Page 38 of Mistake of Magic
This last part sends an arrow of dread through me, its point sharp enough to nick my heart.
A quarter hour later, my black pants are buttoned and my shaking fingers are attempting to tie the sash around my burgundy tunic when the door to the preparation room slams open.
A sword falls from its hook on the wall, the ring of steel on stone echoing from the high ceiling.
For a moment, Coal’s blue eyes are all I see.
“What did you do?” he roars, his hot hands pinning my ribcage against the wall while my feet dangle in the air, my hair loose and wild around my shoulders. His pulse thunders so hard, I can see it against his neck. His metallic scent fills my lungs.
A lupine growl fills the room in answer to Coal’s question, the sound guttural and laden with the promise of death and dismemberment.
“Do that one more time and I’ll muzzle you, dog,” Coal snaps over his shoulder.
Bloody stars. This reaction alone proves Malikai right. The males are too easy to provoke. I sigh and meet Coal’s sapphire-blue eyes, forcing my voice to a calm lightness as I explain Malikai’s ultimatum.
Coal’s eyes widen, his mouth opening, then closing—whether in rage or disbelief, it’s too hard to say.
“Which part specifically did you find confusing?” I say finally, my legs still dangling above the ground. I think the male actually forgot he was holding me up. “If you let me down, I’ll draw a picture.”
Coal drops me and sinks into a chair.
“Don’t lean back,” I say. “Your wounds have opened, and those chairs look expensive.”
Coal’s eyes flash.
Tye snorts.
“I hate to say this”—Autumn helps herself to a glass of dry wine, the presence of which, I’m learning, is one advantage of having Tye along anywhere—“but Malikai is a smart little bastard. The only certain way for him to avoid facing you four in the arena is to face Lera. And the only way to make certain Lera’s match happens first is to have her call for it.”
“What if Malikai hurts her?” Tye says.
“If he wanted to murder me, he could have snapped my neck this morning when we were alone,” I say. “I really believe it’s not my death he’s after, but rather a lack of his own.”
“Plus, the arena’s holding wards will engage the moment Lera utters ‘surrender.’” Autumn flicks a thin blond braid behind her back. “Fortunately, that part is not left to the levelheaded honor of hot-blooded warriors.”
“Stop trying to make the mortal’s bullheaded bravery sound reasonable,” Coal tells Autumn. He picks up a wineglass but it shatters in his grip before he manages to drink. “Giving in to Malikai’s demands will not make the bastard more considerate, any more than feeding a crocodile will make it more docile.”
“And escalating this tit-for-tat will do no one any favors either,” I tell Coal. “Point is, the cost of surrender is acceptable. As with the first trial, we will retake this later with a different quint. Malikai wants out of this mess. And frankly, so do I.”
Coal growls and moves to lean against the far wall.
“Point is,” River says with a commander’s bloody calm, “Leralynn has already requested the trial and Klarissa has accepted.”
Silence follows his words and I realize I’ve avoided looking at River until now. I was right to. His gray eyes are a storm as they seize mine, his beautiful, high cheekbones tight. Whatever my intent, I’ve flouted his authority entirely. There are very few ways to hurt River more.
He clears his throat. “Hence, less arguing and more getting ready, please.” He straightens and clasps his hands behind his back, frowning at the door to the arena. “Leralynn, once you are in there, you will be unable to see or hear us, but we will be watching you from above. Remember that no one can hear you or Malikai either. The wards will pick up on the surrender announcement, but that is it. Do you understand?”
I nod.
“Similarly to the Quint Trial, the Individual Trial can end one of three ways,” River says. “Someone is rendered unconscious, which means victory for the warrior left standing. Surrender, which means the whole trial must start over against a different quint. Or death.”
“This works in your favor, Lera,” Autumn chimes in. “Malikai can’t risk striking you so hard as to make you lose consciousness. Thenhewould win, but the trial itself would continue, which would mean the rest of his quint would face the rest of yours. He won’t risk giving Coal, or any of these murderous idiots”—she gestures around the room—“a chance to kill one of them.”
“Don’t get brave in there, Lilac Girl,” Tye says, twisting me toward him, his broad shoulders suddenly blocking out the entire room. “It’s a game, and take it from one who has cheated at a great many games, the last thing you want to do is make things more complex than they must be.”
Before I can reply, Tye’s green eyes sink into mine, the humor in them fading to something more primal. His hands brush my ears, tucking the thick strands of hair away from my face, before he leans down to brush his lips over mine in a possessive caress. My mouth tingles as he pulls away, his nose hesitating in my hair to draw in a lungful of my scent. “Promise you won’t be brave.”
I put my hands on either side of Tye’s face. His skin is clean-shaven and smooth to the touch, even as the tight muscles beneath his jaw shift to relieve the grinding tension. “I won’t do anything brave,” I promise, injecting my words with as much confidence as I can muster. “The greatest threat I face is surrendering so quickly that the whole Citadel realizes the farce—but I imagine that Malikai will make things look believable enough for the first few minutes. So don’t worry.”
