Page 30 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

He slammed to the ground, rolled, and blasted me with his power.

I whipped up my arms to protect my face.

Theon stood, smashing his fists into my ribs.

I gasped, hunching over, and had an unnerving sense of déjà vu.

I could almost hear my mother’s voice snapping at me to move and widen my stance.

I was off balance and in a weak position. But I didn’t—now or in the past.

Theon threw a powerful hook to my jaw, connecting and sending me to the ground. My head hit hard, specks of light dancing in my vision. For a second, there was no pain, until my vision cleared and blood pooled into my mouth. I groaned.

Theon stood over me and smiled. “You almost look good down there, Hell-whore. But you just need one more thing,” he said, then spat on me. “There, much better.”

The scene flickered, replacing the black and red uniform with white, and ginger hair with blond. Crackles of ice whispered in my ear, begging me to let my Infernus free. I dug my nails into my palms, blinking away the image of Michael.

I glanced at Alexei and swore I saw him nod in encouragement. I had to get up—I had to show them.

“Unfortunately, you don’t look so good from down here,” I said, grimacing at Theon’s groin.

As expected, he lurched forward, taking my bait. I scissored my legs around him, pulling him to the ground with his momentum, and immediately straddled him. Before he raised his guard, I punched his nose twice, hearing the satisfying crunch of his cartilage.

“Bitch,” he said, arching his hips to throw me off.

He knocked me forward instead of off, positioning me inches from his face. I spat blood and grinned. “My favorite endearment.”

Enraged, he smashed his forehead into my nose, returning the favor, and sent me flying back with a blast of water. Stunned, I had a difficult time shaking away the black specks. But I needed to stand .

I tried to roll when his boot slammed into my stomach, snapping something. I cried out, shoving at his leg. He stepped off me and smirked as I scooted away. After taunting me with a few inches of space, Theon followed.

I looked to the side, expecting Alexei to step in. Weren’t there rules to these fights?

But he only watched, flipping a dagger as if he had no cares in the world. The general and Rune were still gone, Oliver and our squadmates were too busy fighting or practicing, and Moira gave two shits as she smiled at me from afar.

Fuck.

Theon formed a sphere of water in his palm, bouncing it with each languid step. It grew until it was just bigger than my head.

“It’s too bad we have an audience. Makes killing you a little hard,” he said, pouting. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t give you a taste of what your future holds.”

I stopped scooting and grabbed a fistful of sand, letting him close the distance. I didn’t have much of a plan besides distracting him.

The moment he got within reach, I lashed out, throwing the sand in his face. Immediately after, I clenched my teeth and stood, but it was no use. Theon’s water wrapped around my head and stole the breath from my lungs.

I dropped to my knees, clawing at the water. He loomed over me on the other side of the blurry surface, laughing.

“You want to play dirty? I can play dirty, Hell-whore,” he said, his voice muffled and distorted.

The whispers in my ears raged at me to do something. It was no longer the crackling of ice but the haunting melody of my Hellfire seeking retribution. The more I suffocated, the more I let the melody take over.

Theon’s eyes gleamed, pupils blown wide as if he relished every breath he stole. His mouth lifted in a savage grin. He looked drunk on my torture, and something in his expression told me he wasn’t going to release me.

He was going to kill me.

Itches spread across my skin, but before my flame erupted, the air shifted behind me, and shadows circled my wrist, their touch gentle and soothing.

His presence seared into my back. “I know how to play dirty too.”

Even with the water muffling my hearing, it didn’t stop the goosebumps from spreading down my spine from the general’s deadly tone.

A band of shadows coiled around Theon’s throat, his face bulging as he gasped for air.

His control over the water slipped, and I seized the moment to inhale deeply, blinking water from my eyes.

I twisted to the general—and a fierce-looking Rune.

Her shadow fur lashed around her as she growled at Theon, copying the general’s whipping shadows, a dark echo of their power.

The general’s face was cold, his posture rigid. He forced Theon to the ground, unsheathed both of his swords from his back, and prowled toward him.

“No,” Theon choked out, throwing out his hand and squirming away with no luck. “Please.”

General Ronen cut off his cries as he replaced his shadows with a sword against Theon’s neck .

“Please. I was only trying to teach her a lesson,” he begged.

The general pressed the edge into Theon’s flesh. It didn’t slice him, but his skin sizzled, and he whimpered.

What kind of blade would do that?

“General! What are you?—”

The general pointed his second blade at Moira, stopping her question.

“Don’t worry, Squad Leader. I’m only teaching him a lesson ,” he said, tone soft and mocking, putting pressure on his sword.

A puddle of liquid spread out on the dirt beneath Theon, and when I glanced back at Moira, I saw a similar fear holding her tongue.

“Stand, Hellion,” the general commanded.

I did, but a bit too slowly for his liking, since his shadows helped me. Then Rune pressed in close, holding me upright.

General Ronen raked his gaze over me, holding his attention on the arm wrapped around my ribs.

Shadows seeped from his body, encircling me, him, and Theon.

Moira, the other squads, the arena—all vanished.

His pitch-black eyes lifted to my face, held there, then he crouched next to Theon, avoiding his pee.

“I’m assuming by your piss puddle you understand what this sword will do to you?”

Theon gave the tiniest of nods.

“Good.” The general pointed his free sword at me. “You ever play dirty with her again, I’ll trap you in fucking agony for the rest of your miserable life. Understood, blood-banded?”

“Understood,” he whispered.

“Find a shovel and clean up your mess.” The general’s shadows dropped, and he sheathed his swords. “Squad Leader. ”

“Yes, General Ronen?” Moira said, wary.

“From now on, Lucille will be paired with Ichi, and Ni with the Nephilim until they’ve improved. Understood?”

Moira’s face flushed. She pressed her lips together as her chest heaved. Metal rattled on the weapons wall behind us. She looked ready to burst.

He lifted a brow in challenge.

“Yes, Sir,” she finally gritted out and stormed away.

I held back my smile, a sincere thanks on my tongue for saving my life and pulling rank on his girlfriend. But the moment I met his pitch-black eyes and saw the ruthless, quiet rage still there, the words died on my lips.

He prowled toward me, and all our previous interactions flashed through my mind. He may have defended me from Theon, but he’d also called me a traitor and made it clear he wanted to be free of me.

I stepped back, Rune close at my side. The general’s shadows whipped around him as if ready to strike. One shot toward my arm, and I flinched, but it only brushed tenderly against my skin, somehow soothing my shaking hand.

Weird.

It was like my body knew the shadows wouldn’t hurt me, even as my brain screamed to get the hell away.

I considered luscelering for a split second, but then I backed into the weapons wall, swords rattling behind me.

He stepped forward, pushing Rune aside and caging me in. My chance to escape vanished.

“Is it your turn to threaten me now?”

He tilted his head. “Why would I threaten you when I just finished protecting you? ”

“I’m still trying to figure out why you intervened at all. Alexei didn’t.”

The general stared at me, drilling right into my soul, unnerving and entrapping me all at once.

His shadows shot toward my face, and I jerked back. But they only tickled up my nose, making the pain disappear.

“I thought I told you to keep your shadows away from me,” I said half-heartedly.

He raised a brow. “You didn’t seem to mind them at the bar.”

“Yes, well, it was the least you could do after letting me drink a cocktail that steals your senses.”

“Maybe next time you’ll give me the truth up front and I won’t have to watch you make a fool of yourself.”

I bit my tongue to hold in the curses I wanted to spew.

I even kept the glare off my face as I held his gaze.

It was the same silent game—a battle of wills through eye contact.

And he had the upper hand. Because holding his eyes made me feel like I’d only been breathing with one lung for the past twenty years.

But he held no respect for me. And he wasn’t Aspen.

Guilt pierced the magnetic pull, forcing me to look away—once again.

“Did you force me against this wall just to demean me?”

“Did you not want relief from your pain?” he countered.

“I’ve been in worse pain than this.”

“I know.” His voice softened, doing things I didn’t like to my nerves. The shadows dancing around him sank back into his skin. “You have a broken rib and nose, but no internal bleeding. Go to the healers’ wing and ask for Sam.”

He turned to leave, and I snatched his wrist, my fingers brushing that curious bit of raised skin.

“You care enough to rescue me but don’t want to train me? I don’t want to end up suffocating on water again.”

The general’s eyes dropped to my hand on his wrist, then dragged back up to meet my gaze. “The king told me to keep you alive. I wouldn’t call that caring. I’d call that a job. And Theon won’t be a problem anymore. I made sure of that.”

No wonder he wanted to be rid of me.

Whispers drew my attention. Most of the warriors were still practicing, but some were definitely staring, particularly at my hand on his wrist.

I released him. “What about my next opponent?”

“Don’t worry, Hellion. I’ll do my job.”

It took every ounce of my willpower not to smack the self-confident ass. I didn’t want his rescuing. I wanted his favor. But the only ways I knew to gain that were by ranking or building a relationship with him, and I highly doubted the latter would ever happen.

“I want to rank.”

“Hellion, unless there’s something I haven’t seen, you’ll never rank. Even with the accelerated muscle growth and recovery from your angelic blood, you’re still years behind your squad’s skill level.”

“That’s why I want you to train me.”

“You’ll never catch up in two months.”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” I snapped. He didn’t know me. I’d do anything to protect the ones I loved.

“No,” he said firmly, then left .

For a moment, I just stood there, watching him go. He met up with Alexei, who glanced at me, then whipped his hand toward Theon. From his sharp gestures and serious expression, I doubted he was saying anything good.

I shook my head and ran my hand through Rune’s fur.

This wasn’t over.