Page 169 of Bloodguard

“He’s mine! Do you hear me, Maeve?” Aisling shrieks over the slurps and gulps of the phoenix. “All of this was always supposed to be mine!”

Shards of bones burst from the wall inches from me. I grip my swords and take off, leaping over pile after pile of dead gladiators as Aisling sends funnels of flame after me.

Her hands rise, fall, and turn as she manipulates her fire power to chase me down. Walls of bones explode into shards, embedding in the dirt and walls.

A skull slams into my back. I lose Grandfather’s sword when a piece of stalagmite strikes my wrist and knocks it free.

I double back to the opening of the maze as Aurora spits out Tut’s moist bones. She watches Aisling manipulate a fireball of magic, her head tilting side to side with interest. She elongates her neck and tastes Aisling’s flames.

Aisling’s fire, powerful enough to burn down a manor, does nothing to Aurora, who simply shudders, unharmed and evidently unimpressed.

“Yes, great phoenix,” Aisling says, her voice as disturbing as Tut’s glistening remains. “Feed from me. You are my sister, as I am yours.”

I fall to the ground, covering my head when another sphere of flame crashes into the maze. I crawl away, but not before finally catching sight of Aisling hidden behind a section of demolished bone.

She thinks that by ducking and shooting she’s safe. Mages are like that. They tend to believe that nothing can touch them.

But I’m an elf and a warrior.

Fast.

Agile.

Strong.

I close in.

Aisling turns around, a sphere of white-hot lavender flame building in her palm as I cut her from her shoulder to her groin.

I use the momentum to roll behind the statue of my grandmother.

Aurora, still hungry and crazed for fresh death, ribbons her tongue around the two body parts that were once Aisling.

I turn and rest my back on the base of Avianna’s statue.

Aisling was wrong. She and Aurora weren’t sisters. Aisling was just a woman who bullied my Giselle to tears, cut me down every time we met, and destroyed my home. I do not even pity her.

My lungs draw air in painful gasps. I lean over, hands on my knees, catching my breath and waiting for my heart to slow. After a few moments, I poke my head around the statue in time to see Aurora spit out Aisling’s bones.

“No body, no blame,” I whisper.

chapter 61

Leith

The drumbeats started at sunrise and continue to bang away in that same steady, deliberate rhythm. They speak of war and death, which is…appropriate.

Caelen and I march our horses into the arena complex. “Is it odd being here when you’re no longer required?” he asks.

“It is,” I say. “But I wouldn’t miss this for all of Old Erth.” Not when it’s my only chance to secure the title Maeve needs me to have.

Caelen grins. Not something he’s known for. “Neither would I.”

It’s arena day. It’s also Maeve’s birthday, her coronation, and the day of her unholy union with Soro, who has surely planned a masterpiece of atrocity to celebrate.

Asshole.

Old and young, poor and rich, all have arrived today. Whether they are loyal attendees or first-timers just looking forward to watching the surprises in store for a final Bloodguard trial doesn’t matter—the entire complex is packed. But I’m not here for them. I’m here for Maeve.

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