Page 214 of On Wings of Blood

I grabbed Regan’s wrist, twisting unmercifully and the rapier fell to the ground. I grabbed it and held it over her face. It would be so easy. So easy to let go and finish it. To never have to look at Regan again.

Unbidden, Florence’s face came to my mind. Her calm steady gaze. The kindness of her smile.

I took a deep breath and tossed the rapier far into the trees.

Just as I began to relax, the arrow whistled through the air, striking me in the other shoulder.

I gasped, the force of it knocking me off Regan and onto the ground. My vision blurred for a moment from the pain. But through the haze, I could already feel the wound beginning to heal.

“Not... like... this...” I growled, the blood pounding in my ears.

I yanked the arrow out of my shoulder, ignoring the pain as I cast it aside. Regan was already coming towards me. I moved faster, catching her by the ankle and tossing her to the ground, then leaping atop her. I pulled the dagger from my boot, throwing the sheath onto the ground and held it poised over her face.

I saw the look of terror in her eyes, the raw fear.

You might need her. Think carefully,Orcades’ voice warned.

For a moment, I didn’t care. I wanted to let the bloodlust take me over completely. This rush felt good. I could bury Coregon's dagger in Regan’s evil little heart and be done with it. After all, she deserved it after everything she’d done to me.

I pulled my arm back, then lifted my hand and struck Regan directly under the chin with the heel of my palm. For a moment, her head rocked back and forth. Then her body went limp.

Breathing heavily, I stood up and turned my gaze to Quinn, who still sat up in the tree, her bow drawn.

“I don’t want to kill you,” I called up to her. “But I will if I have to.”

Quinn let the arrow fly.

CHAPTER 52 - BLAKE

Theo turned towards me. “What did you do?” he hissed.

We could see everything the consorts were experiencing. We couldn’t hear them though.

Still, it wasn’t too hard to figure out what was going on between Pendragon and Regan.

Or to see that something in Pendragon had changed.

She’d started off slow. I’d been terrified for her. Regan had clearly paid someone off because the drugs they gave the consorts weren’t supposed to linger in their systems for that long. Pendragon had nearly missed the first challenge altogether.

When she’d made it across the gorge, I’d breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the fucking Bloodmaiden for Visha. She’d lingered far longer than I thought she would, ignoring Evander’s clear pleas to get going. The girl had a backbone of steel and some serious potential.

I glanced at Theo. He didn’t trust me and while I understood that, it also didn’t make him great right hand material.

Theo was still looking at me expectantly.

I shrugged him off. “I did what I had to.”

“You’re insane,” he whispered. “This could ruin everything. You put her at risk.”

“At risk? I saved her. Regan was going to cheat anyway,” I hissed. My gaze lingered on the images up on the veil, onPendragon and the way she moved–stronger, faster than she’d ever been before.

Theo’s jaw tightened. “Still, you know this isn’t how it’s supposed to go. They’re supposed to work together. Not...” He gestured helplessly at the projection just as Pendragon pulled the knife out of her boot. Regan might have managed to arrange for a little extra drugging but I’d snuck a surprise in for Pendragon, too. Good thing I had since Regan and her friends had brought their own surprises with them. “Whatever the fuck this is. It’s all falling apart. If Viktor catches wind of it...”

“I’ll handle it, Theo,” I interrupted, forcing myself to remain calm. “Don’t worry about it.”

Consorts weren’t meant to destroy each other like this and the whole thing didn’t exactly reflect well on House Drakharrow. But Regan had set the whole thing in motion as soon as she’d pulled Gretchen and Quinn into her scheming. She’d tried to stack the odds, to sabotage Pendragon from the start. I was just leveling the playing field. Or at least, that’s what I was telling myself.

I risked a glance at where Headmaster Kim was sitting further down the tiers. His eyes were glued to the veil, his face impassive. As far as I could tell, he didn’t look as if he were about to jump up from his seat and call the whole thing off. I doubted he’d interfere.

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