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They gawk. Then she dives, surges upright on one bent knee, and lets loose at the same time he targets her. Malice hollers from the pit of his stomach. The strike intends to disembowel Wonder, but she gains her feet and arches into a backflip, propelling herself over an intact casement.

More glass splinters, particles spewing through the air. Malice barrels ahead, his limbs powering toward Wonder.

Beyond the fray, Wonder lands and ducks an arrow forged of gold moonstone, her upper body swinging beneath its flight.

She whirls to the right and blocks a silver moonstone arrow next, then a white one.

Suddenly, she’s the primary target of every ruler.

Throwing herself to the ground, she somersaults and catapults upright, her elbow cocked and ramming into the jugular of the pale-skinned female in lace.

The goddess goes down, bowling into the cloaked god as Wonder yelps, glass biting into her side.

Wincing, his wildflower retrieves another arrow but grunts as the dark female in layers of iridescent material yanks her backward, pitching Wonder to the ground. Pages crunch beneath her weight, the quiver shudders from the impact, and Wonder loses a grip on the archery.

A snarl ruptures from Malice’s chest. He erupts into motion, velocity blasting him forward.

Wonder rolls over, averting the ruler’s fist, which punches through a mound of parchment instead. Flicking her limbs forward, Wonder flips to her feet and blocks another bare-knuckled blow from the goddess.

A flash of grief crosses Wonder’s features.

While slamming in her direction, Malice senses her anguish.

He was jettisoned long before Wonder, but she’s spent most of her life with these monarchs.

They never really gave a fuck about Malice or majority of the other exiles, but they once gave a fuck about her.

Loss crumples Wonder’s face. The female ruler pauses, registering the emotion, hesitating as they face off. There’s a millisecond of reciprocated regret, mutual acknowledgement that they’re now enemies. And for that millisecond, Wonder hedges as if musing how it came to this.

Malice can answer that fucking question, if he weren’t busy dodging death shots to reach her. His elbow hammers into someone’s face. He dips and swerves beneath the point of another slingshotting weapon.

The female ruler blinks out of the trance. Then she swerves her bow toward Wonder.

Oh. Hell. No.

Malice lets his arrow loose. Waiting until the ruler’s strike is about to pierce her, Wonder rotates sideways. It whizzes past and cracks into flashing pieces as Malice’s weapon guts through it.

His satisfaction doesn’t last long. Someone’s hand whips around his throat from behind and flings Malice off track. An instant later, he smashes into a body forged of steel, and the tip of a weapon jabs toward him.

Simultaneously, he catches sight of his better half. Pirouetting, the back of Wonder’s arm cuffs her opponent’s profile, forcing the ruler to drop the longbow. Catching it, Wonder points and opens her mouth, no doubt to issue a command.

“I wouldn’t,” another feminine voice cautions.

Staying the weapon, Wonder’s eyes dart toward the ruler dressed in frosted lace. The one clasping Malice from behind. Because yeah, he hadn’t seen this bitch coming.

Now that he’s stationary, Malice’s piss-poor luck dawns on him. The pale goddess in lace had tackled him mid-run, and now she’s nocking her white moonstone arrow at the nape of his neck, her tone as frigid as her charming disposition.

As for the other players, the iridescent goddess festers, and the hawkish god with braids aims at Wonder, alongside the female with amethyst hair.

Malice’s weapon has fallen. Like the rest of the gallery’s casualties, his archery lies on the floor.

His annoyed eyes lift heavenward, then fall to Wonder, who’s gazing at his bare torso. Red slashes crisscross his flesh, blood leaks from the gashes, and a chuck of glass sticks from his chest.

Huh. When did that happen?

Wonder tenses, beads of crimson oozing down her side from where the casement shards had pierced her. Although the slice isn’t deep, a paper cut would be enough to set Malice off.

His mouth waters, eager to feast on these rulers like a cannibal. No one touches his wildflower. No one but him.

Wonder’s grip trembles. Her eyes cling to Malice, terror stalking across her face. Shit, this is triggering her, throwing her back to the asylum when she hadn’t been able to save him. Except all she should be concentrating on is how to save herself.

Covertly, Malice shakes his head the barest inch. Don’t fucking go there.

But his wildflower isn’t listening. Because she’s already there, her pupils glossy, haunted, terrified.

“Cease, Goddess of Wonder,” the sovereign commands, edging her arrow against Malice’s throat. “I’m quite serious.”

“Bullshit,” he spits. “The contents of my brain are too important to trash.”

At least, until they’ve interrogated him. At least, he hopes so.

His bluff does the trick. Wonder recovers, her gaze slitting with so much defiance that Malice’s mouth creeps upward.

Until he remembers that ultimatums oftentimes hurt. The goddess imprisoning him tilts her head, issuing a silent but crucial reminder. They might not kill Malice yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t do damage.

Hell. It’s what he would do too.

Without looking away, the female uses the flat of her arrowhead to smack the blade of glass protruding from Malice’s chest. The fragment sinks halfway, paring below his heart.

A shredded sensation rips into layers of flesh.

Pain lances through, reaches bone-deep, and wrenches a guttural howl from his lungs.

Malice seizes up, his furious eyes rolling back. Yet somehow, he remains standing, his frame shuddering with the effort.

Horror and anguish contort Wonder’s features. Right before she bares her teeth and unleashes a mercenary noise. “If you touch him again, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Fury has always been a sexy look on her. Sadly, Malice is the only one impressed.

The iridescent ruler swipes her weapon from Wonder and inspects the nicks within its shaft. At which point, the royal cunt sneers. And her palm crashes against the side of Wonder’s face.