Chapter Thirty-Four #2
He was naked, his skin glossy as if he’d oiled himself. Blood streaked his knuckles and shoulders, bright and fresh, and sand clung to one side of him as if he’d been thrown to the ground, but it was the wound below his collarbone that made my stomach twist.
It oozed a slow trail of blood, the edges ragged, revealing red flesh in the center.
Lips pulled back, his sharp teeth were exposed, canines longer than a Human’s, like the pictures of vampires.
His fingers were spread and bent, as if he were ready to catch a fist or use his claws on his opponent.
His tail waved back and forth, but it was no lazy motion.
It was purposeful, threatening, the hardened tip that had given me pleasure ready to be used for deadlier purpose.
He looked… feral.
Focused.
Like a string pulled tight and ready to snap.
The male he faced kicked sand into his face, making him flinch, and the crowd’s roar intensified. My fear surged as his opponent lunged, claws raking across Kael’s neck and shoulder, hot, sharp, and overwhelming.
The bond burst open like a dam after too much rain, Kael’s pain pouring into me. I screamed as I watched Kael stagger under the attack. It was subtle, just a fraction of a step, but I saw it.
He whipped around to keep facing the other warrior, but his head snapped up, silver eyes flaring as his gaze raked the tiers. For the first time since waking, I felt him.
Not an echo of his pain, but him. His determination. His relief.
And maybe something more.
The Morraki he faced attacked again, trying to use Kael’s distraction to his advantage, but Kael managed to dodge aside and land a blow of his own. I hadn’t realized it before, but I recognized the male.
Rath.
He looked larger than I remembered, his stance coiled and aggressive. Like Kael, he was oiled and painted, but where Kael’s kethra were only partially covered, Rath’s were hidden beneath thick slashes of dark pigment. There was blood streaked on him as well, but I couldn’t tell whose it was.
Rath snarled and then dropped to the sand, going for Kael’s legs before surging to his feet to dig claws into the wound on Kael’s shoulder. I felt the pain, and I knew Kael was aware because he tried to block it from me.
My stomach dropped as Rath kept hold of Kael’s shoulder, trying to get his other arm around Kael’s neck as his tail punched another wound into Kael’s calf. I cried out again, leaning over the railing, a hand taking hold of the back of my shirt to keep me from falling.
It didn’t matter that there was a drop to solid stone on the other side, and then another wall around the pit, the urge to go to Kael was impossible to ignore.
I struggled against the grip holding me back, willing to wiggle out of my shirt if that was what it took, but another hand gripped my shoulder while a tail wrapped around my waist.
“He’s going to kill him!”
My scream drowned beneath the cries of the crowd across from us. I glanced back at Teylan, but his face was still a mask of calm. He didn’t look away from the arena as he responded, speaking in a flat tone that sent horror streaking through me.
“Killing is permitted in the Ravak’torr.”
My stomach heaved, threatening to spill all over the stone below as I focused on Kael again. He’d gotten away from Rath, but his shoulder was bleeding heavier. The sand on his legs seemed to be staunching the flow from his calf, but it also made the bright red stand out against his dark flesh.
Our link fluttered in my chest as I fought to control myself. I knew he could feel my panic, my fear, and I didn’t want to distract him, but I didn’t know how to block the bond the way he had.
Kael was calm. Controlled. But beneath it, there was a violent, instinctive need to tear the male he faced apart.
Rath said something I couldn’t hear over the crowd, but Kael’s lips curled back and a surge of fury sent a shiver down my spine. My fingers clenched on the stone railing, making them throb, but it was a distant ache I ignored.
I couldn’t help thinking this was my fault.
That if Kael hadn’t chosen me because of who my father was, he wouldn’t be fighting like this.
He wouldn’t be bleeding, standing in a pit where death was an acceptable outcome.
They’d both tried to use me as leverage, but I knew Kael didn’t view me that way any longer, and now he was paying for our beautiful bond in blood.
I sucked in a shaky breath, forcing myself to stay still, to stay quiet, even as every instinct screamed at me to run. To call out to him. To make him look at me again.
The crowd hushed suddenly, sensing something I didn’t. Kael shifted his stance, fingers flexing, tail lashing once behind him, but his kethra remained steady.
Rath lunged with a roar.
I gasped, fear spiking so sharp it felt like it might tear through my ribs and leave me bleeding the way Kael was. Somehow Kael sent back a wave of assurance even as he moved to counter Rath’s real blow, having ignored the feint toward his injured shoulder.
Limbs flew, rough snarls louder than the crowd’s noise making my heart hammer against my ribs. They were tangled together, rolling across the sand in a whirlwind of claws and deadly intent.
And then everything stopped.