Page 55 of Night Fae

"You'd threaten me in my own palace?" Caelen's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Did your brain leave you along with your glamour?" A blast of freezing air erupted from Caelen's palm, shoving Zev back several steps. Frost crystals formed on Zev's skin where the magic had touched him.

"Come on, Assassin," Caelen called. "Show me what the Night Court's prized killer can do." The half fae's voice dropped lower. "Or are you only dangerous to humans now?"

Rage exploded through Zev's body. He lunged forward, shadows gathering around his fists. His first strike missed as Caelen sidestepped with infuriating grace, countering with a shower of ice shards that sliced across Zev's cheek.

"Too slow," Caelen taunted, frost swirling around his fingers. "I expected more from the legendary Zevran vel Nacht."

Zev conjured more darkness, compressing it between his palms before hurling it at Caelen. The Shadow King raised an ice barrier that shattered upon impact, sending frozen fragments scattering across the courtyard. The force knocked Caelen back several paces.

"Better," Caelen said, wiping a thin line of blood from his lip. "But still holding back."

Zev wasn't holding back—but his power was wild, untamed, and difficult to control. It pulsed through him like a second heartbeat as he unleashed a blast that struck Caelen square in the chest, sending him flying into a stone column. The impact cracked the marble, and Caelen slid to the ground, momentarily stunned.

Caelen recovered quickly, eyes blazing with cold fury. He slammed his palm into the ground, and sheets of ice spread outward, transforming the courtyard into a frozen battlefield. Ice spikes erupted beneath Zev's feet. He leapt aside to avoid them.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Caelen growled, just as he conjured a whirlwind of ice and snow that engulfed Zev.

The cold burned his lungs.

Gods damned that was cold.

Almost icy enough to touch the hot rage in his core, the rage he drew on now to create a sphere of darkness around himself.

If he forced just a little more power into it…

The sphere expanded outward, shattering the ice storm.

The two fae circled each other, both breathing heavily.

There was still so much corrupted power within Zev, begging for release.

He obliged.

Caelen was the perfect target for all this darkness, and Zev sent blast after blast of shadow-energy at the cursed half-fae.

Caelen deflected some attacks and absorbed others with his own magic.

Marble cracked. Statues toppled. The singing flowers screamed discordant notes as they were crushed underfoot.

Zev lost himself in the battle, barely registering when Caelen whistled sharply and six palace guards rushed into the courtyard, weapons drawn.

"Restrain him," Caelen ordered, ice forming a protective shield around himself.

The guards circled Zev cautiously. One lunged at him with a sharp blade, and Zev moved without thinking. He caught the guard's arm, twisted, and flung him into two others. Their bodies collided with a sickening crunch.

The remaining guards attacked simultaneously.

Zev ducked beneath a swinging blade, kicked one guard in the chest, and sent another flying with a blast of pure energy. The last guard he seized by the throat, power surging through his fingers, tempting him to strike, to kill.

No.

He released the guard, but the momentary hesitation cost him.

A spear of ice struck his shoulder, pinning him to a wall. More ice formed around his limbs, holding him immobile as he thrashed and snarled, shadows whipping around him in violent tendrils that lashed at anything within reach.

Three more guards fell before Caelen finally shouted, "ENOUGH!"

The command reverberated with power that cut through Zev's rage.