Page 22

I drank my tea, thinking back on everything I knew about the Cinder Elves. They had been almost wiped out during the Uprising, a peaceful race of forest dwellers.The little brown tree people, my mother had called them. They lived in Jerindos, beyond the Yuairan mountains, far away from Peyrus. They’d been drawn into the Uprising and had paid the price dearly, much like the Malakh and the Night Demons.

The Night Demons. I suppressed a groan as I thought of Rook, and then my cheeks fucking burned asI thought of Rook.

Drusilla’s eyebrows flicked with concern as she looked over her tea cup at me. “Everything alright?”

I nodded. “Just preparing myself for more pain today.” Before Drusilla could express any more concern or make me any more uneasy about my skills in the arena, I pushed away from the table and rose to my feet. “Anyway, I should go down and warm up before Rook graces me with his presence.”

“Elara -“ Drusilla got to her feet.

“It’s alright.” I cut her off quickly, pulling on my boots. “Really. I just need to get down there and move. I’ll feel much better for it.”

Three harsh raps on the door, and a guard opened it for me. With a jerk of his head, he gestured for me to leave the room, and I walked the now-familiar path through the passageways down to the training arena. My heart was pummeling my ribcage, and I huffed out a curse at myself.Stay fucking calm.

When I reached the training arena, it was mercifully quiet. I let out a heavy sigh of relief. I needed to gather myself before I faced him again. I laughed bitterly at myself - this was his intention. That was why he was doing this. Gods, I was sostupid. He was hoping to muddle my head with ridiculous dreams of him, because that was the only way he knew how to handle a female.Idiot.

My heart continued to buzz in my chest, humming with warmth, and I ran my hand over it, almost expecting the heat to be palpable. It felt strange, yet familiar. My heart jumped suddenly, hammering against my palm, and I spun around to see Rook crossing the training arena towards me.

“Good morning,” I said.

He scoffed. “Is it?” He stopped halfway, tilting his head back a little as he narrowed his eyes at me. “That’s what you like, is it?”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”

“These fucking dreams, little Fae.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that what you desire of me, is it? To eat that fucking cunt of yours, hmm?”

My cheeks flushed so violently that my mouth went dry. “I don’t desire anything of you.” I almost sounded sure. I almostfeltsure. I didn’t like the feelings that coursed through my belly at his words.

“I told you what would happen if you didn’t stay out of my head, witch.” He stalked to the wooden rack against the wall, and heaved his ax from the stand. He pointed it at me as he approached me. “I warned you, and you didn’t listen.”

“I fucking told you, I’m notinyour head.” I backed away from him, holding up my hands. “I’m unarmed, and you’re going to attack me?”

“I want to kill you, you fucking little witch. Why would I want you armed?”

Thunder rumbled overhead as he rushed at me, and I leapt out of the reach of his ax, rolling across the hard ground. I lurched up into a crouch as Rook spun on me, his ax whirring through the air as he ran at me. I was only a few feet from the rack holding all manner of weapons, but he moved faster than I was expecting. I wouldn’t reach it in time.

I sprang over his flying weapon, and laced my fingers under his chin, flinging myself onto his back. I wrenched him backwards, but he was ready for me and threw himself down, crushing me under him. All the air was pressed out of my body, and my lungs rasped loudly as I tried to suck in a breath.

He tried to get up, but I regained enough of my senses to slam my still-interlocked fingers into his throat, surprising him enough to roll away from me. I half-crawled across the ground into a sprint, his hand brushing against my ankle as he tried to grab me and haul me back to him.

I made it to the rack, pulling a sword from it, swinging it around to face him just in time to see the ax flying through the air towards me, glinting in the sunlight. The flat of the blade caught me in the torso, and I was sent back into the dirt on my back. Rook pursued me immediately, arcing the ax towards me.

It came to a stop right at my throat. Rook’s chest was heaving as he leered down at me, breathing through his gritted teeth. “And, you're dead. Again.”

“So are you.”

He looked down to see my sword pointed at his stomach, the barest whisper of the blade against his skin. His eyes met mine, that glowing iridescent blue boring right into me, as though he could see into my very being.

“Go on, then.” His mouth set in a hard line, his jaw feathering violently.

I pressed the blade against him, feeling the resistance of his flesh. My heart was hammering in my chest.

“Go on.” The challenge in his voice gave me goosebumps.

“Why do you want to kill me, Rook?”

His eyes widened at the question, catching him off guard. He quickly drew his eyebrows together again. “Your kind are traitors, liars, and thieves.”

“Why do you want to killme, Rook?”