Seven #3
I do try. This time, I manage to dodge him, feigning a dash before slipping by on his left and swinging at his ribs with my right fist. He blocks it with ease, catching my arm and twisting it behind my back.
Pain sparks up my shoulder, but I grit my teeth, refusing to cry out. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
He releases me again, with infuriating ease, like a cat playing with a mouse.
“Not bad.”
A faint smile touches his mouth. “Again.”
The Overseers begin slipping through the walls around us.
The temperature plummets further despite the flush of blood rushing through me and the sheen of sweat on my skin.
They sway as they join the ranks of the Offerings watching our fight.
Behind him, some of the Earth and Air Offerings smirk as I make a fool of myself.
“Are you trying to embarrass me?” I ask, my breathing a little ragged.
“If I wanted to embarrass you, you’d know.”
I huff, shaking my head. “It seems to me that all you’re doing is painting a massive target on my back.”
That wicked smile graces his face again, teeth sharp. “Worry less about them.”
His eyes lock onto mine. “Focus on me.”
I attack with everything I have, hoping to at least make it through with a scrap of dignity.
I glance a blow at his ribs, and this time, I'm successful.
He grunts, surprised. His face flashes with something like respect, but it vanishes almost immediately when he sweeps my legs.
I go down hard, the cold stone battering my shoulder and side.
Kael comes down on his haunches, looking down at me. “Are you done?”
I push myself up, chest heaving. “Again,” I say, spitting.
“If you say so.”
We circle each other again. The playful cat is gone now.
This is the wolf I expected. He tests me constantly, forcing me to react before I’m ready.
Feints. Pressure. Sudden shifts that leave me blocking air while he watches for weakness.
I manage to land a few hits, but they’re nothing compared to his.
Every hit is measured, as though he’s holding something far worse in reserve.
After five minutes of being at his mercy, I’m winded.
My arms are stinging, my ribs hurt, and there is blood dripping down my chin from a cut on my cheek that has already healed.
Kael suddenly grabs my shirt, spins me while hooking my foot, and sends me crumbling to the floor.
He follows, pinning me to the ground with a knee in my chest. His hands clamp my wrists to the cold stone.
The position alone is enough to send panic clawing up my throat.
I thrash and try to shake him off, but his grip is like a vice—immovable.
Cold panic begins to set in, and I close my eyes to drown out the memories.
He leans down, warm breath brushing my ear.
Beneath the sweat, he smells faintly of cinnamon.
“You fight pretty well, little rabbit,” he whispers. “But not well enough.”
The doom-heralding chanting of the Overseers only heightens my panic. I can hear them now, their song reverberating around the Dome.
Bright Mother, see us.
Bright Mother, claim us.
We walk the bridges you raise.
We give our children to your quiet flame.
His weight is crushing me now, fingers digging too hard into my wrists. My pulse thunders painfully in my ears. I try to buck him off, but he only pushes his knee down harder. My body chooses the worst possible moment to betray me, and my anxiety spikes.
“Get off me,” I hiss.
His grip tightens instinctively before he catches himself.
“Why?” he murmurs, close enough that only I can hear him. “You were fighting just fine a second ago.”
The weight of him, the chanting Overseers, the cold stone beneath my back—it all twists together until breathing feels impossible.
Kael’s expression shifts slightly then, amusement fading into something sharper. “Luceris?”
That softness is almost worse.
My Mana surges against my skin, pressure blurring the edges of my vision.
“Please stop,” I beg. “Please let me go.”
A voice cuts through the Dome, sharp with fury. “Stop it!”
I twist to my left to see a glassy-eyed Marissa, her anger fixed entirely on Kael.
Kael spares her only a momentary glance, and I headbutt him square in the nose. The crack of bone sharpens my vision as my head rattles with the impact.
Kael grunts in pain, and when I meet his eyes again, they are smoking, like ink dropped in milk. The whites threaten to run from the darkness, and my adrenaline spikes.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I plead, “Please don’t hurt me.”
“Stop. Fucking. Talking,” Kael grits out, his teeth clamped together painfully as his broken nose snaps back into place courtesy of the Mother Shard’s magic.
“Are you going to hurt me? Your eyes are turning black.” Fear sharpens every word despite my desperate attempt to stop talking.
“Luceris.”
His jaw tightens.
“You’re making this difficult.”
He squeezes his eyes shut and releases my wrists. As he sits back, I catch an embarrassing glimpse of warm skin disappearing beneath the waistband of his trousers.
I immediately hate myself for noticing.
The watching crowd disperses quickly after that.
I don’t think before touching him. I press my hand against his chest and Kael stills instantly beneath it.
My fingers begin to glow, and gold light spills across his skin. Panic rips through me, and I try to pull away, but I can’t.
The light holds for only a second more before vanishing, sinking beneath his skin. A shred of my power, gone.
A moment later, he opens his eyes—obsidian in iris only, the whites crisp and calm. He rolls off me fully, letting me up.
“What was that?” he asks quietly.
I do not answer. I just scramble to my feet and run.