Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Breyer’s white teeth flashed with pleasure. “Yes, please, Helaina, do get up.”
Helaina glared at her.
The commotion in the chasm had returned, echoing all around her as the crowd began filing toward the exits. Soon, only Manos, Breyer, and Fee remained as Theodon kept his overbearing position at her back.
“You can’t be serious,” Helaina said. “My leg isn’t healed. I’m exhausted and sore from your ridiculous exercises. I’m the only mortal soldier here. She holds an unfair advantage.”
What Breyer had insinuated about Adriel, that he was a criminal, a deviant, had burned her chest with hate.
Of course she had retaliated. But that all-consuming rage was gone, and her ability to see logic and reason kicked in.
Helaina had no intention of fighting anyone, least of all a female twice her size. Why had she instigated this whole mess?
She turned to the side to meet Theodon’s peculiar yet exquisite eyes. His entire self was exquisite, but it was just a handsome costume, a mask for the horned demon he hid beneath.
“You think your enemies care about what’s fair? That they will take pity on you because you are weak or hurt? This is how you prepare for a trial. This is how you learn to fight. Besides, you hold a rather impressive advantage yourself.”
Helaina arched her brow, not understanding.
“Malicious powers seem to be hindered with your touch. I haven’t quite figured out how, but as long as you keep your hands on Breyer, up there it should be a fair fight.”
Breyer scowled. “You mean that’s why I couldn’t shift? This sewer rat can mute my magic?”
“If your intent is to harm, it would appear so,” Theodon answered. “Does that bother you?”
“Not at all,” Breyer fired back. “I’ll tear her throat out with my bare teeth if I have to. With one arm tied behind my back.”
“I would rein in that cockiness if I were you,” Manos piped up from the background, laughing. “She had a good hold on you a few minutes ago.”
Breyer sneered in his direction.
He grinned back sheepishly. “What? It’s true.”
Helaina put her head in her hands, wishing everyone would shut up and that the giant bear breathing down her neck would leave her alone. Then his words sank in.
“Wait . . . how did you know her powers can’t hurt me?”
Theodon hesitated. “Because my own powers can’t touch you.”
They all fell still at that.
Before Helaina could ask for a more direct explanation, he gave another order. “So stop with the list of excuses, and get up.”
She was so sick of him. “I said no. She can fight someone else.”
The silence became heavier, the others riveted.
“Outside, all of you—now,” Theodon’s voice boomed.
“I told her not to piss him off again,” Manos said to Breyer and Fee as they headed for the tunnels.
It was just the two of them now.
Large hands grabbed hold of her without warning, hoisting her upward. He kept her suspended above the ground in that hold, rotating her body to face him with such ease.
“Your obstinacy is growing old. Let me put it plainly. If what’s waiting for you in the west is so much better, then go, run. No one will stop you. No one will come to save you a second time either.”
She struggled to get free, but he held firm.
“If you choose to stay, know this . . . you are not in Keles. You do not rule here, I do. This is my domain—my legion. If you want to live under my mountains, you’re going to do what I say like everyone else.”
“Or what?”
He grew a cunning grin. “Keep defying me in front of my army, and you’ll find out.”
The taunt sent a song of heat between her thighs.
His gaze flared as his throat vibrated with a groan. “Does that trigger something inside you, little hellion?”
Her cheeks flushed.
“Does the promise of punishment arouse you?”
She sucked on the inside of her cheeks, biting down hard to stifle whatever feelings were circling her core.
“You don’t have to answer.” He pulled her in close. “I can smell it on you.”
He had control over everyone and everything here, and she was finding it hard to keep fighting against it.
She wriggled in his hold, she couldn’t let him win.
“Arousal? Is that a joke? I’ve seen that ugly monster you keep tucked away. The only thing I feel for you is sympathy for the terrible creature you harbor underneath.”
He scanned her entire body up and down, then let his lips curl in a snarl. “Such a cunning liar you are.”
With one hand, he carried her toward a tunnel, his grip squeezing the scruff of her neck.
“I can walk!” She batted at his fist, trying to dislodge his grip.
“If you walk all the way up there, your leg won’t last. Save your strength, you’re going to need it.” Again with this contradictory behavior.
She tried to memorize the way as he carried her along a path of twisted corridors and unfamiliar turns. Soon, they were outside.
The moon and stars were so bright here, the elevation bringing them so close to the glowing sky. She couldn’t keep her mouth from gaping open at the beauty.
“This is . . . incredible.” Books and images on the constellations clouded her mind as she mentally matched what she knew to the sky.
This was what she had always wanted to see but thought she would never get the chance. This new world was full of beauty: the glowing caverns, the waterfalls, the intensity of the stars.
Theodon looked between her and the sky. His face took a softer tone. “I suppose it is.”
He had been here forever, viewed this scene millions of times. She doubted he appreciated it the way she did. To Helaina, it was a dream.
He released her, breaking her focus. She stumbled, collapsing to her knees. She looked ahead at the sound of voices. She had been so busy gawking that she hadn’t noticed the awaiting crowd.
Firelight illuminated chalked outlines in the grass.
She could make out shelves of weaponry in the distance.
Soldiers stood around one of the outlined circles.
There, in the center—Breyer waited. She had reinforced her leather attire with spiked pauldrons, and in her hands, she clasped two glinting axes.
Fee ran up beside her mate and pressed an airy kiss to her cheek while her hands caressed under her chin. Breyer seemed weightless and happy in that touch. Then the kiss broke and that usual murderous face reemerged.
“Now would be a good time to stand,” Theodon commented.
“Fine,” Helaina gritted out. One foot after the other, she forced herself upright.
“Choose a weapon if you know how to wield one. I would suggest something bigger than a dagger.” He walked off, joining the circle beside Manos.
She realized how pivotal this was. Make a stand or forever be a target here.
She made it over to the stacks of armor and weaponry. She saw the shelves of swords and found one that fit her grip nicely with a wieldable weight. She didn’t bother with the armor. The heaviness would irritate her injury more and slow her down.
Murmurs and laughter were audible as she tested the blade.
“I bet she doesn’t last a minute.”
“I bet she doesn’t leave the yard with all her limbs.”
The soldiers of the Divine were making this some sort of game.
“I’m waiting, bitch,” Breyer singsonged from the far end of the arena. The crowd cheered and hollered for her.
Lovely.
Helaina examined the sword, taking her sweet time. Breyer was clearly impatient. Maybe if she got her good and irritated, she’d make a mistake.
“I knew I heard your name before,” Breyer shouted. The voices dimmed as they listened. “I know exactly why they brought you here.”
Helaina turned, letting the sword hang at her side. She let a single glance slide over to that behemoth of a captain. She wondered if he would shut Breyer up. He remained mute, letting her continue.
“I didn’t think it was true back then, the faint whispers in Azaros.
When we picked up our provisions that season, everyone was paranoid from the attacks.
Still, I recall the stories. How King Matthias left our lands and came back with news of a weapon.
A mortal, marked by Valhoor. His council begged him to strike it down, while it was weak and powerless. ”
It—not her. She was a thing to them, an item. She walked slowly toward the circle.
“His lords and lady pleaded with the king to end the prophecy before it could begin. Being the righteous ruler that he is, he refused. He wouldn’t cut down a pitiful little girl.”
Helaina’s face was blank as she stopped before her opponent.
“He helped sweep the problem under the rug, didn’t he? Cloaking it just like he cloaks Azaros. So no one could sniff it out, sniff you out.”
The crowd gathered closer, whispering and leaning in for more. Theodon remained stone-faced.
“It’s not just a story, is it? You are the reason many of the Divine have gone missing. You are the reason this threat cannot be contained and mortals are being taken from their homes. They have been looking for you!”
Helaina’s vision overflowed with that red fog, the fury in her stirring like a caged animal. Her hands trembled. Not from fear but from restraint.
Breyer smiled, twirling her twin axes. “I’m going to do what he should have done back then. I’m going to make you bleed, Princess.”
Helaina lifted her sword with a flourish. The movement indicated she was no novice. Adriel had made sure of that.
“What are you waiting for?” Helaina goaded.
Then she reached for her wrist and tossed the bracelet to the ground.