Page 119 of Entranced By the Basilisks

So sloppy,Ari’s voice says in my head.Unless I’m with you, stay on your guard.

So quick was I to forget about our enemies.

“Hold her,” Sigmund says. That snaps me out of the haze of pain. The world comes into focus quickly. Emilia struggles against Sigmund’s red-haired lackey. Armand is nowhere to be seen so at least there are only two opponents.

“Jasper!” Emilia shouts as if she hopes that someone will hear and come to our rescue.

Sigmund stands before me, a gleam of hatred in his eyes.

“You think you’re so smug. You dare to think that one such as you deserves a Chosen at all.”

“She chose me, and Chosen are always right,” I say, my lip beginning to swell.

His face scrunches in disgust and he moves to punch me again. I dodge and dance away from the alley wall. I fall into my training easily. Ari’s words never leaving me even as my ears ring.

Force your opponent to drop his guard. Don’t take on more damage than you can handle.

Sigmund’s rage makes his movements so fast I can hardly see them coming, but it also makes him sloppy. I dodge his next strike and the next. He bellows in frustration and strikes again. I use his emotional state against him, snaking past his guard and hitting him solidly in the face. He recoils, but I don’t allow him to retreat, raining blow after blow on him.

I return every strike he or his friends have dealt me over the years, every bloodied lip and cracked rib. Time moves in slow motion, but I know it’s only the span of minutes before Sigmund is down on the ground.

I’m about to join him there to continue to repay the pain he’s given me, but a yelp distracts me. The redhead is on the ground at Emilia’s feet, stunned with small bite marks that drip with venom.

“Are you okay?” I ask, drawn to her. Checking for injuries. She pulls away and kicks the man before taking a stumbling step back. “Yeah. I-I’m okay.”

“Good.”

“You abomination!” Sigmund spits and tries to rush toward me, but a big body gets in his way and catches him.

“Halt, Dietrich!” Armand throws Sigmund backward. “They are under the Circle’s protection.”

“Some protection,” Emilia mutters and I pull her close to me.

“Leave here,” Armand says to Sigmund. “Before I take you in.”

Sigmund glares at Armand and us before spitting his blood on the ground. “Fine, but the head of the Circle will hear about this.”

“I trust she will,” he replies, but his words echo more with a warning than Sigmund’s were capable of. Dietrich backs away and his friend recovers enough to follow. I watch them until they are out of sight.

Armand’s gaze meets mine and he sees it. Our bond.

He isn’t like Sigmund, whose hate blots out his sense of the world. No, Armand is a warrior, trained and sensitive to every shift around him.

“You’ve bonded,” he says. He presses his lips together and I squeeze Emilia to me without thinking.

“We have,” I respond.

Armand sighs. “I must bring you before the Circle.”

My heart falls.

“Why?” Emilia asks. Her voice goes higher, sensing the tension in the air.

“It’s forbidden to be a Chosen’s first bond without the Circle’s permission,” Armand says.

Well, there’s a rule I wasn’t aware of.Ignorance won’t save me in that case. I thought it was only discouraged to bond without the Circle’s permission.

“I thought who I chose was my decision,” Emilia says.

---