Page 90 of Immortal Throne

Ryker glanced at the steel blade he held, and his grip tightened. Yeah, I didn’t think so. I refused to let him back me into a position where I had to fight him. As great as my demon magic made me fight, I’d seen Ryker in action. He didn’t suffer the mistakes that came from being stuck on the beginning portion of the learning curve. He could—and would—cut me down.

The thought caused a wave of revulsion to crash through me, to the point where I had to swallow down the heat.

Fight him? Kill him? After everything we’d been through, I’d rather chop off my own leg. Although I wouldn’t go so far as to throw myself over the side of the platform, either.

There had to be another way out of this.

“The trial won’t end until one of us is dead,” Ryker told me. His gaze pierced through my skin straight down to the core of me.

“I can stand here for a long time,” I said.

“You’re seriously not going to make a move?” he asked.

I arched my brow. “Should I?”

“That is literally the whole point,” Ryker snapped. “Come on. We have to do this. You have to come for me.”

He lurched forward and I responded by pivoting to the right, keeping him directly in front of me. He hadn’t even tried with that lunge.

He growled in frustration.

“You understand why, don’t you?” he continued, arching his shoulders forward in an almost menacing air.

And I did. He wanted to win but couldn’t bring himself to attack me. He could cut me down to defend himself, he could justify my death then, but as long as I remained inactive, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Right now, Ryker battled his own morals more than he did me.

I pulled back and banished my sword. “You can try to fight me if you want, Ryker, but I’m not doing it. I’m not moving against you.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to hurt you. I can’t hurt you. If winning this trial means killing you, then I’m stepping aside for you to rule.” I hadn’t meant to say that, hadn’t meant to say any of it, but as soon as the words left my mouth, the truth in them sent warmth spreading across my chest.

The decision cost me nothing and everything at the same time. I’d made my choice the moment I saw him stalk toward me.

“You win.” I held my hands up in front of me to show my willingness to give up. No hesitation, not anymore. Rightness settled inside of me at my decision. “It’s yours.”

“It’s not that I don’t want it, Sloane, because you know I do.” His voice trailed off and he gripped his sword, still refusing to let it go.

I bit down on my bottom lip to keep the tears threatening to fall from doing so. They burned the corners of my eyes, like the acid in my veins was spilling out at long last.

“I’m backing out, Ryker. Don’t you understand? If it means killing you, then—”

“What?” he interrupted. “Then what?”

“You tell me,” I said.

“I want the throne…but not like this,” Ryker shook his head. “Never like this. Not when it means losing you, too.”

“Those are pretty words, but I don’t believe you mean them. But it doesn’t matter. I know how I feel and, for the first time in a long time, I know what I have to do.”

He glanced toward the edge of the platform and his eyes grew wide. “You wouldn’t.”

Maybe it really was the mind control. Maybe he’d influenced my feelings to the point where I’d do anything for him.

At this point, I didn’t care how I developed these feelings. I only knew that I had them. I had them and I cherished them, and I meant every word I said.

My fingers itched to place my hand on his cheek and wipe away the confusion on his face. That wasn’t how things would end between us, though.

“Either I win, and you die, or you win, and I die,” Ryker said, his usual growl cracking.

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