Page 72 of Conflicted Fate
I was already leaping away as the beam of pure emerald light lashed forth once more, slicing through courtyard stone and wall alike. One of the metal doors sagged and fell inward to land with a terribleclang.
“This ismyempire!” Lycaonus shouted, waving his sword back and forth between us.
Kiel and I had moved far enough away that he could only hit one of us at a time with his blasts. But he didn’t strike again. He just stood there. I frowned, glancing over at Kiel. He’d seen it, too.
With a cry, we raced at Lycaonus, swords at the ready. His beam was limited. That was going to be our only advantage. I came in high, raising my blade over my head to chop it down.
He shook his head and swung his blade casually upward in an arc that would take my head off as well as my blade.
“Too easy,” he grunted as his sword sliced through mine like butter and continued upward.
Only I’d known my blade wouldn’t stand a chance against his. I’d seen it happen in the mountains. So, I was already dropping to my knees, slidingunderhis lazy strike, the ragged tip of my sword slicing across his stomach.
Kiel was coming in hot from the other side, but Lycaonus whipped his blade back around with a savage sharpness that forced Kiel to duck away. I rolled out of my slide, gathering my feet under me to jump.
At that instant, the ground exploded behind me as another energy beam struck it. The force of stone shattering from the superheated touch flung me away. I hit the fallen door and rolled into the corner of the gateway, pain blossoming everywhere.
“Ow,” I groaned, trying to get to my feet, so I could move before he struck again.
Before I could, a blade settled across my throat. I went still.
“Stop!” Lycaonus barked as Kiel tried to come at him from a different angle. “Cease your attack, or she dies.”
Kiel’s head whipped around and spotted the new arrival. “You,” he growled. “I should have killed you instead of throwing you off the damn mountain.”
“A mistake, indeed,” Lycaonus’ Nehringi said. “One that you will not make again.”
“That’s for sure,” Kiel growled. “This time, I’m going to take your head off.”
“I would truly love to see you try,” Lycaonus chuckled. “But first, you must give it up. It’s over, old friend. You’ve lost. Put your blade down or watch her bleed out in front of you. Your choice.”
Kiel bared his teeth angrily, his eyes fixed on me as the sword fell to the ground, asking me a question with his gaze.
Closing my eyes, I didn’t call out into the emptiness of my mind, the place where Fate had once been. That time, Ireached out.
It’s now or never. You want to stop him? Let’s stop him. Come to me!
I grabbed for the power I’d once felt coursing through my veins …
And I got an answer.
My eyes snapped open, locking on to Kiel. There wasn’t a need for me to speak. He had the answer he needed. The one we’d been waiting for.
“I willneverstop,” he growled at Lycaonus. “I will come for her. And then for you.”
The Alpha rolled his eyes. “What do you even see in such a pitiful thing? Why do youdothis? You could rule from my side, my second-in-command. It would be like the old days again.”
“I do this,” Kiel snarled, “because Iloveher. Because she has shown me that even those who have done as much bad as I have deserve second chances. She taught me that, just as she taught me to feel again. To care. To fall in love. She’s everything to me. And that’s something you will never know, not in all your years.”
Lycaonus spat and brought the sword up. But Kiel was ready. He dodged to the side and flung himself straight at the Alpha. Lycaonus was ready, however, and the blade flicked to the side, impaling Kiel through the stomach as he charged. It emerged out the back in a spray of blood.
“You fool,” Lycaonus spat as Kiel wormed his way closer on the blade, blood pouring out around him from both entries of the wound. “You could never best me. Now, you’ll die.”
Kiel leaned forward and grabbed Lycaonus by the throat, hauling the Alpha closer. “You forgot one important thing, you sonofabitch,” he snarled. “I’m immortal, too.”
His other hand snatched the dagger from Lycaonus’ waist.
There was a gasp and then acrunch, and the blade of the Nehringi fell away from my throat as the assassin toppled over, Andi’s blade sticking out from where his heart was.
