Page 59 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Emil ignored the sword strapped to his back and the daggers on his thighs. Normally, we could shift our nails into claws, but Strigoi took it one step further. Each of Emil’s fingers now ended in black, three-inch-long talons, the inside curve of each was razor sharp. Perfect for ripping out throats.

Tension filled the clearing as neither ranger moved, both waiting for the other to attack first. Lightning flashed over our heads, and in the split second that Adrienne was blinded, Emil shot forward. As if she’d anticipated it, Adrienne stepped into his attack and started a diagonal strike, only to spin away at the last second.

It was like watching a dance that two performers had perfected over decades. Adrienne gracefully spun her sword until it was nothing but a silver blur. Emil’s opening attack had been a feint, because he’d also twisted to the side, only now, hefound his path blocked by steel. With no hesitation, he blurred to the right and tried to maim her thigh to slow her down enough to get in a killing blow.

Adrienne dodged the attack, her movements like flowing water. They danced around each other in the clearing, punctuated by lightning strikes, as if the storm were dancing with them.

Neither scored a hit. Neither slowed down.

My heart raced with every step they took. It felt wrong to root for Adrienne, but I didn’t know what else to do as I watched two people I cared deeply about battle for their lives. Even if one of them was already lost.

Suddenly, Emil struck at Adrienne’s neck, and when she stepped back to avoid it, his back was exposed. With only the slightest hesitation, Adrienne’s sword cut vertically through the air towards Emil’s neck. My heart clenched, but I couldn’t make myself look away. Only, her blade found nothing but air as the Strigoi leaned backwards until his back was almost horizontal with the ground and the sword whistled over him.

He straightened and lunged for Adrienne’s exposed side. She pulled her sword back to herself, trying to get it between her and those sharp talons.

Too slow.

A scream tore through the night sky, followed seconds later by the tangy scent of blood. Emil dove towards Adrienne again, and she raised her sword. I flinched as another burning flash of lightning forced me to close my eyes. When I opened them, I saw Adrienne staggering back, a pained grimace on her face as blood flowed through her torn leather vest. The thing that used to be Emil raised his hand and licked the blood from his talons.

Then, a low, hungry sound came from Nyx, who had stepped forward, only to be cut off by Emil’s warning growl. The Strigoitook a step back, their hungry eyes still locked on a wounded Adrienne.

Adrienne resumed her stance, her feet shoulder-width apart, left foot slightly forward. Once again, she raised her sword so the point was to the sky. Blood ran down it. I frowned. When had she gotten him? The lightning strike? My eyes had only been shut for a second . . .

Emil stalked forward, spurred on by the scent of his prey’s blood, but when he darted to the right, clearly intent on capitalizing on her already-wounded side, his steps faltered. Inside, I was screaming as Emil’s body carried him forward, the momentum too much to stop even as his right leg buckled beneath him. Then he stumbled straight onto Adrienne’s sword.

The blonde ranger choked back a sob as she released the hilt immediately and grabbed each of the Strigoi’s wrists, preventing him from swiping those talons through her throat. She’d punctured his heart, but it would take him a few minutes to die.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she sobbed over and over again as she lowered her friend to the ground. Emil only snarled in return, fighting to get free, even as his lifeblood poured into the ground beneath him. Slowly, she pulled her sword from his chest and rose to her full height.

I tore my gaze away from them and looked at my aunt as tears streaked down my rain-soaked face.

Her dark, stony gaze found mine, and without hesitation, she gave the next order. “Nyx, kill Adrienne.”

“No!” I screamed and renewed my efforts to get free, only for Kieran and Alaric to hold me back.

“We can’t, Sam,” Kieran said through clenched teeth. “There’s nothing we can fucking do.”

I knew he was right even if I didn’t want to accept it. The only reason I stopped fighting was because the rangers standing nearby took a threatening step forward.

Thunder and lightning cracked and sounded over us before the rainfall became more of a deluge as the sky opened up. I shoved my hair away from my face and looked to where Nyx had been waiting while Adrienne and Emil had fought.

The spot was empty.

Adrienne grunted as she brought up her sword just in time to keep Nyx from clawing out her eyes. She’d also angled her sword so that the flat side made contact with Nyx’s forearm, a vicious snarl tearing from Nyx’s throat as they darted back before hurling themself at Adrienne again.

There was no deadly elegance to their movements like there had been to Emil’s and Adrienne’s. Just a feral intensity to rend and claw through flesh. Again and again, they struck at Adrienne, and every time, she deflected Nyx’s attacks without doing them harm.

But the defense-only tactic came with a cost, because Adrienne’s blood now soaked the ground along with Emil’s who, based on his slowly rising chest, was still alive but not long for this world.

“Nyx,” I half whimpered, but there was no sign of my friend in those wild, dark eyes. My relationship with Nyx was complicated. I’d known them at Drudonia, then they’d disappeared and only reentered my life when I’d returned to House Harker, but in my time back, I’d picked up on how close they were with Vail and his rangers—especially Adrienne. I knew the older ranger viewed Nyx as a younger sibling.

And Carmilla had to know it too. For all the rage I felt towards her now, my aunt knew her people well. This was a test to see how far the crown could push people against their instincts. If it could turn them against those they loved. Her pitting Adrienne and Emil against each other had been bad enough, but Adrienne and Nyx?

Carmilla was responsible for so many deaths—including those of my parents—and while I hated her for it, those had been tactical and efficient. Carmilla could have just ordered her rangers to cut down anyone here with a crossbow bolt to the heart. This felt cruel for cruelty’s sake. Something I hadn’t thought her capable of until now.

Despite how much Adrienne was bleeding, it seemed obvious she could win this fight at any moment she chose. Emil had challenged her, forcing her to dig down deep and fight to the best of her abilities, but Nyx’s fighting skills had devolved. Maybe because they were younger or because the crown’s magic had hit them harder. They were only still standing because Adrienne couldn’t bear to strike them down.

Alaric shifted his grip so that his arm was around my waist while Kieran’s remained across my shoulders. Alaric had been quiet during all of this, but I could feel the tension and fear radiating off him. What we were watching was his greatest fear—losing himself to bloodlust and becoming Strigoi. He’d witnessed his cousin suffer a similar fate, and it still haunted him to this day.

---