Page 21 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

21

STELLA

O ne kiss ruined Stella McKay’s life.

She hadn’t slept all night, and she was paying for it as she warmed up for the second Gauntlet Games challenge. Fatigue weighted every swipe of her blades.

The sun beat down on her as she slashed her short swords across the chest of the practice ring dummy.

Teddy had kissed her. Teddy Savero . Lifelong prank nemesis. Incessant royal snob. Broody Prince of Argaria.

Teddy was painfully handsome, but she’d always been too put off by his seriousness to think of him as desirable.

And yet, she’d tossed and turned all night, thinking about the urgency with which he’d kissed her. She hadn’t realized someone so composed could also possess that kind of passion. He had managed to do the one thing she’d thought him impossible of doing—surprise her.

Arden was a great kisser, and from their first kiss they’d slipped into a rhythm together with such ease. He had kissed her with urgency, passion, and sweetness, but he’d never kissed her with the violent, wild abandon Teddy had .

What had Teddy said when he was drunk? “You’re always here. Like a fucking haunting.”

She understood what he meant. That was how she felt. Haunted by the memory of his hands on her skin, the rush of his breath on her neck, the vibration of his groan in her mouth. It was an unfortunate time to have magic that perfectly preserved memories. She couldn’t stop turning it over, analyzing every touch, picking apart his every movement, his every sigh.

Each time, she felt the same flutter in her chest like butterflies taking flight around her heart. Really it was more like moths driving mindlessly toward a flame.

She’d known immediately that it was a mistake. She’d expected Teddy to be methodical, scientific in his approach, but he was almost reckless in his commitment to unnerve her.

She hated that it felt so good to kiss him. The new connection in her chest seemed to swell and shudder like a sigh of relief just from the memory of it.

The bigger mistake wasn’t letting him try to crush her with a kiss. It was trying to match him movement for movement.

Heat spread through her body still, blooming up like roses reaching toward the summer sun and down like autumn roots trying to hold fast through winter. Her skin felt fevered, made new by all the places he had touched her, as if the pleasure was a blessing and now she was reborn.

She kept poring over the memory, tracing it repeatedly, hoping the repetition would dull its effect. Instead, it scored it into her brain, into every nerve ending in her body, her skin prickling with the need for him to do it again. Stella clenched her thighs together against the building ache.

“Sayla’s bow!” she huffed.

She came at the dummy with full force, blades flying, slashing against the matted straw chest. Sweat beaded at her hairline when she finally stopped moving.

Much as she wanted it to, waling on the dummy wouldn’t exorcise the ghost of the kiss from her body. She wasn’t cleansed. She was cursed. The more she tried to force the new knowledge from her mind, the deeper it rooted.

They’d solidified the bond. Now she was stuck with him. Forever .

If someone had told her months earlier that she would have this kind of connection, she would have been thrilled. It wasn’t the same as what her parents had, but it was the modern world’s closest estimation. She’d thought having someone who was always there—always connected to her—would feel comforting, but now she felt unnerved and entirely on edge. Of course, she would have also assumed the person would be Arden and that the bond would be requested instead of thrust upon her.

She huffed in frustration and went through one last sequence of footwork and advances until she felt her energy waning. She stilled and took three deep breaths.

It wasn’t the time to lose her composure. Everything was fine. She would adapt to this new normal. Teddy was a good kisser, but it didn’t have to mean anything more.

Still, she couldn’t stop seeing the look on his face when she’d asked him if he should have to change. A few honest words from him had tipped the balance between them. For years she’d wanted to know how to put him on his heels, but now she wished she didn’t know the constant pressure of perfection he felt. His coldness toward her had ensured that he’d always stayed at a comfortable distance. Suddenly he seemed too human.

A bell sounded from the direction of the competitors’ tent. The fifteen-minute warning.

Stella shook her head and forced herself through her pre-fight routine to settle her mind. She checked the laces on her breastplate and tightened her armguards. She’d struggled in the first event, but this challenge was all about memory and that was something she had well in hand.

However, her confidence didn’t settle her nerves as she walked toward the competitors’ tent for the second challenge. They’d been told nothing about the event except that they should pack to travel for seven days. The thought of being away for so long made Stella very nervous. She was already exhausted from fighting with Teddy, fighting for her life, and fighting with Kate.

Stella was so angry that her friend hadn’t left word for her, knowing she was walking back into the arena again.

It was a relief, at least, that Arden had sent more roses to wish her luck. They’d arrived with a note that simply said, “ Be safe .” He was clearly respecting her request for secrecy.

The sun beat down on her as she walked through the bustling temporary market set up by the arena. The scent of candied nuts and spun sugar filled the air, and children screamed in delight as they handed coins over and snatched their sweets.

Stella’s mind wouldn’t settle as she rounded the back of a refreshment tent.

As the competitors’ tent came into view, a hand clamped over her mouth and yanked her backward. She tried to bite the fingers covering her mouth, but her captor just tightened his grip.

Something cold and metal clamped around her wrist. She recognized Dixon’s voice as he whispered a spell before Stella managed to wiggle an arm loose and punch him in the throat. He stumbled back, gasping.

It felt like she’d been plunged underwater, the whole world dulled, bled of color and sound. She stared at the bracelet on her wrist and the recognition snapped into place. An Unsummoner bracelet, an item spelled to block a witch’s elemental magic until it was removed by the person who put it on.

Stella didn’t know how he’d acquired such an artifact. Though they were once barbarically used in training for witches pursuing the Gauntlet when her parents were young, their use had been outlawed except in extreme cases. In Olney, they were only used for dangerous criminals awaiting trial for using their magic to hurt others. They weren’t the kind of items freely available.

Stella yanked on the cuff. She hadn’t been cut off from her magic since her childhood, and she was bereft by the loss of it.

A shadow fell over her and Stella looked up as Rett stepped out from behind the tent beside them .

“No burns for us today,” Rett said. “It’s temporary. We just want to test something and we can’t do it if you’re boiling our skin off.”

Irritating that they’d learned their lesson from their previous scuffle.

“Hold her hand out,” he said.

Dixon restrained her and clamped his hand over her mouth again as Drew grabbed Stella’s arm and wrenched it to the side, petting it tenderly.

Stella’s blood ran cold, but she didn’t have time to worry about what he had in mind. He bent her finger back, and she gasped in agony. He waited. Then, he did it again a moment later with another finger. Stella’s stomach turned over, the pain so bright and sudden that her body seemed poised to get it out by any means necessary.

She swallowed the bile and bit the hand covering her mouth, trying to yell for help. She wasn’t a damsel, but even she knew that she couldn’t fight off four elite warriors without her magic or a weapon. Not when they’d had the element of surprise, at least.

They weren’t supposed to attack her outside of events. But if no one was around to see her wounded, who would punish them?

“I was having a drink at a bar in town last night and I heard the most interesting piece of local gossip,” the Roach said. He pulled out a dagger and tested the point on his ring finger. “A young man was there celebrating being heart-bonded to the woman he loves. It was quite romantic.”

Stella stilled her squirming. He couldn’t possibly know. Only their families knew, and they wouldn’t tell anyone.

“I congratulated him. Bought him a nice whiskey to celebrate, even though he was already a bit in his cups. Then he leaned in close, and do you know what he said to me, Stella?”

Stella cocked her head and tried to give him her most bored look. She focused on the throbbing in her hand.

Rett leaned closer to her. “He said that his lady was delighted to be at the temple at the same time as Prince Teddy Savero and even more excited to see him heart-bonded.” Rett shook his head and laughed. “Now, you have to imagine my surprise, Stella. His Grace is not exactly the type you’d peg as a romantic. So I asked if he and Lady Grace were happy. And do you know what the man told me?”

Dixon wouldn’t move his hand, so she gave a quick shake of her head.

“He said that was his favorite part. That it was very romantic to see the prince paired with the daughter of Olney’s most famous soul bond. He felt it had a certain fairy-tale quality to it.” Rett grinned. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Stella struggled against Dixon’s grip. If they knew they could hurt her to get to Teddy and vice versa, they could use that to their advantage in the next challenge. She was certain that Teddy had felt her pain. She needed to get away before he reacted to it.

Christophe rounded the corner with a wide smile plastered to his face. He nodded, and the Roach turned and patted Stella on the shoulder.

“Would you look at that? We have confirmation. Lady McKay has been a very naughty girl, running off to the Temple of Desiree to get a bond.”

Stella’s only saving grace was that she was in so much pain her panic blended right in. They couldn’t know. Especially before the second challenge. She could think of a good lie. It would be fine.

But her hope evaporated as Teddy rounded the tent, his gaze passing over her before coming to rest on the Roach.

“Rett, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Teddy asked.

Rett cracked his knuckles and Stella winced, the memory of her own bones cracking so fresh in her mind that she almost vomited.

“I’m unraveling a little mystery. It seems you got yourself bonded to Lady McKay and now you’re both in the contest together. Do you know what they call that, Savero?”

Teddy crossed his arms. “It’s ‘Your Grace’ or ‘Your Highness.’”

Stella almost laughed. She’d never met a man with more contempt for his title, but he still wanted to pass along the humiliation of making Rett address him properly.

If she wasn’t careful, she might actually start to like Teddy for his personality. She wrinkled her nose at the thought .

“You have a huge liability, Your Grace ,” Rett said with a mocking bow.

“It’s an interesting theory, but I’m afraid it’s not true,” Teddy said.

Stella felt his rage simmering through their bond.

“Nice try, Savero. We knew better than to believe the words of a happy drunkard at a bar. But we know it’s true now,” Dixon said.

“The second I snapped her fingers, you winced and found us. I’d say that’s pretty clear,” Drew said.

Stupid fucking bond . All Teddy had to do was not react. It was a broken finger. Stella wasn’t bleeding out.

Rett clicked his tongue in admonishment. “She certainly gets around. Is it that smart mouth of hers, Savero? Is it as good at sucking cock as it is at snarky comebacks? Can’t imagine how else she’d manage to hook two princes.”

Teddy straightened, his hand flexing at his side.

Stella hadn’t seen him look like that before, his eyes full of unleashed fury. An electrical charge passed through the air.

“Careful, Roach. I don’t like when people touch what’s mine.”

Mine . The word sent a shiver through Stella.

Just the bond. Just magic . But Teddy was looking at Rett’s hand on her arm with murderous intent.

Death whispers burst to life in the air, and Stella froze. She looked from Rett to Dixon to Christophe and Drew. All of them seemed equally menacing. The whispers crescendoed suddenly and Stella held her breath, waiting to see who would move first.

Rett ran his hand up Stella’s neck and over her cheek affectionately. “Olney hunters are a chatty bunch. I hear she heals so quickly thanks to that goddess blood. We could have a good time with her. I bet it will take her hours to die. And you’ll feel it the whole time, Savero.”

“Keep your fucking voice down,” Teddy snapped, looking over his shoulder.

They were far enough from the tent that it was unlikely the other competitors could hear them. Still, with so many warriors possessing enhanced hearing, Stella wasn’t certain that some of the more astute of them might pick up on the fact that half of their group was missing and come poke around.

“I don’t think I will,” Rett said. “I wish I had realized sooner that you were a two-for-one deal. I could have knocked you both out in the first round.” His rat-like face pinched in delight as he pulled out his dagger and pressed the flat of the blade to Stella’s cheek.

Teddy held perfectly still, but the first tingle of storm magic crackled through the air. “You’ll be disqualified from the Games. You probably already will be. You attacked a competitor outside of a challenge.”

“Who will tell?” Rett asked.

His intent was suddenly clear. Stella and Teddy couldn’t tell the Games officials without Rett and his friends sharing loudly about their bond.

She brushed her fingers over one of the throwing knives tucked in her vest. The death whispers grew shriller and more insistent. Then, they abruptly cut off.

Stella glanced around their circle. Clearly, the whispers hadn’t been for them, but she felt no relief at that.

“It looks like we are at an impasse,” Rett said smugly.

Teddy’s gaze turned lethal as Rett nodded. Dixon released his hand from her mouth and grabbed the cuff on her wrist again. He whispered an incantation and the Unsummoner bracelet slid free.

She jerked her arm from Drew’s grip, but not before Rett nicked the skin along her jaw.

Stella clapped her hand to the cut. It was shallow. It would heal perfectly and not leave a scar, but the fact that he’d gotten away with the cheap shot after his friends had broken two of her fingers made her blind with rage.

“We’re going to have so much fun in this challenge.” Rett laughed as he and his minions retreated.

Teddy was on her in seconds, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the blood from Stella’s face.

She swatted at his hand. “It’s fine. It won’t even scar.”

Teddy took her face firmly in his callused hand and tilted her chin up. He ran his thumb gingerly over the place where the cut had been just a moment earlier. But he wasn’t looking at the mark. He was staring at her lips.

Heat flushed Stella’s body, a thumping pulse of desire beating through the bond.

“Teddy.” Her voice was a breathless rasp.

She couldn’t decide if she wanted to shove him away or pull him closer. Everything was so confusing. All the emotions flying back and forth through their bond and the adrenaline still coursing through her blood made her desperate to release the pent-up energy in her body.

There were too many people around to be looking at each other like this, and yet Stella couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“I’m sorry,” Teddy whispered. “I should have been more strategic, but it was so much pain hitting me at once. I thought you were?—”

“It’s fine.” Stella gritted her teeth as she set her fingers. It would take the bone longer to heal and it would hurt all day, but she was still in one piece.

The bell rang in the arena, startling them both. Five-minute warning.

Teddy pulled away. “Stay close to me. We don’t know who Rett might tell about this and they’re for sure going to be coming for us now that they know.”

She nodded, adjusted her quiver and bow across her body, and brushed her hands down her leather vest. There were eight blades tucked into the soft leather, a gift of fine Novumi craftsmanship from Queen Jessamin and King Xander on her twentieth birthday. It fit snugly over her leather breastplate and fastened around her waist.

Stella remembered the way her father had looked at that vest—like he hoped she’d never have a use for it. When he saw her in it that morning, he’d gone out to his workshop immediately to work off his anxiety.

Stella felt guilty for worrying him, but after the last challenge, she’d adopted a “the more weapons the better” approach.

The roar of the crowd swelled as Stella and Teddy entered the arena. Gone were the pits from earlier in the week. Now the ground was sunbaked and cracked, dust trailing them as they crossed the field to line up next to the rest of the competitors.

Stella squinted at the bustling crowd. Ladies sat fanning themselves beneath the early summer sun. Vendors walked through the stands, handing out glasses of lemonade.

Stella felt Arden’s gaze before she saw him. She smiled with what little reassurance she could muster and was relieved when she saw that he had a pink rose pinned to his lapel as if he was carrying her favor.

It was a romantic gesture—a way to let her know she was still on his mind and in his heart—even if she’d kissed his Argarian counterpart the night before. She wanted to appreciate it, but the sight of it left her feeling terribly guilty. She’d managed to ignore the sneaking sense that she’d betrayed him by kissing Teddy since it happened, but looking at him now, she felt rotten.

However, she had more pressing problems to handle. If Rett and his friends had access to an Unsummoner bracelet, they could use it on anyone in the competition. She needed to stay far away from them, and she needed to make sure Teddy didn’t do anything stupid like try to pay them back.

They’d talked about it at length on the ride back to Olney that morning. Their goal for this challenge, assuming they didn’t have to be at each other’s throats, was to steer clear of the rest of the field and let them pick each other off.

Stella scanned the royal booth and met her mother’s eyes. Cecilia visibly relaxed when Stella smiled at her, then drew a finger across her throat and tapped her ear. The death whispers. Cecilia had heard them, too.

Stella shrugged, feeling suddenly selfish that she hadn’t even worried someone else might have been hurt. When Rett and his minions didn’t do anything, she’d assumed all was well. She glanced down the line of competitors.

Eleven of them. Stella counted again and came up with the same number .

“Teddy,” she whispered. “Who’s missing? Did someone end up being too injured to compete after the last challenge?”

Teddy looked down the line. “Not that I know of.” He scanned the group. “Reever. He was fine when we saw him at the pub the other night.”

The mercenary’s absence made Stella uneasy, but there was no time to worry about him. Not when they were about to embark on the one challenge that could give her an edge.

Endros was already poised on his throne on the gamemaker’s dais. He rose from his seat of honor. “Welcome back, competitors. It seems we’re one short. I’ve sent several hunters to remedy that, but rest assured that his blood is probably burning by now. I’m sure he’ll show up soon, but time is of the essence, so we’ll get started. This is the memory challenge and I’m quite excited about this one. In honor of the origin of the Games, I have decided to send you on your own short quest.”

Three women stepped into the sunlit arena. Stella squinted, shading her eyes as they walked closer. She didn’t recognize two of them, but she knew the third from seeing her mother’s memories. Though she hadn’t been seen in almost twenty years, Raven Whitewind looked exactly as she had in the memory Stella prized of the first time her parents had met.

Stella gawked at the woman and the crowd broke into a flurry of loud whispers.

“Who is she?” Teddy whispered.

“That’s Raven Whitewind. She’s the seer who used to bond guardians and witches for the Gauntlet. She?—”

“Bonded your parents,” Teddy finished.

Stella nodded. “People thought she was dead. She’s been gone for most of my life.”

Endros held up his hands, and the crowd quieted. “The point of this challenge is to honor and remember our history lest we make the same mistakes again. And so, I’m granting you this chance to go and take your own Gauntlet journey as they did in the old days, but with a twist. The challenge is simple. You’ll each be given an enchanted memory stone with which you can retrieve the memory even if you do not possess memory magic. You must go to the Muddled Mind Bar and Boarding House and retrieve a map from my son.”

Urgent whispers rushed through the crowd at the reference to the god of influence and manipulation. Stella had never met Cato, and her mother had always refused to speak about him.

Endros allowed the murmurs to die down before he continued. “You’ll then go to the cave marked on your map and retrieve the memory stored there. The original creators of the Gauntlet have been kind enough to grace us with their magic once more, so even those of you who do not possess memory magic will be able to secure the memory in your stone just by bearing witness. The trick is not losing yourself inside the illusion of it.”

The tone of his voice and the way Raven wrinkled her nose in response made it clear that the witches’ cooperation had been less than enthusiastic.

“What kind of memory?” Fionn asked.

Endros narrowed his glare at the mercenary. “As we all know, memory is an integral part of Olney culture. As the saying goes—we must remember our mistakes so as to not make them again, right?”

The crowd tentatively applauded in agreement.

Endros held up a hand. “That is why I have enlisted the help of the loved ones of each competitor here today. The witches retrieved memories from your friends or relatives who had particularly hard-earned lessons from their lives.” Gasps went through the crowd and Endros smiled indulgently at them. “Yes, yes, everyone must pay a tithe to these Games. Otherwise, they won’t bring us together. They’ll just tear us apart.”

Teddy fidgeted beside Stella.

“Now, I’m sure our lively crowd is disappointed to not be able to watch this entire challenge, but I do have a treat,” Endros continued. “There will be a daily screening of the returned memories at sundown each day. So you will get your entertainment.”

The crowd offered a mix of applause and apprehensive murmurs.

“All contestants will pack and be at the northern edge of town on the main road in a half-hour. Remember that once you cross the line out of town, the challenge rules are in play,” Endros said. “And a reminder that you may use all types of magic during this challenge, including elemental summoning, spellwork, and magical objects.”

“Great, it’s going to be a fucking bloodbath,” Teddy whispered.

Stella looked at her parents. Her father was whispering in her mother’s ear, their hands intertwined. Her mother looked haunted. She met Stella’s gaze again and mouthed, “ I love you .”

Stella forced herself to focus on what Endros was saying, trying not to worry about what memory he might have demanded from her parents.

“Any family members or friends who attempt to explain anything about the memories they’ve shared will be hit with burning pain until they stop attempting to break the deal they’ve made with me, so you will not get any hints out of them.” He smiled over his shoulder at Cecilia. “Good luck to all our competitors and I can’t wait to see how you all handle yourselves in the field.”

A bell rang, signaling the start of their half-hour to retrieve their horses, and Stella and Teddy bolted from the arena.

Twenty minutes later, Stella was in her family stables, strapping her saddlebag to her horse, Shark. The horse, for his part, would not stop nudging her pocket, looking for the apple slices she’d hidden for him.

“Shark, stop it. We have to get across town in a few minutes,” she said, and he nipped at her vest. “Behave yourself.”

She was nervous about the challenge, especially now that Rett and his friends knew about her bond with Teddy. Especially now that their bond was stronger and more insistent. She could sense his proximity with alarming precision, her gaze constantly drawn to him.

She felt him now, looming just outside.

“Your horse is named Shark?” Teddy called.

“Yes,” Stella said as she led the horse out of the building .

“Why?”

“Because he’s gray, and I named him when I was ten and obsessed with sharks.”

Teddy laughed, and it occurred to Stella how rarely she heard him laugh. He smiled just as infrequently, but it was similarly riveting with his perfect teeth and full lips and the way it lit up his golden eyes.

Shark nudged Stella’s hip.

“Behave, you,” she chided.

“Like horse like rider,” Teddy teased.

“Yes, we both prefer other company.”

Teddy gave her a look that said she’d enjoyed his company just fine the previous night in the temple. At least he wouldn’t say it, knowing she could say the same to him.

He mounted his horse gracefully, and Stella followed suit. They trotted out of the stable grounds and up the trail to town.

Stella nodded to Teddy’s horse. “What’s his name?”

“I suck at poker.”

She frowned. “Odd time to admit that, but I’m surprised. You’re usually so stoic.”

“No. That’s the horse’s name,” Teddy said. “I lost a bet with Alex and she picked the name. It was this or Alexandra the Great. I couldn’t let her have the satisfaction. I just call him Poker.”

“So Alex is good at poker?” Stella asked.

“No, she’s just good at cheating.”

Stella laughed. “You two have always seemed close.”

Teddy nodded as they rode up the main cobbled road through Olney City. “We are, but she’s a pain in the ass. She is talented but far too confident for her skill level and, as you’ve seen firsthand, indiscreet with her dalliances, of which there are many. I wish she had just a tad less love to give.”

“Don’t begrudge a woman her fun,” Stella said.

Ahead of them, the road clogged with a crowd of competitors and onlookers. Only a narrow path through remained. Stella pulled Shark to a stop and Teddy and Poker stopped beside her, content with their place at the back of the line.

“Jalen and Juliana have always seemed more of a unit,” Stella said.

Teddy nodded. “Jules is smart and so good in social situations, but we just don’t interact as much as we did when we were young. And Jalen, he’s busy with the hunter army.”

Screaming erupted behind them, rushing through the crowd in a wave. Stella wrenched her head around, already reaching for her bow. Hooves pounded against the ground and a horse tore up the street toward them, but there was no one on its back.

It wasn’t until it was almost on top of them, when the brown horse slowed to a trot, that Stella realized someone was actually on its back.

“That’s Reever’s horse,” Fionn said from somewhere ahead of Stella.

A hunter guarding the line managed to grab the reins and slow the panicked horse to a stop.

Stella gasped at the sight.

A deep red line like a smile was cut across Reever’s throat. The wound gaped open but the blood on his clothing and the saddle was already drying. Reever’s eyes stared sightlessly up at the sky. His body was secured to the horse by several ropes, a dagger jammed into his chest, pinning a piece of paper in place.

Stella’s stomach heaved. She looked away and drew in deep, slow breaths to keep herself from vomiting.

The hunter pulled the paper free and held it up to read. The back of the sheet had the symbol of the Sons of Endros drawn on it in blood.

“‘You were warned, but you did not listen. As these players hunt each other, so too will they be hunted, one by one. Until there are none. Or until we get a seat at the king’s table,’” the hunter read aloud.

The crowd broke out into murmurs and the competitors’ horses shifted restlessly. The beasts were clearly reading the anxiety of the crowd .

The spectators turned their attention to Endros, who waited at the front of the line of competitors, astride a large black horse. Sunlight glinted off his salt-and-pepper hair and his golden armor. He looked every bit the god of war, ready for battle, and that was probably the idea.

He lifted his arms. “Quiet, please!”

The murmurs of the crowd died down.

“The Games must go on,” Endros said. “I’m sure your monarchs don’t want their inability to control their own people to interrupt this sacred tradition.”

The god leveled a smug smile at Kings Marcos and Xander in their makeshift royal booth on the balcony of the Winding Way Pub. To their credit, both kings looked entirely unmoved, but Stella could only imagine the chaos that would unfold once they were behind closed doors.

Endros nodded to the hunter holding the starting flag. “You have seven days to complete this task and return to the arena with your memory stones. Good luck,” he said.

Endros signaled the flag bearer, who waved the white flag.

The competitors took off immediately, but Teddy threw an arm out toward Stella.

“Give me a moment,” Teddy said.

Stella wasn’t so sure that opening themselves up to being ambushed by letting everyone ride ahead was a good idea, but the horror of seeing Reever had taken some of the edge off of her sass.

Teddy watched their competitors ride ahead with singular intensity. A crackle passed through the air.

“How is Shark in a storm?” he asked quietly.

Stella turned to look at the prince as his meaning dawned on her. “He does well with storms. My mother broke him in and she conjures storms when she’s upset.” She looked down the road. “Don’t hurt the horses.”

“You’re too soft for these Games,” Teddy grumbled.

He gave no other warning, simply let his storm gather. A rush of wind bowed the trees and lightning struck just ahead of most of the competitors. Horses reared and riders fell.

The crowd behind them shouted in awe and shock, but Teddy ignored them. He split the storm, pummeling the riders on the trail and brushing them off to the side with ease.

“Ready?” Teddy asked.

She nodded.

“Reever is an elite fighter. He saved my ass in the first challenge,” Teddy said, taking one last glance in the direction the hunters had led the mercenary’s body.

Stella took a bracing breath. “Then we will have to be better.”

She kicked her horse into a gallop and raced forward as if speed alone could leave her doubts behind.