Page 72 of Dance of the Phoenix

Heartbeat quickening, I gave her a shake. “Please, Eleanor, talk to me,” I said, feeling so helpless. How could I possiblyfighther, let alonekillher, when she was like this?

The ground suddenly shook. Heart lurching to my throat, I whipped around to see Jebediah had come to his senses and seemed to be activating his Gift. He was the one causing the ground to shake somehow, making Logan lose his balance momentarily.

Jebediah then rocketed toward Logan and shot a punch to his gut that made Logan reel back and cough blood.

Fuck.

Letting Eleanor go, I ran toward Jebediah and sent a kick to his knees. But Jebediah must’ve sensed me coming this time because he evaded me almost too easily and punched my ribs so hard, I fell down, out of breath, as pain bloomed where he’d punched.

What the hell was this man’s Gift?

But there was no time to figure it out, because Jebediah was now on Logan, pinning him to the floor seemingly without effort and punching his face over and over again. Logan thrashed, trying to release himself from under Jebediah, but Jebediah was somehow strong enough to hold him down.

Adrenaline rushed over me, and I was about to climb to my feet and head over there when a cold, metallic thing suddenly pressed against my throat.

A knife.

Held by Eleanor, who somehow came from behind me.

“Don’t move,” she whispered in my ear, her voice lower and far more deadly than I remembered it. “Or I’ll cut your head off.”

And it was then that I remembered something crucial. Something I’d forgotten.

Eleanor used to belong to the Renaldi League. She used to do bloody, dirty work for Renaldi under the pretense of being a prostitute.

She was taught how to kill. To assassinate, to be more precise.

Whatever was going on with her now, I realized she could actually kill me if she wanted. And it seemed she did want to do just that.

Meaning I had underestimated her and put Logan and myself in danger.

No,I thought determinedly, closing my eyes.We can make it.Stop!

This time, the pain was so unbearable, I could barely open my eyes. But I did, watching as Logan struggled to wriggle out from under Jebediah’s frozen weight.

“Goddammit, Aileen!” Logan now yelled, face bloody and almost disfigured.

Through the pain, I took the knife from Eleanor’s hand and pushed her hand away. According to Ragnor, weapons weren’t common in the arena, for the vampires strived to show their powerful abilities without relying on external factors. So the fact that Eleanor brought a knife could only mean one thing.

She wasn’t here for show.

She was here to kill.

I walked toward Logan, fighting the pain, as I helped him up to his feet. “Let’s take him out,” I said, wincing both because of the pain and Logan’s furious glower. “Berate me after we finish this, please.”

Logan spit blood and gave me a single, angry nod.

Resume!I thought, and the pain receded, leaving a wave of weariness I could’ve really done without.

Before Jebediah could act, Logan and I attacked him together. He shot a kick to his head, while I aimed my own kick to his knees. Both our kicks connected together, making Jebediah cry out.

I glanced behind me to see Eleanor looking at her hands, not making a move at us. She looked almost robotic, as if she were operating under direct orders, and she wasn’t to move until further commands.

Whatever the reason for Eleanor’s strangeness, it gave me time to focus on beating Jebediah.

Jebediah tried to kick at Logan, but Logan recoiled slowly, too slowly for Iovan’s Imperium to take effect. Gritting my teeth, I ran toward Jebediah and grabbed his shoulders, shooting my knee to his back. Jebediah swiveled around, but I jumped away ... and slipped.

I fuckingslippedon the marble floor.