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And before my baffled eyes, the crazy chick launched herself at me. I was so shocked I didn’t think to move for several seconds, and the next thing I knew, she’d punched me right in the stomach.

That should have been, well, laughable. She was five feet tall, tiny, and magicless—other than the pendant, but Kleos’s magic wasn’t aggressive.

Instead, it felt like a fucking bus had hit me. Propelled several feet backward, I screamed, folded in two. To my horror, the many boxes of food in my hands were falling down the bridge leading to the lower gardens. Desperate, I reached for them, levitating about half of it back up. The rest, tragically, would feedthe wild beasts who roamed the underside—if my cat didn’t get to it first.

“My food,” I moaned.

My father’s delicious roast potatoes were gone.

Straightening, I assessed the slip of a girl in a brand-new light. She punched a hell of a lot harder than my brother. I made a mental note of mentioning that to him at the earliest occasion. In the meantime…

“I should warn you, the fact that you have tits will not keep you safe from me.”

She snorted. “Do your worst, asshole.”

I was too tired for this, but apparently, it couldn’t be helped. No longer underestimating her, I deflected the next blow, and the quick swipe meant to trip me up that came right after. The damn chick flipped right back up in the space of a blink. She was good. Fast, and visibly well trained. That said, her moves seemed predictable, obvious. She lacked subtlety.

Subtlety was ninety percent of my personality.

Instead of evading the punch aimed at my face, I grabbed her wrist, focusing all my energy on increasing my own strength. I’d need a nap after that.

Silver’s eyes widened. I didn’t think she was used to people actually stopping her.

For all I said about not pulling punches on a girl, I did restrain myself. She was Kleos’s friend, and I didn’t want to have to explain why she had to replace all her teeth. So instead of taking the opening I saw to grab her face and shove it straight against the blue stone bridge, I twisted her arm around her torso and locked her in a firm grip. When she tried to kick my balls like the dirty cheat she was, I pushed her down to the pavement and lowered my knee to her back for good measure.

“Stay,” I demanded, because I’d rather not hurt her.

She did her best to wriggle out of my hold, using a humongous amount of brute strength. “I’m not your damn dog, youmurderer.”

“I’d apologize, but it can’t be the first time someone took you for a bitch.”

Opening the clasp of her pendant, I removed it from her neck and pocketed it. To my surprise, the lack of magic did not affect her strength in the slightest. She was doing her best to push me back, and if I’d been using any less power holding her down, she might have succeeded.

What was it with those strange valers?

“Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to loosen my grip. If your next move is attacking me again, I will suck up your energy until you’re on the brink of death. Or until you actually die. I can’t say I’m great at spotting the limit. Understood?”

I was bluffing. I’d drained almost all of my power. She didn’t know that, though.

I retreated slowly, and the attack dog had the sense to only get to her feet, hatred strong in those strange eyes. “Just undo what you did,” she demanded. “Or Iwilltell the council.”

What I did?

I refused to indulge the madwoman, opting to mock her instead. “Oh, no. Not the council. They’ll make me do lines again.”

If looks could kill, well, I would have died ten minutes ago.

“Just because Kleos and Gideon are blinded by what you are doesn’t mean the rest of us are. What do you think will happen after they learn you’ve attacked the most beloved girl in this entire city?”

I was getting tired. “Listen, lady. You’re loyal. I respect that. You’re also an idiot—a prejudiced idiot, by the sound of it. Let me guess. Whatever you’re talking about, you told yoursuspicions to your friends, and promptly ignored their assurance that I had nothing to do with it because I’m a big bad sorcerer?”

By the way she bared her teeth like a wild dog, I’d nailed it.

I shook my head. Honestly? I was dying to know what this was all about. But in all likelihood, I’d hear about it after a good night’s sleep. Gideon had already asked to see me.

“Go. Lick your wounds. Andif you’re lucky, I’ll wake up in a good mood. That way, I won’t get your ass fired for greatly overstepping.”

She gaped, completely shocked, like the possibility hadn’t even crossed her mind.