Page 67 of A Blaze of Fire
Again and again, I tried until my throat was raw.
I sweated nervously, aware of the crowd’s glares as they swore and booed, calling me a phony and yelling at me to leave the arena.
I peered over at the King, who wore a satisfied smirk across his pale face. I’d secured my safety with him by doing exactly what he wanted. Now no one could be seen as being higher than him. My gaze traveled to Kazimir, who watched me intently, but no emotions flickered across his face. He was ever the cool soldier beside his king. I thought about what he said last night – about how I held the power. Did he really think I could do it? And if I did, would it be worth it? I needed a reason to try. I couldn’t just risk it all because my sperm donor said so.
How would this benefit me?
I turned my attention to Ansel. If I did this, or attempted to, Ansel would no longer feel the need to protect me. As the dragon, I could protect myself. Wasn’t that what I wanted? What I’d wanted all my life? Some goddamn independence.
First, it was my mother and her suffocating – and at times, misguided – need to protect me from the world of the fae, and now Ansel and Alec were practically doing the same thing. When would it end? I hated to give him credit, but Kazimir was right.
Theydidn’t hold the power,Idid. And it was time I used it.
My expression hardened as I stared unflinchingly at Kazimir. No words were exchanged, but he knew the instant I made my decision.
Through my periphery, I watched Ansel scoot to the edge of his seat, his eyes widening as he noticed the change in me. He wanted to cry out and stop me from doing whatever it was I planned to do, but he couldn’t. Not while he sat beside the King. Not unless he wanted to give himself away.
I turned my gaze straight ahead and focused, cancelling out the noise around me and focusing on my breathing.
“Vi, what are you doing?” Alec yelled from the sidelines, but I ignored him.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. I listened to my breathing pattern, following it carefully with complete concentration.
In the far distance, I heard the King quieting the crowd as he laughed, telling them the show was over, but I tuned it all out. The show wasn’t over untilIsaid it was over.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Instead of focusing the fire in my hands, I focused it in my gut, which was something I’d never done before. I wasn’t sure it was even possible.
Alec warned me to never do this, but Kazimir said to use my anger and fear as motivation. So I pulled all those emotions from deep inside, along with the fire as it trickled from my gut and burned its way up my throat. When the inferno was almost unbearable, I let out a massive scream and fire barreled out of my mouth.
The crowd around me watched with their mouths agape. The flames were brighter than the sun and I closed my eyes against their brilliance. The heat was warm, but it wasn’t painful in any way. It felt right and unwaveringly real. Suddenly, I gasped and sucked in a lungful of air, feeling as if I’d been holding my breath.
I swayed on my feet, suddenly woozy with blurry vision and watering eyes. Glancing around the quiet arena, every fae stared back at me in shock and disbelief. Even the birds overhead were silent.
My gaze landed on the King. While I expected to see fury in his eyes, instead I saw fear. And that scared me even more.
I stumbled. For some reason, my muscles didn’t want to obey my commands to keep me upright. My energy disappeared with the last burst of fire from my mouth, and my head swam with confusion. The stillness of the arena was deafening. I shook my head, straining to hear anything, fearing I’d gone deaf. The motion made me dizzy and I found myself falling … falling … falling …
“Violet!” Alec screamed as he ran for me. He slid across the grass like he was sliding into first base and caught me just before my head hit the ground. “Violet!” he gasped, wide eyed with shock.
I reached for him but could only clutch the front of his tunic weakly. “Alec,” I mumbled. “I’m sorry.”
“We can fix this,” he said in a rush. “I’ll pro—”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll protect myself.”
He frowned. “You’ve overexerted yourself, Vi. You couldn’t even protect a sprite right now.”
I tried to laugh but didn’t have the energy. “It’s only because I don’t know how to use my elemental magic. But when I do,” I swallowed deeply, my throat scratchy and raw, “I’ll be unstoppable.”
Alec brushed the hair away from my face and glanced around as the crowd jostled closer. Slowly, their murmurs and whispers reached my ears, quickly growing in excitement.
The last dragon is here!
“Listen to me, Alec.” I tugged on his tunic to get his attention. “I’ll be fine.”
“No you won’t—”
