Page 121 of Fearless

A rough hand tugs at my shoulder, whipping me around to face the stern expression Kai wears. “I need you to focus, okay?” I nod furiously at his quick words. “We have to make this fight look good if they are going to believe it. So that means you’re on your own to stay alive against whatever power I throw at you.” He nods to the arena surrounding us. “The Mute is gone. They want to see you fight Elites.”

I swallow a shuddering breath. “They want to see me die.”

His eyes flick over my face, as though seeing it for the first time. Or perhaps the last. “So don’t.”

I watch his skin turn to stone—then watch his fist fly toward my face.

I’ve barely ducked in time, the gust of air above my head making me gasp. I leap away from a hard hook to the stomach, dropping my sword and narrowly avoiding several cracked ribs. Borrowing a Shell’s power, he cycles through a combination of punches, pushing me on defense. I can do nothing but dodge, his rocklike skin making it impossible to land a hit of my own.

And the Enforcer is relentless. He throws countless stony fists at me until one clips my shoulder. I cry out in pain as bone crunches beneath his knuckles. The crowd roars in my ears as I clutch my arm, forced to duck beneath another flying fist.

I stagger away from each of his attacks, conscious only of the throbbing shoulder beneath my fingers. When my back hits the towering wall of the Pit, panic swells inside me.

I’m trapped.

“Kai—!”

I choke on my shout, forced to duck beneath another blow with words hanging from the tip of my tongue. His fist sinks into the stone behind, crumbling the rock there. Panting, I watch him struggle to rip free from the wall, sending chunks of stone flying.

Kai turns to me then, gray eyes flicking to my injured arm. His words are nearly devoured by the ravenous crowd. “Come on, Paedyn. We have to make this a good fight.”

I let my hand slowly slide from my aching shoulder and nod ever so slightly.

We are enemies here. We are pretend.

And if I am going to die, it will be one hell of a show.

Kai nods back. Then his hands ignite with fire.

I let myself sink into a familiar fighting stance, fingers wiggling at my side. When he launches that first ball of fire, I duck and roll behind him. Sand clings to every inch of me, but I don’t bother standing to my feet quite yet. I sweep a leg out, catching Kai’s ankles with enough force to send him toppling down beside me.

The packed sand he slams into has the air rushing from his lungs and a collective groan echoing from the crowd. I throw myself over him, pulling back my uninjured arm to let a fist fly toward his face. Knuckles connect with his jaw, followed by a stinging pain that shoots down my hand.

It’s odd to hit him like this, hard and intentional. Even as enemies, a piece of me always held back. Because that piece always belonged to the Enforcer, and perhaps I did not want to break it. But now, in this arena, I’ve never been more aware of the death that lurks within his veins. Power bends to his will, aches to obey.

I have never seen him without a soft spot for me. It seems today is that day. His desire for me to survive him seems to have erased all other sentiment he has for me. He is lost to this game, this power he has continually stopped himself from using against me. But the Enforcer knows he can’t throw the fight, otherwise I’ll likely be killed anyway, leaving us both dead for nothing.

I cock my arm again, ready to strike when his fingers wrap around my wrist. Searing, hot pain ignites beneath his palm as the Blazer ability scorches my skin. I barely bite back my scream, barely think through the dizzying pain.

The smell of burning flesh floods my senses before a wave of nausea crashes into me. Only yesterday, this stench followed my fury as I held Blair’s face into an open flame. Now it is I who’s burning.

I gasp before driving my knee into the elbow of his raised arm. His scalding hold on me breaks at the same moment I hear his bone do the same. The sickening snapping sound is accompanied by a hissing grunt of pain through Kai’s clenched teeth.

I wince, hating that I hurt him. Hating that we are in this position in the first place. But I force my stinging arm back, readying to—

His uninjured arm flies into my stomach, lifting my knees from the ground. The hit has me panting for air as I dangle off the ground. Only the strength of a Brawny could allow him to throw my body off his with such ease.

I’m flipping over his head, the sand flying toward my face. Kai’s hand is still pressed to my stomach, guiding my body over his when I grab hold of his wrist. Tucking my chin, I collide with the ground, rolling onto my back at the same moment I tug his broken arm flat against my shoulder.

He cries out in pain as the snapped bone pokes through bloody skin. I hold his arm at that awkward angle, shutting my eyes against thedamage I’ve done. Our heads are nearly touching, bodies sprawled in opposite directions, both of us panting atop the sand.

Until I no longer can.

Thorny vines spring from the earth to clamp around my throat. A choked scream escapes my gaping mouth before the air is squeezed from it. The barbed branches tear at my neck as Kai breaks from my hold. He staggers to his feet, commanding the Bloom’s ability with a weak flick of his hand.

My fingers fumble for the dagger at my side when the vines tighten around my throat. Blood seeps between the leaves, thorns tearing at my flesh hungrily. A heavy blackness creeps into the corners of my vision as I lift the blade toward my own throat.

With one shaky slice, I cleave through the choking vines. The dagger’s tip sloppily grazes the side of my neck, likely leaving the beginnings of another scar there. The ravenous plants fall limply from my bloody skin to sink back beneath the sandy earth they sprung from.

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