Page 114 of Daughter of the Serpent

“Wouldn’t you like me to return your cherished weapon before we begin?” she asked, a hint of anger scoring through, patting the gleaming axe still looped to her hip. “Or would you like to leave it behind, like you did me?”

Axel’s jaw tightened, the faintest twitch in the muscle betraying a crack in his composed exterior. Without a word, he raised his hand, and a wave of fiery energy leapt to life along the blade of his sword. The flames danced in vibrant, volatile arcs, their glow casting sharp shadows across his face.

“You’re angry.” he said, his voice low and deliberate. “That’s good. Use it. Show me what you can do.”

Her cheeks flushed, heat rising that had nothing to do with his magic. Gritting her teeth, she raised her free hand, drawingFerra, the rune of ice. Frost instantly spread through the air at her command, and her blade shimmered, its edge encased in crystalline shards thatglinted like sunlight on frozen glass. The sharp, unnatural cold bit at her skin, but she welcomed it.

“You walked away,” she bit out. “Just left. Why? What was so important?”

The air crackled, conflicting energies on the verge of entanglement - fire meeting ice, flame against frost. He stepped forward, his sword arcing toward her with calculated force. She brought up her blade just in time, the clash ringing out, a shockwave of magic radiating from their collision. Sparks and shards of ice shot into the air, glittering briefly before vanishing into nothingness.

Axel’s eyes locked onto hers, sharp and calculating, but there was something shadowed beneath the surface - something he refused to let her see.

“I didn’t abandon you,” he said, his voice dark, measured.

“Didn’t you?” she snarled, pressing forward with her blade, the weight of her fury behind the strike. “When I was on the ground at Bjorn's feet, his blade pressing against my neck - I looked for you. You weren't anywhere to be found!”

Their blades collided again, the impact sending a jolt up her arm. Ice and flame clashed violently, the magical energy spilling into the space between them, snapping and hissing like a living thing. Axel sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the frost - tipped edge of her sword, his movements unshaken.

“Do you think I would have let you die?” he snapped, swinging out again. She ducked, the flames grazing past her shoulder, stinging the air. “You don’t understand - ”

“Then tell me!” she demanded, her voice breaking through his like a blade. She pressed her advantage, forcing him back a step, her icy blade gleaming, magic thrumming through her muscles, her arms, her fingertips. Her blade caught the edge of his sleeve, tearing it, but he didn’t flinch.

“Your emotions are heightened.” he growled, his sword sweeping toward her in a blazing arc. She deflected it, the force of their collision driving her back. Her pulse thundered in her ears, her breathsragged, her fury mingling with something deeper - an ache she couldn’t name.

“You think I should have intervened. That I should’ve saved you from your fate?” He asked.

With a sudden burst of motion, she lunged, her blade slicing through the air toward him. He deflected her swiftly, his hand gripping her wrist before her blade could make contact, pulling her arm back sharply, causing her to wince. Within seconds his free hand slammed down on hers, knocking the sword from her grip. With the sudden break in contact, the magic that kept the blade in a sheen of ice fizzed out in a sputter. Yanking her arm further back, She raged against him trying to squirm free but it was useless, he held her there, their eyes locking as she felt another surge of her anger.

The bastard had her, and he knew it.

With one sweep of his ankle she was on her back with a thud, and within moments he was on her, his body overtaking her completely. She wriggled beneath him, a snarl in her mouth, her eyes wide. Slipping her dagger free from her thigh she went for his neck, yet once more he snagged her by the wrist, pinning it above her. She bucked her hips hoping to surge him forward, yet he held strong.

His face lowered, his lips only inches from hers.

Flames instantly slithered up her cheeks, igniting them like the flames of his blade as she felt him against her.

So close - too close.

Ashes.

With her eyes locked on his she could make out every fleck of molten gold in his eyes, every bend and arch of the winding tattoos that curled along his neck like licking flames. She couldn’t breathe, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the intensity of how he was looking at her, or that a man twice her size had her pinned to the ground. Yet whatever it was made her body heat, her heart thrum in her chest.

Mentally she kicked herself.

She wasn’t supposed to be feeling this. She was supposed to beangry. Livid. Yet here she was helpless beneath him. Helpless to the sudden wave of heat that seemed to wrack through her body, smoldering in her core.

With a sharp knock of her hand against the ground, the dagger scattered from her grip.

Damn him.

“Do you yield?” He asked, lips still achingly close.

She hissed in response, her eyes darkening.

He was infuriating.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to spit in his face or wrap her fingers around the ends of his hair and pull his lips to hers.

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