Chapter 81
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
PHOENIX
“This has gone on for too long, Phoenix,” Daegel purrs.
My name on his tongue is like the caress of a lover. I roll my shoulders, making my way closer to him with determination.
The crowd cheers for me.
For us.
For the last two contestants standing.
How tragically poetic, two lovers at a deadly crossroads.
I’m so close to the finish line, yet so far away. And gods, how painful all of this is.
People chant our names. A part of me is…exhilarated. Despite the odds. I hope both Jax and Vera are somewhere in the crowd. Only the thought of their presence gives me strength.
I toss my bow aside and slide the quiver off my back and let it drop to the sand as I prowl towards Daegel. He doesn’t lift his blades in preparation.
He’s arrogant enough to look at ease until it’s time to strike. And I know he won’t strike me down like this. Not yet, at least.
“Finally, we’re here,” I say once I’m a few steps away from him. I’m careful to stand far enough from him that his blades can’t reach me easily. “Last two Ezkai standing.”
He lifts his chin and eyes me. “I’ve been trying very hard to prevent this day from happening.”
“Yeah? By planning to lock me in a cage in your basement and holding me hostage?”
He lowers his gaze to the sand and smirks to himself. “That was supposed to be the last resort. You gave me no other choice.”
My voice is cold as ice. “You’re sick, a spineless pawn for a criminal organization who’s not able to stand up against your father.”
Daegel’s gaze flickers to mine. “Seeking power for the sake of vengeance is no more noble than seeking power for the sake of power itself.”
“I never claimed to be noble.”
He opens his arms. “So that’s that, then? We bury our future in the sand and fight until death? That’s what you want?”
I swallow, lick my dry lips, and shrug. “I don’t see any other choice.”
Daegel gathers both of his blades in one hand and picks up the pair of pearl-handled daggers. He tosses them to me, and the weapons land at my feet. I glance between the blades and him.
“I can’t protect you anymore, princess,” he says. “But it must be a fair fight. There is no honor in slaying you in an unequal fight.”
I bark a laugh. “Now you care about honor?”
He says nothing.
I detest his arrogance and the pride with which he offers the weapons to me. Keeping an eye on him, I pick the blades up. The daggers are lighter that I expect. They rest comfortably in my palms.
Slowly, Daegel raises his blades. I guess the time I’ve been dreading has come.
The crowd cheers for us. Their excitement and thirst for blood press onto my senses. It’s distracting, so I focus all of my mental attention on shutting all of it off.
I don’t think.
I don’t feel.
I simply am, a lethal weapon.
Daegel doesn’t get to attack first. I do, as I advance forward and swing the blades at him. The sparks fly through the air as our blades clash between us.
I only pause for a second before I retreat and launch at him again, from a different angle.
My breathing is even, and my pulse is steady as every limb in my body moves with ease and grace.
I don’t give Daegel an opening to come at me.
I attack him with lethal force. All he can do is dodge and deflect my blows.
This is reminiscent of those times back at the Ezkai Academy when he’d train me in the early mornings, before the rest of the trainees woke up.
From the frown that settles between his brows, I can tell he doesn’t expect the ferociousness with which I attack.
I may be good with blades, but I’m a Phantom Ranger and he’s a master of the blade.
Daegel’s feet are light on the ground, moving graciously together with mine. He matches my speed and strength. We’re stuck in a deadly dance of two doomed lovers.
The next time our blades lock, Daegel leans forward and says teasingly, “Did you know that when you fight, you move your hips in the same way—”
His words don’t rattle me. “Fuck you. Your dirty talk doesn’t work on me now that I know you’re twisted.”
Daegel laughs and retreats before swiftly thrusting his left blade towards my hip. I dodge it just in time before it sinks into my flesh. I take a couple of steps back to put more distance between us. We circle each other.
Daegel smiles. “Bullshit. No way all that we shared between us means so little to you.”
He thinks he can get to me with his words. That his manipulation will wear me down and break me eventually. I won’t give him the satisfaction. Not anymore.
I inhale.
Exhale.
I don’t think.
I don’t feel.
I simply am, an impenetrable fortress.
Teasingly I say, “You think you’re the first man I’ve been with since the start of my journey? Bah! You’re not the first and definitely won’t be the last.”
Anger flickers in his dark gaze for a fraction of a second. Yet he doesn’t attack me, and I don’t attack him. We circle each other. I tighten my grip on the dagger. Daegel doesn’t miss the small movement and before I strike, he does first.
His long blades are an extension of his body. He swings one of the blades at me. I arch my back, leaning backwards to avoid the strike. The blade whizzes past my cheek mere inches away. Before I can recover, sharp pain pierces my side.
Daegel’s second blade slides over my side, right above my left hip. I hiss from the pain and Daegel’s eyes widen with satisfaction. He doesn’t end me right then and there, using the moment I’m distracted. No, he retreats a few steps away, watching me with dark eyes.
My words have hit a sore spot, it appears. He wasn’t angry before, but oh, he is now.
He won’t finish me quickly. He will make it last, and make a show out of it.
My muscles tremble and I sink down on one knee, panting heavily. Half of the crowd cheers, while the other half chants my name. Daegel circles me like a predator circling its prey.
Every part of my body screams from pain. The wound is deep, and blood gushes down my side. I remain on one knee, following Daegel’s every move.
“You made a mistake signing up for Val’taz Ezkairin,” Daegel says. “I would have given you the world. You would have been my Taaslord, and we would have ruled side by side until the end of days. I would have burned Wetra to the ground, all you had to do was ask.”
“I already told you—claiming the blood debt I’m owed is my path, my destiny. I don’t need you burning the whole country of innocent people to ash. I won’t stand by you while Caligos whip you into the Ezkai General they need you to be.”
“All I ever did was worship the ground you walk on and that was not enough for you,” Daegel says.
“Since the start, all you ever wanted was to control me and I was too stupid to see it.” I laugh again; it’s a sound void of any humor and full of venom.
“You hired an assassin to scare me, which almost cost me my life! When that didn’t work, you hired Jax to force me to drop out.
When that didn’t work, you wanted to kidnap me and lock me away!
Does that sound normal to you? Something one would do if they saw their lover as their equal? ”
Daegel comes to a halt in front of him. There is no point in arguing with him—he doesn’t accept anything but his own beliefs.
“I did all that to protect you and ensure you remain mine,” he says quietly so only I can hear him.
“And all you’ve done is tried to escape me.
I heard what you said—to you, I’m a mere pit stop between different men.
Who’s next after me? Jax? Or do you have other suitors standing in line? At least I took care of Roman.”
I’m startled by his words. “What? Roman died during a mission. What do you mean you took care of him?”
His eyes are cold as the deepest winter when he says, “I tipped the pirates off before the mission. I hoped they’d be smart enough to call for backup so we’d get overwhelmed. I was going to end Roman myself in the chaos. Nobody would know who stabbed who. But I didn’t even have to lift a finger.”
I’m all rage and fury. “How dare you! He was my best friend!”
He stands very close to where I kneel. He thinks my wound weakens me. Gives him an upper hand. That’s why he doesn’t expect it when I shoot to my feet and slam into him with full force. I don’t intend to knock him down. Instead, I aim for his left shoulder and give it my all.
A silent pop and Daegel roars with pain. His left arm goes limp, and he drops the blade. I kick it with my feet, away from us.
With a roar, Daegel swings his other sword at me. I dodge and curse because the pain in my side gets worse and worse each time I move. But I won’t let it stop me.
Our blades lock between us again, his sword lodged between my two daggers. That’s a mistake. Daegel realizes it a moment too late.
His eyes widen when I twist my daggers and he loses his grip on his sword. The blade flies away. Daegel is left with no weapons.
The crowd goes crazy, roaring all around us. The air is charged. From the fire burning in Daegel’s gaze, I know he’s not going to surrender. He will fight until his last breath.
I muster the last of my strength and charge at him just as he charges at me. Instead of colliding, I step out of the way at the very last moment and kick the back of his knees.
He stumbles and falls forward on all fours.
I approach him from behind and fist the hair at the back of his head. “You orchestrated the murder of my best friend and stood there beside me at his funeral. I turned to you for comfort, like a fool, when you were the reason for the pain.”
My voice cracks at the end. It’s too much.
I press the sharp blade to his throat.
“This doesn’t have to end like this,” he says, pleading. “Drop the blade, princess. We can find a way out of this. I love you.”
There’s no other way. We both know it. It’s either him or me.
One of us has to die.
To be the sacrifice.
How many women before me have done it? Sacrificed everything they hold dear, everything that brought them meaning and joy, just so someone else they loved could climb higher up the mountain, could reach the very top of it while they stayed at the bottom, or worse—tumbled to their deaths?
How many women have gotten on their knees, on all fours, and bent their backs so their lovers could use them as a stepping stool to a greater future? How many have had to stay hidden in the shadows of powerful men, shriveling, until nothing but their own shadow was all that was left of them?
How many more will there be after me?
I won’t do it. I won’t sacrifice. He’s not worth it. Not after everything he’s done.
A tear escapes and rolls down my cheek, onto Daegel’s face. I can see the moment hope flickers alive in his eyes as they widen a fraction.
I can’t do it.
I can’t do it.
I can’t do it.
No, a dark voice roars at the back of my mind. You can do it. And you will.
He’s responsible for Roman’s death.
He wanted to control me.
He’s the one who turned the blind eye on those poor kids being drugged and sold to slavery.
He’s the one willing to be the puppet of monsters so he could sit on the throne of power.
I grip the blade tighter.
“I love you.” The words are thick in my throat. Daegel’s lips part. “But you’re not good for me, or Ekios.”
Hiss sssoul, the trickster god hisses.
Have it.
There is no fear in his eyes as I press the blade harder and slide it across his throat.
Daegel’s eyes widen, and he chokes.
I don’t look away.
With an aching heart, I take in every second of this moment. The blood pouring out of his throat and down his torso. The fire in his eyes dimming with each heartbeat, until there is not a single trace left.
Just an empty dark void.
I let go of his hair and his body falls forward with a heavy dunk. Through the pulse slamming in my ears, I can barely hear the crowd cheering, chanting my name.
Slowly, I look up.
My mind and heart are empty.
The bloody blade drops to the sand and I turn around.
On the opposite side of the clearing, three figures emerge. It’s Noire, followed by two monks. I wait for them to reach me.
Noire wears a victorious smile on his face, and even his eyes are brimming with excitement. I blink in surprise when he sinks to his knees in front of me and the monks follow suit. They bow their heads, fists pressed to their chests, right over their hearts.
“Ezkai General Phoenix Wildarrow, we’re honored to serve and follow you until the very last moment of your reign,” Noire says and the monks repeat it after him.
It’s over.
Finally, all of it is over.
I won.
Yet I don’t feel victorious.