Page 33 of Staff of Nightfall

Chapter 13

Adelaide bit back acry as Regulus sank the dagger into her left arm, halfway between her shoulder and elbow. He grabbed her opposite shoulder to steady her. Tears squeezed out of her eyes and her chest heaved with each labored breath. A crushed neumenet leaf glinted in the trampled grass at her feet.

“I’m sorry,” Regulus murmured.

She nodded, unable to respond. Pinching pain surrounded the blade, while pulses of pain radiated up and down her arm in time with her heartbeat. He withdrew the dagger and she whimpered and sagged forward. Blood streamed down her arm. After being stabbed three...no, four times now, she thought she should be better able to handle it. But, by the fairy realm, it stillhurt.

Regulus guided her right hand to the wound. “Come on. Heal it.”

Adelaide’s hand shook, but warmth spread across her palm, then over the wound. The area numbed so she couldn’t feel the flesh knitting back together. The pain gone, she straightened and looked over. A vein stood out on Regulus’ forehead, and his jaw clenched, emphasizing every angle of his temples and jawline. She finished healing herself and dropped her hand. Regulus exhaled but didn’t relax.

“That’s enough.” He rubbed his eyes.

“I’m all right,” she said to convince herself as much as him. “I can keep going.”

“But I can’t.” He looked at her dagger smeared with her blood still in his hand. “I’m done. We’ll practice another way. This isn’t working. And...I won’t hurt you again,” he whispered.

“But it’s all right. See?” She pointed to her arm. “You can’t even tell.”

“Yes, you can,” he said, his voiced strained. “You have blood down to your hand. We need a new plan.”

Adelaide was inclined to agree. She didn’t enjoy getting stabbed. Not to mention the embarrassment of her repeated failures to stop him. She wasn’t used to fighting with magic, but her throwing knives and daggers wouldn’t prevail against Kirven. Regulus was quick, good at misdirection, and took advantage of the slightest opening. If he could stab her, what would Kirven be able to do with sorcery aided by the Staff?

“If I can’t even defeat you, how am I supposed to defeat Kirven?”

Regulus mussed his hair. “Maybe you’re not trying as hard because it’s me? You could keep me from even getting close if you really wanted. You’re subconsciously holding back.”

He might have a point. She sighed. “Areyouholding back?” His glance away told her everything. “Great. I can’t even keep you from stabbing me when you’re trying not to.”

“Trying not to kill you.” He turned red. “To be honest, I did try to stab you.”

She sank onto the grass, her confidence dwindling again. “Do you try to stab Dresden when you train?”

Regulus sat down and cleaned off her dagger. “We train with swords. And we wear armor. There are bruises involved. I cut open his leg once. He had to be stitched up and limped for a week.” He handed over her dagger. “The last couple years I mostly did defense. If they hit me, I’d be okay. But I had to be careful not to...kill someone by accident.”

She turned her dagger over a few times before sheathing it. At least she hadn’t backslid. After regaining her magic, she had worried all her progress over the last few months of practice would be lost. She could still conjure a flaming sword, raise a shield, throw a blast, and everything else she had painstakingly taught herself. If anything, she could do them faster—the neumenet tree’s presence hummed through her, strengthening her grasp on her abilities. Despite all of that, Regulus kept winning.

“Maybe I should have taken up the fairies—”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Regulus plucked blades of grass. “I would have gone crazy worrying if I’d ever see you again.”

She smiled and elbowed him. “Aw. That’s so sweet.”

He threw a handful of grass at her. “Besides, your mother would probably have killed me if you vanished into the fairy realm. She’s terrifying.”

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