Page 93 of Court of Lies and Deceit

“Fucking Orion,” Draven growls under his breath.

“In our first match, Draven Ryat from the Black Faction will be facing the unstoppable beast himself,” Rosea calls across the sand. “The Red Faction’s Fergai Bloodworth!”

Ecstatic screams erupt through the arena.

The door that leads out onto the sand swings open. Bright sunlight pours in through the opening, illuminating the floor of our room. Draven blows out an annoyed sigh and shakes his head. Then he shifts his gaze to us.

“You can do this,” is all he says. Confident. Certain. As if there is no doubt in his mind that we will all win our matches.

Then he strides out the door. It swings shut behind him with a thud that is almost entirely drowned out by the excited roar of the crowd.

I hurry over to the now closed door, positioning myself so that I can see out through the horizontal slot. The others do the same.

Draven is striding towards the center of the arena with confident steps. Sunlight glints against parts of his black dragon scale armor and the scabbard strapped to his spine. But he doesn’t shift into his half-shift form. Lingering fury ripples through me as I slide my gaze to the male fae in red fighting leathers who is stalking towards the middle of the arena as well. Because just as I remember from the last game, he carries a whip on his belt.

My heart beats hard against my ribs as I watch them come to a halt on the sand and face each other. I sweep my gaze over the rest of the arena. White banners and scarves and clothes can be seen throughout most sections while the Red Faction supporters seem to be more clustered together in groups this time. And to my surprise, there are quite a lot of black banners now being flown throughout the whole audience. Apparently, we made quite the impression during the last game. Or at least Isera did.

“You all know how it works,” Rosea calls, her voice booming across the arena and silencing the crowd. “The match is over when one of them is unconscious, dead, or surrenders. Other than that, there are no rules.”

My heart jerks. Goddess above, how the hell are we going to win this?

The crowd goes silent.

Anticipation crackles in the air.

I barely dare to breathe.

“Begin!” Rosea calls.

Draven shoots a bolt of lightning at Fergai. He dives sideways to escape it. With a snarl on his lips, he rolls to his feet and yanks the whip from his belt. But he barely even has time to stand up straight before a blast of wind slams into his chest. The force of it is so strong that he flies backwards before crashing down hard on the ground. Clouds of sand whirl up from the impact before being blown away by Draven’s winds.

I gape at the scene. Draven hasn’t even drawn his sword yet. He’s just standing there in the same spot, his arms crossed over his chest while his storm magic crashes over Fergai.

And the crowd is eating it up.

Screams of excitement pulse through the arena, and the very walls around us tremble as the crowd above stomps their feet and claps their hands.

Fergai struggles to his feet but then has to leap away again when Draven shoots another lightning bolt at him. The Unseelie fae bellows in frustration and then sends a torrent of fire towards Draven.

Still standing with his arms crossed over his chest, Draven simply shoves the flames aside with another blast of wind. Fergai flicks his wrist, trying to hit Draven from afar with his whip. But the thin rope is shoved off course just like the flames when Draven counters it with wind.

My heart swells with possessive pride as I watch him.

Mine. That lethal man is all mine.

The mate bond remains inside me, as it has every day since it snapped into place, feeling like a faint pull towards Draven.It took me some getting used to, but now, it’s not distracting anymore. Instead, it feels comforting. As if he is always with me.

Usually, I can also feel a faint trace of his emotions through it. But right now, I can’t feel anything. It doesn’t surprise me, though. After the centuries he has spent deceiving everyone around him, he is an expert at blocking out all of his emotions, which is no doubt very useful in a fight as well.

The man from the Red Faction is fighting desperately to get one single strike through, but against Draven’s expert battle skills and overwhelming raw magic power, it’s impossible. The crowd is cheering so loudly at the incredible display that I have to suppress the urge to shield my ears from the deafening roars.

Once Draven has thoroughly humiliated his opponent, he ends the match by hitting Fergai with two lightning strikes that leave him unconscious with his limbs shaking uncontrollably.

“Wow, what a show!” Rosea calls in the aftermath. “That has got to be the most one-sided match we have ever witnessed in the history of these games.”

A wicked grin steals across my mouth, and that possessive pride returns.Mine.

Draven is escorted in through a door on the other side of the arena while two attendants have to carry Fergai in after him.

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