Page 32 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

“Look, she can’t even summon fire directly from a source. Her sister was a sharp-tongued whore, but at least she wasn’t useless.”

Anger ignites in my belly. I raise my head to target Elijah with a glare, almost wishing I had access to my magic so I could incinerate him on the spot. “Don’t badmouth Leesa.”

Elijah elbows his bald buddy. “What do you say, Milton? Should we stop badmouthing Leesa?”

Milton lifts his hands and leers. “What are you gonna do about it if we don’t?”

One at a time, sparks form between his palms, his face a mask of concentration as he grunts. Slowly, he spins the sparks into a red flickering ball. Smaller than Elijah’s, and the production cost him more effort. Still better than I can do, and they both know it.

I edge backward and scour the arena for our instructor.

Elijah laughs. “If you’re looking for Resnick, don’t bother. He likes to wander off to watch the other elementals.” With ease, he summons a fireball. “Torno isn’t here to save you either.”

An alarm bleats inside my head. “What are you doing?”

“We practiced on stationary targets. Now we’re ready for moving ones.” Milton steps closer, rotating his shoulder back like he’s preparing to throw a dagger. “Go on, weakling. Move!”

My muscles coil. I don’t wait for him to launch the fireball. I fling myself to the side, tucking into a somersault as heat blazes past overhead.

Panting, I rise to a crouch. Thank the gods that Kelvin, an old guard we had for several years before he left to get married, humored a lonely teenager and taught her a few evasive techniques. And that I was bored enough to practice those moves in my room.

My pulse speeds, and deep within me, my fire reawakens from its slumber. Yawns. Opens one drowsy eye. Rumbles and tugs on the restraints locking it down.

Flames. People screaming. Horses shrieking in pain.

Grinding my teeth, I work to tame my rising emotions. To smother the swirling vortex of anger and fear urging my power to come out and play. My head spins, and I stumble a little as the dizziness takes hold. I hate that my body is proving them right.

Ziva’s flames, this sucks. I want nothing more than to collapse on my bed and rest. “Why are you doing this? Aren’t we all supposed to be on the same side?”

“We’re on the same side,” Milton gestures between him and Elijah, “but you’re probably a Tirenese lover like your traitor of a sister. She could have had a real man. Elijah tried, but she sneered at him like he was beneath her. Probably horny for a pair of wing?—”

Face blotching, Elijah punches Milton in the shoulder and hisses. “Shut up!”

As the pieces start to click, the materializing picture confounds me. “Are you saying…is that the reason you have it in for me? Because you’re embarrassed my sister turned you down for adate?”

His face reddens even more. “Not a date. I was bored and looking for a fuck, that’s all! It’s not like I liked her or anything.”

A couple of heartbeats pass, and then I burst into laughter. I can’t help myself. The absurdity of the situation kills me. Is this what I missed out on, all those years I longed to be around people my age and one day meet someone to date and marry? Men who throw hissy fits and lash out because a woman told them no? Even toddlers can learn that concept. If Elijah and Milton represent the prospects out there, then I’d rather remain unattached and unmarried for the rest of my days. Better lonely than trapped with a man who can’t handle rejection.

A fireball races toward me. I lunge out of the path, but not fast enough. The flame punches me in the shoulder, blasting the left side of my face and neck with heat. The cloak saves my skin from burning, but the impact hurt, and an acrid odor wrinkles my nose. With a gasp, I reach for my hair. A few tendrils that escaped my braid come free in my hand, blackened and charred.

Fury crashes through me, tearing at the shroud that locks my magic in place. My fire pushes, straining for freedom from the other side. Digging my nails into my palms, I battle to remain in control, but the elemental magic slips through tiny cracks and races through my blood. My hands warm.

Distraction. I need a distraction. “You called Leesa a Tirenese lover. Why? Did you see her with someone? Or did you just make it up to soothe your fragile ego? And none of this should matter, anyway. We’re all here for Aclaris. We should put aside our differences and work together.”

Wrong thing to say, going off Elijah’s snarl. “I’ll never work with you, weakling.”

Another fiery ball hurtles at my face, and fear chokes me. I move, but I know I won’t be quick enough.

Closing my eyes against the glare and bracing for pain, I fling myself to the side. Time passes. Nothing happens.

I open my eyes to find the ball hovering less than an arm’s length from my nose. Only now it’s a crystalline mix of blue and white. Ice. Someone transformed the ball into ice.

Whirling, my eyes meet a pair of gold-flecked ones. A scowl mars his sculpted features, and the temperature around us plummets. Someone yelps. I turn to find Elijah and Milton shaking out hands that appear crusted with a layer of tiny diamonds.

Milton swipes at the sparkles with no success. “Stop! It’s so cold, it’s burning my skin.”

Instructor Thorne coated their hands with ice.

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