Page 62 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

“Is that all you’ve got?” Kej’s voice carried over the cheering, and Zylah followed Nye as the crowd stepped aside for her.

Her cousin rolled to his feet, one eye purple and swollen, his bare chest slick with sweat.

A quiet laugh rumbled somewhere in front of him, but Zylah and Nye still hadn’t quite made it through the throng. Zylah felt certain some of the soldiers whispered to each other as she passed, could have sworn one of them hissedhalf Faeunder their breath, but she kept her head forward, didn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing a response.

“Always with the dick-swinging contests,” Rin muttered beside them as they reached her at the front of the crowd.

“It’s his coping mechanism. Let him have it,” Nye said with an almost shrug.

Zylah’s gaze fell on Holt as he ran a hand through his hair, dragging it out of his eyes. The movement flexed every muscle in his arm and down his sculpted torso, his shirt discarded somewhere at the edge of their makeshift ring.

Like Kej, he had strips of cloth wrapped around his knuckles, the fabric of his right hand stained rusty from Kej’s blood.

Her attention slowly lifted to Holt’s split lip and then higher, his eyes meeting hers as if he’d caught her watching.

The first time they’d met she’d thought him a god, and watching him now, his chest rising and falling, the way he relaxed into each movement as if it centred him, the way his eyes had brightened so that they seemed more gold than green, the way his rumbling laughter only delighted the crowd even more, it was easy to see why.

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he turned his attention back to Kej.Shit.She hadn’t said that out loud, had she? He’d looked at her like she had.

Zylah cleared her throat, willing the heat warming her cheeks to diminish, and reminding herself she had been part of a conversation moments before, instead of gawking at the two beautiful males before her. “His coping mechanism for Jora?” she asked, angling her head to Nye.

“For tonight,” Nye replied, her attention moving around the soldiers watching, some of them stepping away from the fight as they caught her scowl.

“Last time I checked, he’s not the one being sold off like cattle,” Rin said flatly as Kej swung for Holt and missed.

Zylah turned to say something, but Rin had already slipped through the crowd.

The soldiers roared, and Zylah spun back around to see Holt rubbing his jaw, Kej walking around him in a slow circle with his arms held high as if he’d won the entire fight.

Zylah smirked.

She knew Holt was holding back, for Kej’s sake. Knew he could have the whole balcony recoiling the moment he peeled back the layer he kept over his power.

As if he’d again heard her every thought, a small burst of his power rippled from him, sending Kej staggering back a few steps.

“Oh, two can play at that game, my friend,” Kej said, gritting his teeth against the magic. He rolled his neck before ushering the crowd to step away, and something told Zylah he intended to shift right in front of them. To meet magic with magic.

“That’s enough for today,” Nye said firmly, stepping between them. Shadows slipped around her in warning, and she shot a look at the crowd, soldiers already dispersing before she’d even turned full circle.

She stopped when she at last faced Holt, dismissing her cousin entirely. “You’re always welcome to train with any of my soldiers, but next time you might like to pick a more worthwhile opponent.”

“You still won’t be able to take him, Nye,” Kej said, unfazed by the fact that she’d just put a stop to all his fun.

Nye’s attention slid to him, her face impassive. “Now would be a good time for you to slink away with your latest fad.” Zylah knew she was referring to the guard from the day before but hadn’t spotted him in the crowd.

Kej’s grin widened as he clasped Holt’s forearm in a swift goodbye. “I guess I’ve got to let off that steam somehow. Right, Zy?”

With a quiet chuckle, he took off for where hisfadhad appeared at the guard post beside the stairs.

Bastard.Zylah watched him go, wondering whether it would be appropriate to throttle him in front of Malok later.

“Malok told me you wouldn’t join us this evening unless Zylah was present,” Nye said, shifting Zylah’s attention back to her and Holt.

He unwound the cotton strips from his knuckles, flexing his large hands one after the other. “I’m surprised he didn’t request her presence himself after she prevented him from being poisoned.”

Nye flinched ever so slightly, but just enough that Zylah caught it.

“You’re his general, Nye. Not his assistant. That comment wasn’t directed at you.” Holt’s expression was earnest as he said it, his eyes never breaking away from the Fae so that she could see the truth in them.

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