as she tousles her teal hair up into a high messy bun, covering the other buns that were once visible.
“You know our code!” she grunts through her clenched teeth.
“You more than anyone should know that her soul shall be taken for killing one of the past chosen eights!”
He was a chosen?
Koen takes a dangerous step towards her, cracking his neck as his fingers roll over the hilt of his dagger. “Stand down, Kly. I won’t ask again.”
“Then don’t ask again,” I mutter, crossing my arms as I blow a strand out of my face. “I thought you couldn’t help me anymore.”
Koen frustratedly groans, throwing his hands up as he shifts on his heels to turn, but fights with his mind not to do so. “Damn it, Serene, not now!”
I let out a sarcastic scuff. “Quit barking orders at me.”
“Her heart must be thrown in the fire!” She throws her arm out towards the statue in the center. “As the last true Queen ordered us to! It’s in the damn code!”
“I don’t give a damn about the code when it comes to her life!” Koen's voice explodes through the air, causing me to recoil and take a step back.
“Oh now you care,” I mutter under my breath. “Why are you protecting me?”
“Damn it, Serene!” His eyes widen. “Enough!”
Klayra’s brows lift, ripping the blade out from her teeth to stand in an attack position. “You can’t stop me from killing her. She decided to take his life, and now this is her fate. This is written in the ways from our Gods. You chose this life, now honor it!”
Florian shifts in front of me, holding out his arm, ready to protect me if need be.
Koen glances over his shoulder, noticing Florian’s movement. A cocky grin spreads across his face, his lips curling with a hint of amusement. He scuffs under his breath, a low, rumbling sound that suggests he's holding back laughter. As if he is doubting Florian's ability to protect me.
But the truth is, I fear Florian might go to the ends of this world to save me. No matter what it costs him.
And as I stare at Koen, the one I want, the one I crave to be near me instead, I begin to wonder… would he do the same?
He said he would kill me. Now he protects me. Unsure what sort of mind games he is playing, but it needs to end.
A raging scream bellows from Klayra’s throat, whipping my attention towards her as she lunges towards me.
Her veins swell against her neck but a body blocks me before she can reach me.
A grunt rips from the depths of his throat, dark blood splashing against the white dirt.
His arm is blocking the blade that was directly targeted towards me.
Koen.
He rips his gaze back towards her. “If you so much as breathe near a single strand of her hair, if you even dare look her way again,” Koen growls, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that echoes around us. I have yet to hear his voice turn so dark, so deep, so fast.
He grips the blade that ripped through his skin, yanking it out with a violent tug. “I'll tear your heart out of your chest with my bare hands and crush it while you watch.”