Page 116

Watching it was enough to pull Trell from her shock, so Alex leapt atop the Shadow Walker’s back to keep her face down on the ground, not giving her the chance to transport herself to safety and recover.

Of course, that didn’t stop Trell from taking Alexwithher as she disappeared. But Alex had expected that.

Despite the Shadow Walker struggling desperately to dislodge Alex, she remained stubbornly in place and managed to yank her opponent’s arms back while also wedging her knee into the hollow of Trell’s spine, placing the Shadow Walker in a defenceless position. But Trell refused to be conquered so easily. Just because she no longer had a weapon or the upper hand, that didn’t mean she was done fighting.

Shadow burst after shadow burst, Trell made the two of them appear and disappear over and over again as they moved between the fiery lines of the star. She did everything she could to be rid of Alex, bucking and twisting and writhing under her grip. But Alex wouldn’t let go. Shecouldn’tlet go, no matter how sickeningly dizzy she was from their unending shadowing and no matter how drained she was from the strength of Trell’s fight.

Her muscles were screaming and her gashed hand was bleeding all over both of them—along with her shallower cuts as well—but Alex still held on. She had her opponent’s arms wrenched so far back that, with only the slightest amount of increased pressure, Trell’s shoulders would be dislocated. Alex didn’t want to hurt the Shadow Walker more than she already had, but if Trell didn’t stop fighting soon, then Alex would do what she must.

But then Trell’s struggles started to lessen and she began breathing more and more heavily underneath Alex, the effort of trying to escape finally taking effect. Her strength swiftly fading, the Shadow Walker carried out a few last-ditch attempts to throw Alex off, but then she collapsed fully beneath her, panting with exhaustion.

Not trusting the apparent surrender, Alex didn’t loosen her grip—not yet. She hadn’t fought so hard only to be tricked into a false sense of security. Instead, she gave a warning tug on Trell’s arms, reminding the Shadow Walker that the slightest move on Alex’s behalf would wrench her shoulders out of place, and she leaned in to say, “Do you yield?”

The only response Trell gave was to heave in gasps of air.

Only slightly less winded, Alex yanked Trell’s arms up a fraction, eliciting a pained snarl from the Shadow Walker.

“Do you yield?” Alex demanded, right into her ear.

It felt like years passed before Trell answered, but when she did, it was with a panting, whispered, “I yield.”

Alex’s enhanced hearing had barely caught the response, so she needed Trell to do better than that.

“Louder,” Alex ordered. “So everyone can hear.”

When Trell remained mute, Alex gritted her teeth and, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach, inched the Shadow Walker’s arms up further, stopping only when she felt the tension of the bone about to pop out of place.

An almighty scream ripped from Trell’s vocal chords, the sound cutting off only when she realised Alex had stopped before actually dislocating her shoulders.

“I yield, all right!” Trell bellowed. Then, again, in her own tongue. “I yield!”

And just like that, the purple flames surrounding them disappeared, revealing a stunned, silent crowd staring at Alex in awe—and fear.

Immediately she jumped up and backed away from Trell. The Shadow Walker slowly rose to her feet as well, crossing her arms to clutch her shoulders protectively, smearing black blood—hers—and red blood—Alex’s—as she did so. Guilt swirled within Alex, but then her hand throbbed with renewed pain as she made a fist to stem the flow from her wound, and she knew she’d done what she’d needed to. Because, as much as the odds had been against her, she’d managed to win. And that meant…

“Alexandra Jennings,” called Radek from the balcony, his loud voice making the silence surrounding them that much more noticeable. “Congratulations. You have won the challenge.”

More sound erupted then, but not from the crowd—from the balcony next to the elders, where Alex’s friends were hooting with glee. Even Caspar Lennox had a smile on his face, a downright scary thing to witness. Shirez, too, appeared relieved. And as for Soraya, now that the threat to Alex had passed, she appeared to be bunkering down for a nap.

At least one of them had their priorities right.

“She cheated!”

Alex was flung from the dazed shock of her victory to stare into the crowd, searching for whoever had called out. She couldn’t locate the source, but soon enough, more Shadow Walkers were shouting the same accusation.

“Silence!” roared Radek, and instantly the crowd quieted.

Despite his command, it wasn’t he who spoke up to defend Alex, nor did she do so for herself.

Instead, it was Trell who jumped to Alex’s defence, speaking the language of her race.

“She didn’t cheat,” the Shadow Walker said quietly, but in the silence, her voice echoed around the cathedral.

Tensing, Alex braced when Trell slowly approached and reached for her fisted, bleeding hand, holding up the ring for all to see.

“She merely used our own power against us,” Trell told her people. “A human shouldn’t so easily be able to access the shadows and resist them, and they definitely shouldn’t be able to command them. But I think we can all now agree that this girl is not just any human.”

Alex used her free hand to shakily swipe a lock of hair off her face, accidentally smearing blood across her forehead from a small cut at her hairline.