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“That’s where you should be wrong,” Aven said, his voice quietly simmering now. “But you seem to bebroken.”

Alex didn’t care if she was ‘broken’ so long as she never had to bend to his will again.

“You have no power over me now, Aven.” She hoped her words were true. “And I’ll never let you through that door. You’re out of options.”

“I’ll never be out of options while you still live, dear Alexandra,” Aven said, causing her to shiver with trepidation. He was never going to leave her alone until he got what he wanted.

“I doth believe the fair lady hath asked thou, sir, to depart from these here premises.”

“Sir Camden!” Alex cried, happier to see him than ever before. She looked around, hoping to see others, but it was just him. She wilted with despair when she realised that he must not have found any help.

“This is your backup?” Aven asked, laughing derisively. “A rusty old suit of armour?”

“Sir Camden be my name. A Protector Knight I be, sir, and thou art unwise to mock so readily.”

“You’re nothing more than a distraction.” Aven waved a hand dismissively. “And a lousy one at that.”

“Those be fighting words, sir. Draw thine weapon.”

Alex watched with wide eyes as Sir Camden stepped between her and Aven and unsheathed his sword.

Aven growled—actually growled—at the interfering suit of armour, and then he held his hand out as if waiting for something. A wounded scream came from Gerald as the ice-dagger tore out of his flesh, soared through the air, and landed in Aven’s scarred palm. The Meyarin raised his free hand to stroke the blade, and before Alex’s eyes the dagger grew in length and transformed into a sword.

“That weapon doth not belong to thee,” Sir Camden said, pointing to the ice-coloured blade.

“The previous owner had no further use for it,” Aven responded, his tone full of meaning.

“Judgement will prevail upon thee for such a grievous act,” the knight said. “En garde.”

Aven didn’t give any warning before he thrust his sword towards Sir Camden. But the knight was remarkably nimble for a suit of armour, and he easily parried the blade and began his own attack.

The two weapons blurred through the air so fast that Alex couldn’t follow them. She had no idea how the knight managed to keep up with the strength and speed that Aven possessed as a Meyarin, but he was meeting him blow after blow.

A startled cry drew Alex’s attention away from the fight and towards her roommate. Gerald had the upper-hand once again, despite his injury. D.C. looked dazed, as if she’d been hit in the head, and she leaned heavily on the big man as he dragged her to her feet.

There was a loud, metallic crash and Alex whirled back around to see Sir Camden on the ground. In pieces.

Aven took advantage of her shock and used his sword to dislodge Gerald’s knife from her grip, sending it to the floor with a clatter. He stroked his hand down his ice-blade again, and the weapon shrunk back down to a dagger.

Alex quickly backed away. “You can’t kill me,” she told him shakily. “Youneedme.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, his golden eyes glinting dangerously. “YouI need. But your friend only ever had one purpose.”

Alex watched in horror as Aven threw his arm back and flicked it forward again, releasing the dagger. It hurtled through the air, straight towards where D.C. stood.

“NO!” Alex cried.

Without thinking, she leapt forward and crash-tackled D.C. and Gerald to the ground, collapsing on top of them when the blade embedded deep into the flesh of her back.

She heard D.C. scream her name, but she couldn’t respond as pain ripped through her torso, pain unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Even the simple act of drawing air through her lungs caused an agonising ache to tear through her body.

Seconds passed, then minutes. Finally, as the pain gave way to numbness, Alex slowly came back to awareness. Only then did she realise that the room was full of noise. The clashing of steel against steel, the yelling of several people all at once, and one silky voice that penetrated through the foggy haze of her mind.

“We’ll meet again, my dear Alexandra, and when that day comes, youwillgive me what I want.”

Alex raised her head just in time to see Aven push Gerald through another doorway. He made eye contact with her a second before he leapt through himself, and she knew he meant what he’d said. He would come after her again.

She didn’t have the strength to hold her head up anymore, and she collapsed on top of D.C. who was still half-trapped underneath her.